Q. How many Gor books are there? A. TOO MANY!

[baratron]

Oh my god! The Times is reporting about a "sadomasochistic sex cult" that are taking the GOR BOOKS SERIOUSLY!!

At alt.polycon 7, there was a panel where we passed around a book written by John Norman, and the idea was to open the book at a random page and read as much as possible before you started laughing. I opened it at one particular page and couldn't even START to read, I was laughing so hard. It was just that bad. It wasn't even a case of "your kink is ok, but not my kink", I just couldn't see how any rational human being could find it erotic.

So apparently there's a whole bunch of Gor fetishists living in Darlington. I'm scared.

Comments

[redbird]

I knew the Gor fetishists/role players were out there in the world; I guess Darlington is as plausible a place as any.

[hattifattener]

A friend of mine had a neighbor (I think) who considered herself a Gorean sex slave. I was never quite clear on exctaly what this meant. Something loosely inspired by the novels, I assume...

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

There are all manner of positions to be learned and things. Venture into nearly any BDSM community and hang around for a bit and it'll come up. (And then you can stare and go "you what now?")

[hattifattener]

Phew ... I must only venture into the right BDSM communities, really, because until I encountered this FOAF I'd never met someone who tried to translate the Gor stuff into real life. Plenty of other fiction-derived kink, yes, but not Gor.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you have better luck than I. :)

It's really very wtf? though. (Particularly if you're female and think Gor is silly and run into Gor 'doms'. "No, I am not your slave, I do not want to be your slave, I do not need a Good Man to Teach Me. Please Piss Off.")

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I had a friend who once did a scene in which she was beaten until she admitted liking Gor novels. (Incidentally, this is the friend who wrote "Houseplants of Gor", so she clearly HAD read Gor novels at some point.)

By the end of it, she looked like the victim of a motorcycle crash -- it was one of the heaviest scenes I ever saw in my life.

This was, by the way, at a private party that was going on concurrent with a science fiction convention, which we were all attending.

Anyway, later on, in the lobby of the hotel, we were discussing this scene, and the fact that she was beaten that hard because she refused to admit liking the Gor novels, and I realized that someone was listening in over my friend's shoulder.

"Um. . . John Norman is standing right behind you. . . "

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Wow. And wow. This is possibly the second Best SM Party Story EVAR!!

The best belongs to a friend of mine who was at a private party in a public hotel that was suddenly "invaded" by Michael Flatley and the Riverdance crew, who didn't realise what sort of party it was... but it's not my story to tell. I'll leave it to the owner of the story to post it, if they want to.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh. . . I remember that story. I wasn't at that party, though.

[jhaelan.livejournal.com]

*fear*!

[fluffymormegil.livejournal.com]

I'll second redbird's comment, I'm afraid :/

[kiya]

I get the impression that it's not exactly uncommon, but that the sane BDSM folks mostly giggle.

[lovingboth]

Of course you're scared - you're a woman, and therefore not worthy enough to have manly emotions!

:))

Yeah, the ones I've skimmed in charity shops are quite stunningly bad.

[emperor]

That's a whole new world of *boggle*.

[oilrig.livejournal.com]

On the plus side, the reporting has been largely mature (pleasant surprise, given the usual attitude to such subjects) and police have found no criminal activity to act on (no surprise, but a relief given the recent proposed legislation)

[lizw.livejournal.com]

Yes, my first thought was "good for the police". My second was "Why does the BBC have to sensationalise this?"

[ludy]

i found one of the gor books lieing around at the mental health drop-in centre. I'm asummeimng someone read it and was so brain-melted they needed imedate psychatric care!

[eponymousarchon.livejournal.com]

"...Zach is not exactly a man of the world. He had never even had a girlfriend.”

I can't help but feel that this is terribly relevent, somehow. :/

[aardvarkoffnord.livejournal.com]

I saw the BBC article this morning, but didn't have time to LJ an article.

However, this made me *gibber*

Wikipedia Gorean entry

[BTW: I am not a full BDSM'er, I just do a little role-play. I am not part of the scene, but I cherish its existence.]

[nitoda]

Congratulations to the police force in Darlington for an adult approach! I have to confess to having read a few Gor novels in my time. I was young enough to have no context in which to place them except extreme pornography - and at the time I felt the author had an excellent insight into the way my mind and body worked. Fear for me. I survived. On later re-reading at a stage of my life when I had "discovered" bdsm and the scene and real players etc. etc. I have to say the standard of writing seemed appallingly bad and I wondered that I was ever able to read them at all, but I have always had the ability to read terribly bad prose much more easily than elegant intellectual novels. Pity me. But not because i am submissive, please. I do know that my life choices don't work for everyone, and I accept others' life choices for themselves.