After reading the first chapter of this novel, I was so disturbed and confused that I was about ready to cry. Instead I put the book down and gave up for the night. I blame my 7 years of Catholic school for my disgust towards this novel. There were run on sentences left and right, as well as a complete disregard for a more modest view of sex. I was constantly re-reading lines and if I were to complete the entire novel and comprehend it, I would need a lot more time. Luckily, I saw in class today that I was not the only person who was noticing missing pieces. In fact, one student admitted to opening up to random pages and reading those, because the book did not follow a timeline anyways. At least it was comforting to know that everyone was pretty confused.
One of the first things that really set me off about this novel was being introduced to the Garden of Delights. It was introduced by, “…his plan called for Cinerama film sequences featuring the Garden of Delights shows all kinds of masturbation and self- abuse young boys need it special it’s all electric and very technical you sit down anywhere some sex wheel sidles up your ass or clamps onto your spine…” Not only is it extremely disturbing the thought that young boys have to experience this, I was angered by the fact that this Garden was referred to as G.O.D. for short. I am not a strict Catholic and I do not follow every single moral that Catholicism encourages, however I do respect them. I by no means expect anyone to save sex for marriage, but I do think that it should be treated a little more seriously than “I want you to shit and piss all over yourself when you see the gallows.”
I understand that there are many ways of viewing sex. A few months ago I was having a conversation with a close friend where I explained that I didn’t understand the difference between having sex and making love. That person responded with, “Well maybe you have never had sex with someone that you are in love with.” He was right. There is a huge separation between the meaning behind sex and the meaning behind making love. Sometimes sex can treated as a casual fulfillment of desires. Other times it can be viewed as making love, which includes devotion, and emotion. However, the sex described in this novel seemed more along the lines of rape and fetish. It made me sick to my stomach.
The author must have motivation behind his madness. For me, he succeeded in provoking anger. At the same time, he forced me to evaluate my morals and religious views, and compare them to that of the books. A thought raised in class was, why can sex only exist within a certain frame? This is where I see a clear difference in the term “sex” versus the term “making love.” The sex in this novel did not occur due to love. On the contrary, this novel includes a lot of hatred and evil. I still have more connecting to do with this book. Right now I am still pretty confused by the author’s motives behind this type of book and am still working on understanding the text as a whole.
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It is odd that as readers we assume this voice is a proxy of the author. What if like many writers of satires he approaches the writing from the view of the culture itself. Doesn't culture view homosexuality and homosexuals in ways that are not too far off from this book. When I hear a phrase like "gay agenda" I certainly think that this could be the point of WSB's writing.
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