Rob Jellinghaus quoted Jon Jacobs as saying:

>>> One of the problems, and an inevitable one, in this discussion is that some participants in it are thinking about absolute and permanent relationships only in terms of their own experiences, short-term surface relationships too quickly entered and usually quickly left. As I have continued to point out, I think that that's a lousy paradigm that's hurtful and cheats many people who don't even know that they're being cheated. Think about permanent consent in the context I'm using: careful preparation, long consideration, etc. <<<

Rob then says, in reply:

>>> I just finished reading a book that put a lot of these issues into an interesting light for me. Here's the entry I just put in the FAQ list about it.

The Slave, Sara Adamson, Rhinoceros Press, 1994, ISBN 1-56333-173-x. A surprisingly straightforward look at a woman's search for--and discovery of--a dream life of servitude. I enjoyed it greatly, and not only was it hot, it made me think. Recommended. <<<

Dear Rob,

I'm going to talk about my general impressions of the book, but first, I'm curious: what kind of light did The Slave place those sorts of issues in for you? Could you expand on that a little?

It was funny to see your message when I did; I just got through reading that book, too. Speaking as someone who's living in a life-style slave relationship, there was a lot in the novel that was right on--and a lot that was pure fantasy. When I have a little more time, I'm tempted to write a message--similar to what I did with the first Beauty book--on what aspects of this story struck me as realistic and which were obvious "it can't work that way in real life" fictionalizations. As you say, it is a very hot read, and because the book does get so much of the master-slave dynamic right, it's definitely worth a look if you are interested in exploring these types of relationships.

Something that's interesting to do is to read The Slave and then immediately afterward read Guy Baldwin's essay on the pitfalls in master-slave relationships from Ties that Bind. If you do this, you experience a really interesting juxtaposition of ideas: first a fantasy-flight into an idealized world of structured, organized slavery and then a crashdown-to-earth very sensible look at the ways these relationships actually work and the numerous reasons things go wrong in them.

The Marketplace, also by Sara Adamson, was in my opinion much hotter than The Slave. There is more dramatic tension in it, which, of course, is a euphemistic way of saying that lots more SM action was involved. Instead of the (taking deep breath) good-girl slave who means well but is absolutely ordinary and unexceptional in every way yet still manages, miraculously, to get superbly trained for an auction in record time plot, you have the (taking another deep breath) four absolutely terrible rotten awful clutzy yucky wannabe slaves with uniquely interesting--if not exactly erotically compelling--personalities who become despite all their foibles, well, adequately trained for an auction also in record time plot. (pant pant pant pant pant)

I will say one thing prematurely of my "is it real or is it Memorex" analysis-to-come of these books while the masters and trainers of The Marketplace institution are almost always portrayed as these erotic, intelligent, skilled, sophisticated individuals, the slaves and wannabe "supplicant" slaves are portrayed as either dumb as doorknobs or lazy or physically unappealing or emotionally dishonest or incredibly naive and inexperienced or sleazy or irresponsible or dorky or boring or one-dimensional or manipulative or childish or having umpteen other major personal flaws. They aren't the most attractive protagonists in the world, to put it mildly, and, as a submissive reader who is of course none of the above, I found them a bit hard to relate to. Seriously though, I think people (most people? some people? people like me? just me?) like their heros and heroines to be a little bit larger than life, a little bit better than run-of-the-mill, even if they are "mere slaves."

Oh, Sara Adamson...if you're out there, why don't you write a Marketplace novel in which the submissive heroine (or hero) is beautiful, experienced, and well-trained before she ever encounters the marketplace, has impeccable morals--as these apply to slaves--and is absolutely brilliant? In other words, a positive role model for folks like yours truly. I'd like to see such a heroine "outwit" the marketplace, which, despite its sophistication, doesn't quite know everything there is to know about the wonders and depths of the master-slave relationship, and teach that organization a thing or two about what slaves need in order to be happy, and then, because her need to submit runs so deep, she gratefully and gracefully falls under their rule once again (after proving to them what an immensely valuable resource they have acquired), and she is severely and prolongedly (not to mention gratuitously) disciplined in a hot grand finale scene just to make sure that she again knows her place. How 'bout it? Why, if you write it, I'll even generously volunteer to play the leading role in the movie version--and I won't use a body double for the realistic final scene .