Top contender as the best smut book ever written. Outside of violence, bestiality, and watersports—sorry, aficionados, but you'll have to seek elsewhere—there is no perversion that is not committed by the cheerful congeries of libidinous Victorian Era libertines who populate the cast. Most impressive is the unflagging commitment of the anonymous author to maintaining the quality of his kink, even unto the five hundredth page. An eventual hasty and rote parsing of events, derived from a jaded imagination, pruned spirit, and aching wrist, would be entirely excusable in such a mammoth effort; but I'll be damned if good old Anonymous isn't still endeavoring to keep his pearls polished even unto the undiminished vigor of ejaculation and back-scratching orgasm in the waning chapters of this massive work. Multiple pairings, orgies, daisy chains, castle dungeons, boarding houses, schoolroom desks, cathedral pews, headmaster and judicial chambers, au naturel amidst sun-kissed leas ringed by sentinel tress, the Papal palace, a fisherman's hovel—it's a magical lascivious tour through a continent sternly straight-laced on the surface, with a brother and his two sisters forming the principal protagonists of this tawdry tale; they function as the magnets which attract an ever-increasing host of harlots and roués who bid a fond adieu to moral restraints and throw themselves wildly and willingly into the amorous adventures of this debauched crew. Even the homosexuality, while not my cup of tea, is handled with enough panache and adroitness to have led my youthful self to admit you know, that might actually prove to be fun. And while there is undoubtedly too much hebephilia, well, they had barely emancipated children from the workhouse then—that of the pseudo-literary bedroom would prove a more enduring struggle; and Anonymous was dedicated to covering the entirety of human life from a sexual point-of-view. The thing is, the author allowed for the discriminating taste of the reader, and such is the breadth of this exhaustive offering that offending sections may be readily skipped—with the minor inconvenience of becoming somewhat separated from the plot—in pursuit of the next section that titillates; and the bottom line is that Anonymous wields the words visually imparted by a gifted tongue with such exquisite and disciplined craftsmanship that The Romance of Lust would serve to rouse an anchorite. This naughty pleasure still finds itself in print today, over one hundred and forty years from the date of its original publication in serial form; allowing it to surreptitiously join its vaunted, much cleaner siblings from the Victorian Era in enjoying such an enviably enduring shelf-life.
Hmmm. Ummm. Wow. Uhhh.Ok, trying to figure out what to say about this book.Um, well, it seems like it's going to cover it all, meaning in the way of sex. I didn't finish this book because really it's just a lot to take in all at once. I'm about 20% into the story and had to set it aside. It's not bad but it really is sex after sex. The story is told by a man who is telling about his sexual adventures through his life. The story begins when he is just shy of 15. And really it's about a boy who discovers sex and loves it and then does everything he can to get more of it. And he's not picky. In fact, he's VERY open.This is supposedly written by Anonymous a long time ago. It's Victorian erotica. Like I said, the book was just getting started, and it's a long book, but I believe there is going to be not much that "Charles" (the narrator) won't be experiencing in his sexual life. If you're going to read this book you'll need to be open minded. Don't read this book if you're not okay with an "anything goes" mentality in your reading material.I'll probably go back now and then to continue the story but it's not a book I can just sit and read straight through.
What do You think about Romance Of Lust (1997)?
I'm no stranger to erotic fiction. I've read plenty of stories that deal with taboo subjects of all kinds of depravity. Very little phases me anymore. That said, this book is weird. There's no real plot to it. It's just the sexual exploits of a man from pre-teen years, on up, told in explicit detail, but also in a manner that felt rushed. The author might have weaved a much better story if they had included more drawing out of the tension rather than just "I discovered sex and from there quickly screwed everything in sight." I suppose this book would do in a pinch if you needed some fapping material and watching a porn flick wasn't possible (no shame), but if you're looking for a romance-like feel to it, you won't find it here.
—Desiree
I would have rated this higher, but the incest and pedophilia aspects of this "story", especially toward the end of the book, were too much. I use the word "story", loosely as this book is not much different from pornographic movies; after a while it just gets repetitious.
—Nyssa
