Re: Piers Anthony
Quote:
Originally Posted by C.I.Bond
Err… yes, he rides the line between ah… willing and consensual and non-so-willing, it can be a bit of a surprise. Ultimately, I had to give up his books because I found his handling of women too offensive in general. Maybe if I was a teenage boy at the time instead of a girl it wouldn't have bothered me as much.  |
And in some cases supposedly willing, but as a mature adult reader you may wonder whether the willingness is well informed due to age.
I don't recall being offended by him as a teenage boy - but whether that was because I was a teenage boy or whether it was just a matter of which books of his I read at the time, I cannot really say. I think what offends me most (now that I am most definitely not a teenager) about some of his work is that it feels more like it is done for it's shock value than for any very good reason with regard to the story - as if by being controversial he may draw more attention. I added Heinlein to my example because I feel much the same about much of his work (incest etc).
To draw this line of thought back to the Twilight series: I never got the impression, while reading these books, that there was anything morally shocking, or in any way tawdry, about the relationship portrayed (aside from the human vs vampire thing I mean). To say "a one hundred year old falls in love with a teenager" may be a strictly correct statement but it misses so much of the premise behind the story as to be essentially irrelevant. (Whether the premise behind the story works for you the reader is quite another matter ... and I suppose if the premise didn't work then perhaps you do fall back on the age thing.)