About book Fanny: Being The True History Of The Adventures Of Fanny Hackabout-Jones (2003)
Diciottesimo secolo. Una donna sta scrivendo. È nella sua sfarzosa camera da letto. La sua identità è un mistero, così come la sua vita. La fama può diffonderne la grazia e magnificarne i lineamenti, eppure è penoso farne un ritratto che non ne esalti al contempo il carattere. Del resto, le voci al riguardo sono sempre state dubbie e le espressioni dei suoi peccati effimere. Aver sentito parlare, anche molto, di Fanny – quest’ultimo il nome per gli amici, Frances sui documenti più ufficiali e Fannikins per gli amanti più appassionati – non va a genio a chi potrebbe saggiare dalla sua viva e vivace voce la veridica storia delle avventure favoleggiate. Ed ecco che lo scrittoio si libera. Fanny depone la penna d’oca, si alza e si mostra in tutta la sua radiosa bellezza. Chloe, la sua cagnetta, l’ha distratta. L’occasione fa presto a presentarsi per chi desiderando sbirciare le sue memorie si trovi lì vicino nel parco di Merriman, nel quale «il verde è quel verde che non esiste se non in Inghilterra»… La ricerca della fortuna, il coraggio e il peccato senza pentimento di una donna nell’Inghilterra del diciottesimo secolo. Erica Jong racconta le avventure di Fanny Hackabout-Jones: e non ne nasconde gli aspetti licenziosi e scandalosi per l’epoca. In primo luogo la sua vita a Lymeworth e l’esperienza della seduzione; l’iniziazione affascinante alla stregoneria e i suoi viaggi con i Banditi Gaudenti, l’oltraggioso e pure complice soggiorno in un bordello; nessun patetismo, neppure quando le situazioni crude in cui si imbatte sarebbero capaci di far impallidire individui più maturi e di ben più forte tempra. E ancora, trascorsa poca della sua giovane vita e disvelatosi il suo destino, la piena affermazione di sé e il gioco dei ruoli, che le suggerisce l’idea di un mondo a misura di donna. Il personaggio richiama innegabilmente le vicende di Fanny Hill che erano state narrate nel Settecento da John Cleland in Fanny Hill - Memorie di una donna di piacere, un capolavoro della narrativa erotica, ma la prospettiva della Jong è totalmente altra da quella seguita dallo scrittore e appare incalzata dall’appassionante visione di un forte ruolo della donna: brillante, colta e smaliziata. Una parabola di avventure variegate, in altri termini, che si svolge con un’attenzione peculiare all’erotismo dell’audace protagonista e che talora riesce ad imbarazzare. Peraltro, l’intento di questa eroina è nobile perché le memorie trascritte costituiscono un testamento spirituale per la sua unica figlia, Belinda. Proprio con le iniziali parole di Fanny, rivolte all’amata figlia, in chiusura mettiamo in guardia i futuri lettori di questa storia e li invitiamo a riflettere sull’ingegno di Fanny e a perdonarla se il Vizio nei suoi racconti non dovesse soccombere o essere punito: «Ogni cura possibile è stata adottata al fine di non arrecare deliberata offesa al Pudore e alla Castità; tuttavia l'Autrice attesta che la Verità è Dea ben più severa della Pudicizia, e là dove si è resa necessaria una scelta fra quella e codesta, è sempre stata la Verità a, giustamente, trionfare».http://www.mangialibri.com/node/11935
It's a sexy romp -- and a feminist manifesto -- but it's not great literature. Or a great love story! I have mixed feelings about FANNY. On the one hand, I adore wild sex and adventurous pairings. And this book has plenty of both! On the other hand, I resent Erica Jong's constant flaunting of her educational pedigree, her Manhattan posturing, the subtle snobbery that consistently undermines her feminist preaching. And I can't help but feel that there are (literally) hundreds of hard-working romance writers who sit down EVERY DAY and crank out love stories (some even set in the 18th century) that are more moving, more emotional, more authentic, and even better researched than this one. But THOSE authors didn't go to Barnard College on Manhattan's elite Upper West Side -- a school so exclusive they actually employ a small army of uniformed security guards to keep the riffraff at bay!So yes, I resented the book before I ever picked it up to read. And then, when the sex got hot, I found I didn't really mind. But at the end of the book, I noticed how empty it all seemed. Fanny's adventures are fun, but for all the sex there's really very little emotion to go around. There's no strong hero. There's no lasting commitment. There's also never, ever a time when Fanny seems even remotely concerned with the brutal poverty and starvation all around her -- liberating her own body seems to be her first (and only) priority. Even when she's trapped in a brothel, there's a surprising coldness in the way she catalogs the diseases that are slowly killing her female companions. Evidently it's okay to romp with working class women in bed -- but you don't want to get too close to them. While this sheds a lot of light on the modern feminist movement, it also makes for a very depressing and unemotional read. To sum up, Fanny is no Huckleberry Finn. This is a picaresque novel, yes. Fanny travels like Huck, but unlike Huck she doesn't really learn or go through any changes. Her book-learned feminist convictions are set in stone from day one. They don't grow over time. They aren't the result of experience. She sleeps around much more than Huck, but she's ultimately a lot more selfish and immature.
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I loved it as a young adult, but now at 50 myself, the reread was a bit painful. I agree though, that "Fanny" made me realize Jong is a much better writer than I'd previously thought (having read Fear of Flying) and I was impressed with the full 18th century immersion of the book. Fanny was nothing if not a wild ride! Congrats on your "late bloom"!
—Annora Nin
I didn't know what I was getting myself into before reading this. It was given to me by a friend who's very sure this is my type of reading. This is the first novel I read from Erica Jong and my friend was right, I loved it!I skipped the "book within a book" table of contents as there were some spoilers there. I'm always looking for something new; whenever I get too engrossed reading the same genre for say, 5 books, I need a breath of fresh air and this story provided it.What an adventure it was! In the beginning it was written in the third person, but the author shifted the perspective to Fanny's. She tells her own story, with every grain of truth, as opposed to the sensational and fabricated accounts by other writers. This could also be a memoir, but the most important reason she wrote her life story is for her daughter Belinda (who's but a name), who wants to explore the real world.The story was fast-paced, and the events happened in a year or so where our fun and fearless heroine Fanny is introduced. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but all I can say is the ending was very well-written. Fanny's journeys and meetings with the other characters really taught her all she needs to know about life in general. Some of the events were predictable, but that doesn't lessen the excitement the story evoked. This novel is a roller coaster ride with a lot of loops. The sex was sometimes erotic, and sometimes extreme I was glad she didn't write it in detail. There were some kinkiness I could tolerate but the time with Captain Whitehead was really despicable.There were dramatic character developments and compelling mysteries that I just couldn't put it down. It was narrated fluently and it didn't drag. Fanny was very consistent in her growth from a lady to a woman of the world. Her relationship with Lancelot stood the test of time; in this narrative there was a lot of loss, regret, hope, despair, lust, and most importantly, love.What I liked about this novel aside from the colorful story, is Fanny's character. She's very intelligent and forward-thinking. This novel depicts the timeless struggle of women for some measure of equality or empowerment. It was set in the time of the slave trades, colonies. I liked how the author used Fanny's character as a symbol for women writers in those times, and their sad plight. It was great how at that day and age, even the issue on race was tackled.I loved the immense emotions that ran through this book. The ending tied loose ends, was a happy one, and very enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
—Joy
This book was pretty astounding. Very rarely have I reacted to a book with as much gusto - and I'm not talking about tears and laughter here, I'm talking about flat out shock. In terms of fiction, I've never had a book startle me as much as this one did and I loved it all the more for it. Erica Jong wrote this in such a manner that I truly believed she was Fanny Hackabout-Jones. She said in the beginning that she would keep no modesty, and she kept true to her word. The events in this book had ways of simultaneously disgusting and arousing me but ultimatley making me truly care for, and hate, the same ones that Fanny did. Fanny wanted to teach Belinda, her daughter, all the things she had learned in the world. At the very least, I think she succeeded in teaching me.
—Ashley Lauren
