Belle De Jour: Diary Of An Unlikely Call Girl (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Review posted August 26th on http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-live...This review will make frequent mentions of sex and sexual activities (as could be expected from the well known book title!)Based on her popular blog, The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl (also known under slightly different names) chronicles the diaries of Belle in her day-to-day life as a call girl, while still traversing her own love life, and of course her sex life too! The book is written in diary format and includes Belle's A to Z of life as a Call Girl.Link to GoodreadsLink to amazonThis is one of those books that I have wanted to read for quite a long time, especially since I watched the TV show a couple of years ago. Despite being an age old profession, prostitution is not something that is widely known about, or at least the ins and outs of it aren't (bad pun fully intended there!).The sex parts of this book (so more or less all of it really!) weren't what I expected, though what that was I'm not too sure! The descriptions just didn't come across as massively sexy, and unless you're a nymphomaniac (unlikely) then I highly doubt that reading this book would be a turn on. Despite the certain level of unsexiness, it was interesting to read, particularly about some of the stranger fantasies of the clients (and of Belle to be fair). Whenever Belle mentions sex (most of the book), she was frank, clear and engaging (easy to see how she was a successful blogger), and it was clear that she was writing about something that she enjoys doing, making the distinction between this autobiographical book and those of erotic fiction.Despite what I have written above, I would not recommend that anyone young or particularly innocent should read this (I'm not naive enough, nor far enough out of my teens, to say that it is strictly 18+ though) and neither should people who are easily freaked out by sex more shocking than oral. There are referances to 'standard' sex, oral, anal, bondage, BDSM, threesomes, girl-on-girl, violence (the 'good' kind apparently), and defecation (that last one is definitely not for the faint hearted, I see myself as fairly open mind out and that one had me slightly disgusted at the description of it), among others.I found that Belle's writing style was incredibly easy to read, she was concise and to the point in all of her entries, and, even more importantly, she was funny. There were moments when I couldn't help but laugh out loud! I'm not normally a fan of autobiographies, or biographies for that matter, but the aforementioned factors, and the interesting subject, meant that I enjoyed reading The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, in a completely non-sexual way I promise!!!!On a side note, and as something I don't usually comment on much, the cover is awesome! It would probably have attracted me even if I didn't know what the book was (unusually I read this book in physical form), it manages to be classy, sexy and sophisticated all at the same time.I'd recommend this book, its is an interesting, enjoyable and funny read!
I had been wanting to read this book for what felt like years, the only thing that was holding me back was that no bookstore near me ever carried it. In the meantime, I watched the show and absolutely loved it. I finally got around to ordering it a couple weeks ago, to say the least I was very disappointed. The most disappointing thing to me was the main character (and author) Belle de Jour. This book was put together from her own, real life events that she posted about on her blog. You would think that since someone is pretty much writing about themselves, the main character would be at the very least tolerable, however this was not the case at all. Belle had two personality traits; annoying and detached. I thought the book would have dove into why she chose this as a career and why she liked it, however I don't believe these topics were ever mentioned. Belle was not the only character I couldn't stand throughout the book, all of her friends and conquests had absolutely no personality ('the boy', 'N', 'A1', 'A2', 'A3', 'A4'). The most personality that was shown through this book was when a client asked if he could stick it in her butt. The book states "erotic bestseller" right on the cover, however the word "erotic" is exaggerating. The sexiest this book gets is along the lines of this; "he put himself inside me and then peed on me" (seriously). What was advertised as a book about a taboo career, focused more on Belle's (for lack of a better word) pathetic personality, her pathetic friends, and her pathetic relationships.I often find myself comparing books to television shows and movies, although very rarely I feel these actually turn out better than the book. The show gave the characters personality, it made me LIKE Belle while I absolutely hated her while reading the book. Verdict: skip the book, watch the show.
What do You think about Belle De Jour: Diary Of An Unlikely Call Girl (2007)?
This book left me feeling really depressed. The narrator has such a cynical outlook on life. (As a dyed-in-the-wool cynic myself, I'm not sure why this bugs me so much. Maybe because her version of "life's a bitch and then you die" wasn't even intelligent or thoughtful. Pfft.)It's clearly a fake memoir, but that's okay, I don't really expect realism from my non-fiction these days. What gets me is the misrepresentation, because it's not about the adventures of a call girl, really. The vast majority of sex stories are about her ex-boyfriends (that tell you something about how real it is, huh?); accounts of her "professional" life make up maybe 20% of the book, if that. The entries also travel down the road of Bridget Jones, via some serious banality. The difference between "Belle De Jour" and Helen Fielding? Helen Fielding is a legitimate comic writer; Belle doesn't come close.I'll admit, the "graduate with a pointless degree who can't find work" hits a little too close to home for me right now. But Belle's perspective on the post-graduate world made me increasingly angry. She ultimately argues that a career is a waste of time. Um. WHAT?
—Nicola
This is the story of prostitution from a candy-coloured specs perspective. It says something that the ITV series added more depth.Entertaining enough but Belle is a lot like friends that I avoid - always on about her exes and the dramas associated with same. Preoccupied with knickers and makeup - slipping public school french into every sentence. Not a protagonist I relate to. Save yourself some time and watch the series instead, the book is only a parade of similar encounters with identical thoughts scribbled in between - plus one semi-abusive though consensual relationship that made be uncomfortable.As for people saying Belle isn't a feminist - they need to look up the definition of the word. Belle acts as equal to men, because she is. she takes pleasure from sex and from sometimes quite extreme acts of sado-masochism. But she does these things because she wants to. So, dull and public school these ramblings of a designer, giddy whore might be - but they aren't anti-feminist.
—Sarah Goodwin
This book initially sank its claws into me during the hot sex scene at the beginning. A friend of mine kept recommending the Showtime series to me, but already having enough television addictions, I thought I'd read the book. Big mistake.I feel that I regressed a little while reading this, and a more appropriate title would be, "The Narcissistic Ramblings of a Nympho." That's right, don't be fooled - Ms. Dujour paints the work of a callgirl as a fun little jaunt between various male's abodes and her own home; she glamourizes the sex industry and provides a distinctly British perspective (sex work is not like this in the US, from what I've gathered). She is not a feminist, as she is willing to be degraded for money. Her banal accounts of her daily adventures between the men who pay to screw her and her ever-rotating list of ex-boyfriends who still remain a huge part of her life, is void of significance to anyone who is not her. My suggestion? Don't waste you time on this smut. The woman may be a doctor, but her bloggerific memoir is akin to something from the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine. Then again, if vapid prose is your cup of tea, drink up.
—Jamie Nelson
