There are actually two different scenes. It's a little complicated, but basically, the first one is
forced oral sex for money,
but I don't remember the description being particularly graphic,
the second one is
a more graphic rape scene, which I don't think includes oral sex,
not that that necessarily matters. However, I will say that the movie version was far more difficult for me to watch than reading about either.
But it sounds like the whole book might not be for you. Remember, the original Swedish title is
Men Who Hate Women.
And there is also
an equally violent revenge scene later.
That's all I need to know. Thanks, folks. Seriously. I'd rather know so I don't read stuff like that.
Hil, i didn't find even the third book super controversial and was amused by Catholics getting all huffy about it. Questioning the motives of people who do very bad things to other people might just be ok, ya'll. And yeah, none of that really gets overt until the third book. The first big is just an awesome fantasy with animal embodiments of the soul and armored polar bears. POLAR BEARS.
I think the His Dark Materials books are only anti-Catholic/Christian if you choose to read them that way. They can be read as an allegory about power and institutions more generally. (Although I'd managed never to encounter the concept of the Fall as a positive thing until Pullman, and it blew this good little Christian's MIND. Fantastic stuff.)
I'm half way through Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger. I'm not usually a fan of her books as I find them melodramatic, but this one's beautifully written and pure, literary gothic. Loving it. I need to get more books in audiobook format - I can enjoy reading again that way.
I think the His Dark Materials books are only anti-Catholic/Christian if you choose to read them that way
Hasn't Pullman said explicitly that he meant them to be an indictment of the Catholic Church?
Oooh, it IS Halloween! I should pull out Hill House and give it a good reading tonight.
I'd managed never to encounter the concept of the Fall as a positive thing until Pullman
There is a really good Harlan Ellison short story on this theme. The title escapes me, but perhaps someone else will remember.
In my cataloging class yesterday, we were discussing relational databases, and I brought up LibraryThing. Turns out the only people who were familiar with LibraryThing in my class were me and the teacher, so I spent my break showing some of my classmates my list of books over there. That made me realize how long it'd been since I last updated it--I have to work on that soon!
