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Belinda
Obsessed with the mystery surrounding Belinda, his precocious sixteen-year-old lover, Jeremy Walker, a middle-aged illustrator of children's books, is swept into Belinda's world of Hollywood money, lust, and dark family secrets
476 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1986
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January 31, 2024
So I learned two things about Anne Rice reading this—she's a shit writer with a cult following, and a disgusting excuse for a human being.
The vampire books seem to be her niche, and when she strays from that, you can see just how remedial her skills are. It's like with E.L. James. People say, "Anyone could write this crap! I could write it!"
Yeah, maybe you could, but you didn't. If James would've attempted to write a serious work of literary fiction, she never would've had a bestseller among the competition. But she wrote Twilight fanfic with almost-BDSM and a sadistic billionaire. She did it before everyone else would try to profit from such a thing. Similarly, Anne Rice created a voluminous world of vampires before it was trendy, making her a popular author. This book, Belinda, is slightly above the prose of E.L. James, but not as good as V.C. Andrews at her best.
The narrator is Jeremy Walker, a 44-year-old children's author and illustrator who is wildly popular. He writes and illustrates these gothic children's books about little girls in gauzy nightgowns, wandering the dark stairwells of haunted mansions. His entire house is dedicated to his work. He photographs child models from agencies, develops the film in his basement, and paints pictures of them in his attic. Each room of his home is staged, with antique dolls and toy trains, an old canopy bed. These props end up in his book illustrations.
He's at a book signing when he spots a teenager in a Catholic schoolgirl outfit who looks 15, definitely no more than 16. Jeremy tells us he has a history of fucking "street kids"—underage prostitutes that he pays generously, knowing he won't face consequences. But this one, this Belinda, seems well-educated, worldly, and wealthy, like she comes from a good home, so he's nervous. But he still invites her to an after party and sleeps with her right away.
Then she comes to his house and chain smokes foreign cigarettes and downs a bunch of scotch like its water, and he finds out she's a runaway who is in fact 16. But she refuses to talk about her family or her past. So he ends up asking her to model for him, saying he'll pay her like he does the little girls from the agency.
He has her wash her makeup off and model with a dollhouse in a little girl nightgown, and notes that she looks "like a 6-year-old" in the face, which gets him hard. He compares her to Becky Thatcher. She says she knew he always wanted to reach up under the little girls' nightgowns and how his work with children is erotic. He denies this, but still has sex with her in the little girl bed he has for illustrations.
I'm so confused at what Anne Rice was going for when she wrote this. It seems like she wanted us to know Belinda is an adult, not a child. And okay, I could accept that. Honestly, I didn't look or act different at 18 than at 16. It's an arbitrary age, and most places in Europe consider 16 to be the age of consent anyways. I agree, if you're old enough to operate a car on the freeway without supervision, you're old enough to decide what you will or won't do with your body. So why all the overt pedophilia references if Belinda is a grown woman?
Belinda is described as having a tan, slender body with a little boy butt and no hips, but big tits, so basically a Barbie doll... with a JonBenet Ramsey head, making her a woman-child sex Minotaur from hell. She's described as having tight skin around the eyes like a youngster, and it's continuously mentioned that she has a "babymouth"/"babylips." Jeremy calls her "darling baby" and "my little girl." He acts paternal with her, adopting her and buying her little girl clothes in a pre-adolescent style. He photographs her naked on a carousel horse, naked with dolls, and naked in a brass bed that looks like a crib before fucking her in it. He then dresses her to look like she's going to First Communion and builds a set in his home for the erotic photographs. If you don't know, First Communion is for girls who are 7-8 years old. He paints pictures of her in all these age-play scenarios.
It reminds me of when Britney Spears was 16 and did those David LaChapelle shots for Rolling Stone. In one, she's in her bedroom with all her dolls, in a push-up bra top. In another, she's laying on a silk sheet in lingerie holding a stuffed animal. There is one of her pushing her little sister's tricycle, bent over in booty shorts that say "baby" on the ass.
Of course Christina Aguilera was the same age, and a sexy young woman, but for some reason Britney was marketed to appear much more childlike than she was. She even popularized that naughty schoolgirl thing with the "...Baby One More Time" video. It was a very different representation than the "Genie in a Bottle" video of Christina's—which I can admit I found hot, because I was 16/17 myself when it came out. Fans who preferred Brit over Christina lost interest when she started acting/dressing age appropriate a few years later, even though she looked and sounded the exact same as an entertainer. There was a backlash against her not being their sweet little girl anymore. Christina didn't have a backlash, because she never played into that in the first place.
This novel seems very didactic, yet it's a mixed jumble of messages. "Belinda is not a child, she's a woman in control of her sexuality. But she's also a child compared to Jeremy, and pedophilia is sexy." Jeremy definitely does not view her as his equal.
The jacket sleeve says:
"A contemporary Lolita, Belinda is the sensual story of a postmodern nymphet and her provocative relationship with her considerably older lover."
How is she a nymphet? According to Humbert, who coined the phrase, a nymphet is a child aged 9-14, who has not yet began puberty. He found breasts, hips, and body hair utterly disgusting. Lo was a late bloomer, yet when she was 14 she was TOO OLD for him. She blossomed into a teenager, and he was trying to think of a way to get rid of her. But first he wanted to get her to Mexico and impregnate her, so he could start having incest with their daughter at age EIGHT, while he was still young enough to get an erection.
Humbert wouldn't touch buxom 16/17-year-old Belinda, no matter what she dressed like. That's like expecting lesbians to enjoy sex with pretty boys. Pedophiles want kids, that's what pedophilia is. Like how hard is that for Anne Rice to grasp?
She mentions Lolita three times, and Humbert on a handful of separate occasions, comparing them to Belinda and Jeremy. At one point Belinda goes missing, and Jeremy's friend says:
"And I don't care how many teen sex flicks they crank out every day down there in Tinseltown, you're forty-five and you fucked a teenager and you won't say you're sorry, and your goddamn paintings are selling, that's what's making them mad. They've got to believe somebody's sorry, somebody's going to pay, so they just love the idea that she's dead.
The link between sex and death, well, hell, it's as American as apple pie. For years every movie they ever made about gay sex—or any kind of weird sex for that matter—always ended with suicide or somebody getting killed. Look at Lolita. Humbert Humbert shoots Quilty, then he and Lolita both end up dead. America makes you pay that way when you break the rules."
So, she's equating gay sex with Humbert's pedophilia? That's the same thing homophobes say. They compare sexually abusing a helpless child to two consensual adults having gay sex, because they think gays are equally deviant and morally bankrupt.
And why would she keep drawing comparisons between her protagonist's romance and Humbert's kidnapping and raping of a child? Well, apparently she thinks rape is A-okay!
She makes a joke about Roman Polanski "getting caught" with an underage girl, like they were lovers having an affair. Roman Polanski drugged a girl of THIRTEEN, and raped her. He performed oral, vaginal, and anal sex on her with her crying and begging him to stop the entire time. What the fuck is wrong with Anne Rice, seriously?
She then has Jeremy say to Belinda that she looks "rapable" (which is not a word, but I'm assuming she meant rape-able) and Belinda says "thanks."
Then Belinda's stepfather tries to hold her down and rape her, but she gets away and they make up. He couldn't help himself, you see. She's such a hot piece of jail bait, what man could resist?
**
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Naomi, why did you read this?"
Honestly, I thought it would be erotic, since it's written by a female. I always loved older men. Still do. When I was a teenager, I wasn't interested in boys my age. I ended up not having sex until I was in my 20's, and quite a few of my boyfriends were old enough to be my dad. But I was interested in men when I was a teen. It was a taboo fantasy that I knew better than to act on. I thought this would be a sensual story about a sexy older man, and I expected to be aroused by it.
The problem is, Anne Rice is a male-identified woman. She tells the majority of the story from the male perspective, and objectifies the girl the entire time. She goes on and on and on about Belinda's blond, blond hair, her white-yellow-gold ringlets of fairy princess hair. Her candy-pink nipples and her candy-pink mouth and her tits and the "peach pink flesh" of her vulva and the texture, color, and shape of her pubic hair.
We have to slog through Jeremy's midlife crisis and artistic breakthrough and endless guilt about having sex with this nice girl who has a family somewhere, but we barely know what he looks like at all. We never get descriptions of Belinda's pleasure. We never get any dick stats on Jeremy. He briefly notes that he had sex with another man, but doesn't describe it. He vividly paints with words what Belinda looks like in all his art, but in telling about the shots he took of them naked together, not a word for himself. The sex scenes are so vague, except one that details him pouring wine into her vagina. Sounds unenjoyable, and like a yeast infection waiting to happen.
Belinda is your basic manic pixie dream girl. Jeremy spends the first 200 pages thinking about himself, then he finds out Belinda hasn't been honest with him. So he beats her while she cries and begs him to stop. The maid has to intervene, saying he'll "kill her." She's covered in bruises, and runs away. Then she mails him a journal telling him the truth about everything.
First of all, this "journal" goes on for 100 pages of my 400 page copy. That's a fourth of the book! To say what could've been said in 5-7 pages. It's SO dull that I couldn't wait for Jeremy to take over again! And in describing her sexual history with men, she uses the same kind of detached language she describes her father with. But when she talks about her lesbian affairs, she's very precise in describing the other women's beauty.
Interestingly, there are no masculine men in this entire book. There are many stereotypically flamboyant gays—a hairdresser with a sweet face, a guy who is slightly above five feet tall who wears lavender suits, sequin ties, and mink lined capes. Even Jeremy, the hero, has a house full of girls' toys and furniture and nightgowns.
In Belinda's journal, she reveals she got on birth control at age 12, and she'd led a very promiscuous life with no repercussions. At age 15, she had a nude sex scene in a European art film with a woman that was not acting but "for real", had sex with that actress's girlfriend who was the director, and had an affair with her stepfather. Everyone around her was into having sex with kids, or at least with her because she's so beautiful they can't help it. I think this was Anne Rice's way of showing she was "mature" or not an innocent victim. All it showed me was that Belinda was surrounded by perverts.
And at the end of the journal, Belinda forgives Jeremy—not for beating her, which she never mentions, but for making her open up about herself.
He releases the erotic nude paintings of the underage and missing Belinda, and mean old "feminists" just don't understand him, calling it exploitation. But sweet baby Belinda marries him while she's still underage so her mother or uncle can't have custody of her—basically, she becomes his property as if he were her father.
Jeremy often wrote in clipped sentence fragments like this:
"Rain falling. Great slanted sheets of rain. Dark puddles creeping into the flowers of the rug. Voices downstairs? No.
I was lying in bed with the scotch on the table next to me. Next to the phone. Been drunk since Rhinegold's visit, since I'd finished the new Artist and Model. Would be drunk until Saturday. Then back to work again. Saturday deadline for this madness. Until then the scotch. And the rain."
But short as those sentences were, the book was about 150 pages too long. Anne just didn't know when or how to stop. And it's unfortunate that she compares Jeremy to Humbert, because monster that he was, at least HH told his tale in a compelling manner.
The vampire books seem to be her niche, and when she strays from that, you can see just how remedial her skills are. It's like with E.L. James. People say, "Anyone could write this crap! I could write it!"
Yeah, maybe you could, but you didn't. If James would've attempted to write a serious work of literary fiction, she never would've had a bestseller among the competition. But she wrote Twilight fanfic with almost-BDSM and a sadistic billionaire. She did it before everyone else would try to profit from such a thing. Similarly, Anne Rice created a voluminous world of vampires before it was trendy, making her a popular author. This book, Belinda, is slightly above the prose of E.L. James, but not as good as V.C. Andrews at her best.
The narrator is Jeremy Walker, a 44-year-old children's author and illustrator who is wildly popular. He writes and illustrates these gothic children's books about little girls in gauzy nightgowns, wandering the dark stairwells of haunted mansions. His entire house is dedicated to his work. He photographs child models from agencies, develops the film in his basement, and paints pictures of them in his attic. Each room of his home is staged, with antique dolls and toy trains, an old canopy bed. These props end up in his book illustrations.
He's at a book signing when he spots a teenager in a Catholic schoolgirl outfit who looks 15, definitely no more than 16. Jeremy tells us he has a history of fucking "street kids"—underage prostitutes that he pays generously, knowing he won't face consequences. But this one, this Belinda, seems well-educated, worldly, and wealthy, like she comes from a good home, so he's nervous. But he still invites her to an after party and sleeps with her right away.
Then she comes to his house and chain smokes foreign cigarettes and downs a bunch of scotch like its water, and he finds out she's a runaway who is in fact 16. But she refuses to talk about her family or her past. So he ends up asking her to model for him, saying he'll pay her like he does the little girls from the agency.
He has her wash her makeup off and model with a dollhouse in a little girl nightgown, and notes that she looks "like a 6-year-old" in the face, which gets him hard. He compares her to Becky Thatcher. She says she knew he always wanted to reach up under the little girls' nightgowns and how his work with children is erotic. He denies this, but still has sex with her in the little girl bed he has for illustrations.
I'm so confused at what Anne Rice was going for when she wrote this. It seems like she wanted us to know Belinda is an adult, not a child. And okay, I could accept that. Honestly, I didn't look or act different at 18 than at 16. It's an arbitrary age, and most places in Europe consider 16 to be the age of consent anyways. I agree, if you're old enough to operate a car on the freeway without supervision, you're old enough to decide what you will or won't do with your body. So why all the overt pedophilia references if Belinda is a grown woman?
Belinda is described as having a tan, slender body with a little boy butt and no hips, but big tits, so basically a Barbie doll... with a JonBenet Ramsey head, making her a woman-child sex Minotaur from hell. She's described as having tight skin around the eyes like a youngster, and it's continuously mentioned that she has a "babymouth"/"babylips." Jeremy calls her "darling baby" and "my little girl." He acts paternal with her, adopting her and buying her little girl clothes in a pre-adolescent style. He photographs her naked on a carousel horse, naked with dolls, and naked in a brass bed that looks like a crib before fucking her in it. He then dresses her to look like she's going to First Communion and builds a set in his home for the erotic photographs. If you don't know, First Communion is for girls who are 7-8 years old. He paints pictures of her in all these age-play scenarios.
It reminds me of when Britney Spears was 16 and did those David LaChapelle shots for Rolling Stone. In one, she's in her bedroom with all her dolls, in a push-up bra top. In another, she's laying on a silk sheet in lingerie holding a stuffed animal. There is one of her pushing her little sister's tricycle, bent over in booty shorts that say "baby" on the ass.
Of course Christina Aguilera was the same age, and a sexy young woman, but for some reason Britney was marketed to appear much more childlike than she was. She even popularized that naughty schoolgirl thing with the "...Baby One More Time" video. It was a very different representation than the "Genie in a Bottle" video of Christina's—which I can admit I found hot, because I was 16/17 myself when it came out. Fans who preferred Brit over Christina lost interest when she started acting/dressing age appropriate a few years later, even though she looked and sounded the exact same as an entertainer. There was a backlash against her not being their sweet little girl anymore. Christina didn't have a backlash, because she never played into that in the first place.
This novel seems very didactic, yet it's a mixed jumble of messages. "Belinda is not a child, she's a woman in control of her sexuality. But she's also a child compared to Jeremy, and pedophilia is sexy." Jeremy definitely does not view her as his equal.
The jacket sleeve says:
"A contemporary Lolita, Belinda is the sensual story of a postmodern nymphet and her provocative relationship with her considerably older lover."
How is she a nymphet? According to Humbert, who coined the phrase, a nymphet is a child aged 9-14, who has not yet began puberty. He found breasts, hips, and body hair utterly disgusting. Lo was a late bloomer, yet when she was 14 she was TOO OLD for him. She blossomed into a teenager, and he was trying to think of a way to get rid of her. But first he wanted to get her to Mexico and impregnate her, so he could start having incest with their daughter at age EIGHT, while he was still young enough to get an erection.
Humbert wouldn't touch buxom 16/17-year-old Belinda, no matter what she dressed like. That's like expecting lesbians to enjoy sex with pretty boys. Pedophiles want kids, that's what pedophilia is. Like how hard is that for Anne Rice to grasp?
She mentions Lolita three times, and Humbert on a handful of separate occasions, comparing them to Belinda and Jeremy. At one point Belinda goes missing, and Jeremy's friend says:
"And I don't care how many teen sex flicks they crank out every day down there in Tinseltown, you're forty-five and you fucked a teenager and you won't say you're sorry, and your goddamn paintings are selling, that's what's making them mad. They've got to believe somebody's sorry, somebody's going to pay, so they just love the idea that she's dead.
The link between sex and death, well, hell, it's as American as apple pie. For years every movie they ever made about gay sex—or any kind of weird sex for that matter—always ended with suicide or somebody getting killed. Look at Lolita. Humbert Humbert shoots Quilty, then he and Lolita both end up dead. America makes you pay that way when you break the rules."
So, she's equating gay sex with Humbert's pedophilia? That's the same thing homophobes say. They compare sexually abusing a helpless child to two consensual adults having gay sex, because they think gays are equally deviant and morally bankrupt.
And why would she keep drawing comparisons between her protagonist's romance and Humbert's kidnapping and raping of a child? Well, apparently she thinks rape is A-okay!
She makes a joke about Roman Polanski "getting caught" with an underage girl, like they were lovers having an affair. Roman Polanski drugged a girl of THIRTEEN, and raped her. He performed oral, vaginal, and anal sex on her with her crying and begging him to stop the entire time. What the fuck is wrong with Anne Rice, seriously?
She then has Jeremy say to Belinda that she looks "rapable" (which is not a word, but I'm assuming she meant rape-able) and Belinda says "thanks."
Then Belinda's stepfather tries to hold her down and rape her, but she gets away and they make up. He couldn't help himself, you see. She's such a hot piece of jail bait, what man could resist?
**
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Naomi, why did you read this?"
Honestly, I thought it would be erotic, since it's written by a female. I always loved older men. Still do. When I was a teenager, I wasn't interested in boys my age. I ended up not having sex until I was in my 20's, and quite a few of my boyfriends were old enough to be my dad. But I was interested in men when I was a teen. It was a taboo fantasy that I knew better than to act on. I thought this would be a sensual story about a sexy older man, and I expected to be aroused by it.
The problem is, Anne Rice is a male-identified woman. She tells the majority of the story from the male perspective, and objectifies the girl the entire time. She goes on and on and on about Belinda's blond, blond hair, her white-yellow-gold ringlets of fairy princess hair. Her candy-pink nipples and her candy-pink mouth and her tits and the "peach pink flesh" of her vulva and the texture, color, and shape of her pubic hair.
We have to slog through Jeremy's midlife crisis and artistic breakthrough and endless guilt about having sex with this nice girl who has a family somewhere, but we barely know what he looks like at all. We never get descriptions of Belinda's pleasure. We never get any dick stats on Jeremy. He briefly notes that he had sex with another man, but doesn't describe it. He vividly paints with words what Belinda looks like in all his art, but in telling about the shots he took of them naked together, not a word for himself. The sex scenes are so vague, except one that details him pouring wine into her vagina. Sounds unenjoyable, and like a yeast infection waiting to happen.
Belinda is your basic manic pixie dream girl. Jeremy spends the first 200 pages thinking about himself, then he finds out Belinda hasn't been honest with him. So he beats her while she cries and begs him to stop. The maid has to intervene, saying he'll "kill her." She's covered in bruises, and runs away. Then she mails him a journal telling him the truth about everything.
First of all, this "journal" goes on for 100 pages of my 400 page copy. That's a fourth of the book! To say what could've been said in 5-7 pages. It's SO dull that I couldn't wait for Jeremy to take over again! And in describing her sexual history with men, she uses the same kind of detached language she describes her father with. But when she talks about her lesbian affairs, she's very precise in describing the other women's beauty.
Interestingly, there are no masculine men in this entire book. There are many stereotypically flamboyant gays—a hairdresser with a sweet face, a guy who is slightly above five feet tall who wears lavender suits, sequin ties, and mink lined capes. Even Jeremy, the hero, has a house full of girls' toys and furniture and nightgowns.
In Belinda's journal, she reveals she got on birth control at age 12, and she'd led a very promiscuous life with no repercussions. At age 15, she had a nude sex scene in a European art film with a woman that was not acting but "for real", had sex with that actress's girlfriend who was the director, and had an affair with her stepfather. Everyone around her was into having sex with kids, or at least with her because she's so beautiful they can't help it. I think this was Anne Rice's way of showing she was "mature" or not an innocent victim. All it showed me was that Belinda was surrounded by perverts.
And at the end of the journal, Belinda forgives Jeremy—not for beating her, which she never mentions, but for making her open up about herself.
He releases the erotic nude paintings of the underage and missing Belinda, and mean old "feminists" just don't understand him, calling it exploitation. But sweet baby Belinda marries him while she's still underage so her mother or uncle can't have custody of her—basically, she becomes his property as if he were her father.
Jeremy often wrote in clipped sentence fragments like this:
"Rain falling. Great slanted sheets of rain. Dark puddles creeping into the flowers of the rug. Voices downstairs? No.
I was lying in bed with the scotch on the table next to me. Next to the phone. Been drunk since Rhinegold's visit, since I'd finished the new Artist and Model. Would be drunk until Saturday. Then back to work again. Saturday deadline for this madness. Until then the scotch. And the rain."
But short as those sentences were, the book was about 150 pages too long. Anne just didn't know when or how to stop. And it's unfortunate that she compares Jeremy to Humbert, because monster that he was, at least HH told his tale in a compelling manner.
September 18, 2007
This is one of the lesser-lesser known works by the authoress Anne Rice, written under her least common pen name. On the surface, Belinda seems to resemble Nabakov's famous work Lolita, but the character dimension has Rice's typical sparkle, the intimate scenes are more vivid and realistic, and the more modern setting makes it more accessible for many.
This book is a shade more controversial and patently sexual than most of the Vampire Chronicles, but less so than the Beauty Trilogy, so if you are coming from either series, don't expect the same style.
This book is a shade more controversial and patently sexual than most of the Vampire Chronicles, but less so than the Beauty Trilogy, so if you are coming from either series, don't expect the same style.
July 31, 2019
I'm not sure what I thought I was signing up for with this one. I knew the author Anne Rice had penned this under a pseudonym and was intrigued as to what the result would be, when she veered from her expected supernatural writing.
This is sold as romance and erotica. It is neither. I feel the need to add a disclaimer here that I do not even read romance or erotica and had I seen the genres this fell under then it is extremely doubtful I would ever have picked up the book (no hate, they're just not for me!). The synopsis led me to believe this a Lolita-esque story about the relationship between a grown male and his teenaged love interest.
Lolita is dense and dark as it explores the taboo. It does not make light of the subject matter yet still manages to illuminate it. Nabakov charms his readers; he is titillating and lyrical in his approach to the story. He delivers a raw and unabashed account; sweeping no crumbs from the counter-top before serving it up. Yet, in all of this, there is abundant grace and beauty to be found.
This book, however, did none of the above. This remained a messed up, perverted, and paedophilic story-line with no redeeming qualities throughout and gave me nothing to root for and everything to sneer at in disgust. A hard NOPE from me!
This is sold as romance and erotica. It is neither. I feel the need to add a disclaimer here that I do not even read romance or erotica and had I seen the genres this fell under then it is extremely doubtful I would ever have picked up the book (no hate, they're just not for me!). The synopsis led me to believe this a Lolita-esque story about the relationship between a grown male and his teenaged love interest.
Lolita is dense and dark as it explores the taboo. It does not make light of the subject matter yet still manages to illuminate it. Nabakov charms his readers; he is titillating and lyrical in his approach to the story. He delivers a raw and unabashed account; sweeping no crumbs from the counter-top before serving it up. Yet, in all of this, there is abundant grace and beauty to be found.
This book, however, did none of the above. This remained a messed up, perverted, and paedophilic story-line with no redeeming qualities throughout and gave me nothing to root for and everything to sneer at in disgust. A hard NOPE from me!
January 25, 2025
Anne Rice's 1986 novel Belinda is narrated by children’s author Jeremy Walker, whose relationship to baby-mouthed nymphette Belinda could make Humbert Humbert rise up from the dead.
Belinda can also easily read as a wildly entertaining, trashy Hollywood novel to rival Valley of the Dolls. Belinda's mother in particular, faded superstar Bonnie, who is making a very Alexis-Carrington-like comeback to the spotlight in a popular nighttime TV soap, is superbly characterized: the type of person who gets the sympathy of others with what passes for insecurity but really a vanity so immense that most of us cannot conceive of it. Bonnie's oily TV exec husband is the “saint of hot,”i>, a parasite who controls his faded movie star wife, pumping her full of embalming fluid just so she can stand on her mark and deliver her lines on time.
Belinda is also a book about mothers. We have three prominent characters all obsessed with their mothers: Belinda of course, who never had a real childhood because she was playing nurse to her completely drugged out, megalomaniac mother; Jeremy, who has lived all his life under the shadow of his best-selling author mother, and is still controlled by her after her death; And Bonnie herself, who does not seem to have ever moved past the death of her own mother when she was seven years old.
There is gorgeous imagery throughout contrasting vividly with the dark themes of abuse, exploitation, and violence. Though this novel is not about vampires, which Anne Rice is most well known for, the theme of eternal life, eternal youth, is omnipresent. Several times, Belinda is referred to by Walker as well as by other characters as a girl who will never age despite the years, due to a certain child-like quality to her face (her upturned nose, her baby mouth, her doll like eyes) and her unique, voluptuous mane of hair. She is the nymph who'd had this same body for a hundred years.
Bonnie is of course preoccupied with maintaining not only her youth and beauty but her immortality through her films and TV show, even at the expense of writing her own daughter completely out of the script.
Most chillingly, Walker's mother tries to trap him from beyond the grave, decreeing in her will that he must continue to write novels in her name and pretend they were long lost, unpublished manuscripts he discovered posthumously, in order to ensure her eternal life.
All the parasites who inhabit Belinda's world, the various players in the film, literary, or art industry, the tabloids, the hanger-ons, the court of public opinion, the veritable army of chauffeurs, stylists, masseuses, doctors, lawyers, etc. all entrap and suck life from the truly bright light that is Belinda, the only innocent, pure, and wholeheartedly good character in the entire book.
Belinda can also easily read as a wildly entertaining, trashy Hollywood novel to rival Valley of the Dolls. Belinda's mother in particular, faded superstar Bonnie, who is making a very Alexis-Carrington-like comeback to the spotlight in a popular nighttime TV soap, is superbly characterized: the type of person who gets the sympathy of others with what passes for insecurity but really a vanity so immense that most of us cannot conceive of it. Bonnie's oily TV exec husband is the “saint of hot,”i>, a parasite who controls his faded movie star wife, pumping her full of embalming fluid just so she can stand on her mark and deliver her lines on time.
Belinda is also a book about mothers. We have three prominent characters all obsessed with their mothers: Belinda of course, who never had a real childhood because she was playing nurse to her completely drugged out, megalomaniac mother; Jeremy, who has lived all his life under the shadow of his best-selling author mother, and is still controlled by her after her death; And Bonnie herself, who does not seem to have ever moved past the death of her own mother when she was seven years old.
There is gorgeous imagery throughout contrasting vividly with the dark themes of abuse, exploitation, and violence. Though this novel is not about vampires, which Anne Rice is most well known for, the theme of eternal life, eternal youth, is omnipresent. Several times, Belinda is referred to by Walker as well as by other characters as a girl who will never age despite the years, due to a certain child-like quality to her face (her upturned nose, her baby mouth, her doll like eyes) and her unique, voluptuous mane of hair. She is the nymph who'd had this same body for a hundred years.
Bonnie is of course preoccupied with maintaining not only her youth and beauty but her immortality through her films and TV show, even at the expense of writing her own daughter completely out of the script.
Most chillingly, Walker's mother tries to trap him from beyond the grave, decreeing in her will that he must continue to write novels in her name and pretend they were long lost, unpublished manuscripts he discovered posthumously, in order to ensure her eternal life.
All the parasites who inhabit Belinda's world, the various players in the film, literary, or art industry, the tabloids, the hanger-ons, the court of public opinion, the veritable army of chauffeurs, stylists, masseuses, doctors, lawyers, etc. all entrap and suck life from the truly bright light that is Belinda, the only innocent, pure, and wholeheartedly good character in the entire book.
May 1, 2014
This one was probably the first nail in the coffin that was my fandom of Rice's work, the last being the abysmal 'Angel Time.' Not sexy, even remotely, this book is about satutory rape, plain and simple. While I was reading it I was, for whatever reason, able to rationalize it, but the moment I put the book down it clicked with me that this girl was 16, I became pretty grossed out. I have no idea why so many people have these older man/young girl fantasies, but I am actually angry that I allowed myself to become participatory in this one. I should've put it down immediately once I realized what this was, but I didn't and I am so disappointed in myself. And the ending was just cringe inducing; the happily ever after of a teenager and her rapist. How lovely. Please skip this, don't encourage any writer to publish anything that contributes to the sexualization of young girls and help prop up our rape culture.
March 21, 2011
November 16 2009
So much to say about this book and so many reasons why I loved it.
If you pick up this book keep an open mind. Jeremy is not a perv and this is no regular 16 year old girl. She has lived and lived hard in her short 16 years. I loved them. Great plot, fleshed out Characters. I could actually see the movie in my head as I was reading. Belinda's letter to Jeremy is so great. Alex's friendship with Jeremy was so wonderful and G.G. is so cute! Belinda's relationship with her mother is such a tragedy on so many levels. She is evil yet you feel sorry for her. This is a book that I could read again and probably will. Holy Communion! I loved it.
ReRead March 3, 2010
I knew this would be a book that I would enjoy over and over again. I did pick up on a few things. I didn't think Jeremy was 5 years older that GG. WOW. For me I still had no problem with the age thing.
Read it! Read it! You will be in for a treat!
So much to say about this book and so many reasons why I loved it.
If you pick up this book keep an open mind. Jeremy is not a perv and this is no regular 16 year old girl. She has lived and lived hard in her short 16 years. I loved them. Great plot, fleshed out Characters. I could actually see the movie in my head as I was reading. Belinda's letter to Jeremy is so great. Alex's friendship with Jeremy was so wonderful and G.G. is so cute! Belinda's relationship with her mother is such a tragedy on so many levels. She is evil yet you feel sorry for her. This is a book that I could read again and probably will. Holy Communion! I loved it.
ReRead March 3, 2010
I knew this would be a book that I would enjoy over and over again. I did pick up on a few things. I didn't think Jeremy was 5 years older that GG. WOW. For me I still had no problem with the age thing.
Read it! Read it! You will be in for a treat!
August 16, 2007
Anne Rice starts off this novel by declaring, "THIS NOVEL IS DEDICATED TO ME". Sadly, that's the best and most entertaining part in the entire book.
January 23, 2011
Even with my generous suspension of disbelief, this was unrealistic and ridiculous. I think Anne Rice wrote it just to enjoy imagining the sex.
April 2, 2016
(Oops, I just realized I never posted a review for this sadly maligned little tome. I shall do so right now, though it's a year late.)
While shrill, squeamish readers seem to dismiss BELINDA as fetishized tripe, this is an interesting character study -- also a beautifully written story of hard rich-people life & (ultimately) redemption of oneself through the love of another person. In this case, it happens that Belinda is a teenager & Jeremy is in his 40s. But it's different from Lolita; the reader comes to see their relationship as a positive force, not a cause for shame or violence.
Though Belinda starts out as a Lolita object in Jeremy's mind, every painting treats her as a slightly more adult figure -- in the end he doesn't need to paint her naked or create deliberately erotic poses. That is the mature, adult element of their story, & I'm sad so many people ignore it. (Because it's Rice? Because it's extreme May/December? Because it's got melodramatic elements? Or all three of these?) But a large age gap doesn't automatically equal a softcore one-handed read. The sex itself was pretty tame so far as descriptions, & Jeremy's emotional loyalty to her is quite touching, IMO. (Also, as the (few) positive reviews have pointed out, Belinda is by far the adult in their relationship. She's lived hard & fast -- the question of "at what point is someone adult even when they're not an adult, & therefore when do they have the rights of a fully cognizant person even though their body is still growing" is hugely important to this book, just as it is for many SVU episodes.)
Anyway.
It's a great book. If you like May/December, slightly gothic, and/or glitter trash novels, don't be afraid of it. And don't be ashamed to like it when you DO read it. The shrill shrieks of the PC brigade make no effort to appreciate what's positive -- and, dare I say it, charming -- about Jeremy & Belinda's OTT drama. :)
While shrill, squeamish readers seem to dismiss BELINDA as fetishized tripe, this is an interesting character study -- also a beautifully written story of hard rich-people life & (ultimately) redemption of oneself through the love of another person. In this case, it happens that Belinda is a teenager & Jeremy is in his 40s. But it's different from Lolita; the reader comes to see their relationship as a positive force, not a cause for shame or violence.
Though Belinda starts out as a Lolita object in Jeremy's mind, every painting treats her as a slightly more adult figure -- in the end he doesn't need to paint her naked or create deliberately erotic poses. That is the mature, adult element of their story, & I'm sad so many people ignore it. (Because it's Rice? Because it's extreme May/December? Because it's got melodramatic elements? Or all three of these?) But a large age gap doesn't automatically equal a softcore one-handed read. The sex itself was pretty tame so far as descriptions, & Jeremy's emotional loyalty to her is quite touching, IMO. (Also, as the (few) positive reviews have pointed out, Belinda is by far the adult in their relationship. She's lived hard & fast -- the question of "at what point is someone adult even when they're not an adult, & therefore when do they have the rights of a fully cognizant person even though their body is still growing" is hugely important to this book, just as it is for many SVU episodes.)
Anyway.
It's a great book. If you like May/December, slightly gothic, and/or glitter trash novels, don't be afraid of it. And don't be ashamed to like it when you DO read it. The shrill shrieks of the PC brigade make no effort to appreciate what's positive -- and, dare I say it, charming -- about Jeremy & Belinda's OTT drama. :)
January 8, 2008
Ann Rice writes erotica with the same intensity as she does with her Vampire Novels.
Jeremy Walker, a handsome and famous 44-year old illustrator of children's books becomes totally obsessed with>>
Belinda the ultimate fantasy. A golden-haired object of desire, fresh and uninhibited. A forbidden passion, both beguiling and bewitching and someone he cannot keep his mind nor hands off of.
Jeremy Walker, a handsome and famous 44-year old illustrator of children's books becomes totally obsessed with>>
Belinda the ultimate fantasy. A golden-haired object of desire, fresh and uninhibited. A forbidden passion, both beguiling and bewitching and someone he cannot keep his mind nor hands off of.
August 16, 2007
NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, AND CONTAINS A LOLITA-ESQUE TALE.
If you prefer a more Real Life angsty story with a fairly nice end over Rice's Over the top supernatural bru-ha-ha, look no further. Unless, of course, you are squicked by a teenage girl sleeping with and being in a romance with a middle aged man.
That, perhaps, is the major determent in recommending this book. It's rather frightening to know how good a book is but know that because of the plot, someone will judge you for your enjoyment of it. I remember reading it red faced, not because of the content but rather because I knew that if someone recognized what it was, they would raise their eyebrows.
The red face may also have been because I was a 16-year-old girl who frequently lust after men in their thirties and forties, reading a story about a man lusting after and eventually falling in love with someone my age. Nothing like haveing a double guilty conscious, eh?
In any case, there is Art, there is a debate over art vs obscenity, there is beautiful description, there is a compelling love story that at the same time makes you want to step back, and a hot topic plot. hmmmm. . . sounds like a good read to me! Perhaps I shall reread it now that I'm several years older and my lust objects are a hell of alot closer to my own age. . .
If you prefer a more Real Life angsty story with a fairly nice end over Rice's Over the top supernatural bru-ha-ha, look no further. Unless, of course, you are squicked by a teenage girl sleeping with and being in a romance with a middle aged man.
That, perhaps, is the major determent in recommending this book. It's rather frightening to know how good a book is but know that because of the plot, someone will judge you for your enjoyment of it. I remember reading it red faced, not because of the content but rather because I knew that if someone recognized what it was, they would raise their eyebrows.
The red face may also have been because I was a 16-year-old girl who frequently lust after men in their thirties and forties, reading a story about a man lusting after and eventually falling in love with someone my age. Nothing like haveing a double guilty conscious, eh?
In any case, there is Art, there is a debate over art vs obscenity, there is beautiful description, there is a compelling love story that at the same time makes you want to step back, and a hot topic plot. hmmmm. . . sounds like a good read to me! Perhaps I shall reread it now that I'm several years older and my lust objects are a hell of alot closer to my own age. . .
June 10, 2008
Implausible. Unrealistic. Saccharine. A bit smutty.
It's been called Lolita-esque, but Rice isn't even close to the writer Nabakov was. It's been called erotic, but I didn't find it so. It's been called seductive, but I was not seduced.
There's no depth to this story. No reason either of these characters would fall in love. This is like Anne Rice put some typical sexual fantasy into words and published it because she could.
It's been called Lolita-esque, but Rice isn't even close to the writer Nabakov was. It's been called erotic, but I didn't find it so. It's been called seductive, but I was not seduced.
There's no depth to this story. No reason either of these characters would fall in love. This is like Anne Rice put some typical sexual fantasy into words and published it because she could.
March 13, 2014
I read this years ago and loved it, thought it was daring and naughty and fraught with all of Anne Rice's usual plot twists and great characters. On re-reading it in my 50s I just keep thinking 'Yuck.' I'm going to finish it out of respect for the author who gave me 'Interview' and then donate it to the used book store so its nastiness doesn't rub off on my other books. How did I ever think this crap was titillating?
and having finished it for the last time, that's exactly where it's going. i'm embarrassed that i ever liked it, and mad at myself for wasting precious reading time on it now. i don't have enough life left to read the books i want, and i can't get that time back now. paugh.
she tries to make the overt pedophilia 'okay' by presenting us with a belinda who is wise, an old soul, who knows what jeremy needs more than he does himself, totally self-sufficient, free of adolescent insecurities, the power behind the throne who is able to help her abuser shuck off his chains and realize his full potential. heck, rice even gives him parental approval.
i'm going to have a hard time ever liking 'interview' again after this.
and having finished it for the last time, that's exactly where it's going. i'm embarrassed that i ever liked it, and mad at myself for wasting precious reading time on it now. i don't have enough life left to read the books i want, and i can't get that time back now. paugh.
she tries to make the overt pedophilia 'okay' by presenting us with a belinda who is wise, an old soul, who knows what jeremy needs more than he does himself, totally self-sufficient, free of adolescent insecurities, the power behind the throne who is able to help her abuser shuck off his chains and realize his full potential. heck, rice even gives him parental approval.
i'm going to have a hard time ever liking 'interview' again after this.
April 4, 2011
I would say that Belinda was a modern-day Lolita, if I were pretentious enough to allege that I had read Lolita, which I have not. However, reading this made me wish that I had so that I could make the comparison in an educated manner. What I can say is that Rice begins describing a 44 year old man's relationship with a 16 year old girl from the man's perspective in such a way that it almost gives you the creeps, making you feel guilty and dirty just for reading about it, then as she fleshes out the characters, especially Belinda herself, you end up rooting for these two to work it out and be together forever. That's quite a feat. And, from what I've read about Lolita, this has a much more pleasant conclusion. Fans of Rice writing as Roquelaure will find this rather sedate, but fans of Rice writing as Rice will recognize the style and appreciate the amped up sensuality and artistry of the text. Fans of Rice, whichever nom de plume she chooses, like me, will just be entranced.
February 18, 2011
Let me begin by saying my standards for Anne Rice under any of her names is incredibly high. She brought me Lestat and my Louis, absorbed me in her world of witches . . .and this was. . .? It certainly takes the twists and turns one expects from Rice, but the quality of writing, the total immersion, the characters that linger in your heart just were not there. Despite the obvious pedophilia overtones throughout the entire story I was willing to give it a fair shake (well I don't even think I can call it overtones when that is what the entirety of the book is based on). The character developement was there, but not on the level I needed, I didn't find myself caring much about Belinda or Jeremy even at the end. It wasn't overly erotic or offensive, it wasn't groundbreaking, it wasn't awful, truly, it just "wasn't". I was left simply feeling like I bought a knock off Chanel bag.
June 10, 2009
AWEFUL! I am one of those individuals that must finish the book no matter how much I dislike it. Some of the reviews describe this book as sexy or erotic. I am confused. I did not read anything sexy or erotic in this book. I did however read about a dirty old man exploiting an uneducated poorly raised teenager. I felt so sorry for Belinda. She was raised by thoughtless people. The notebook/letter to Jeremy from Belinda was a torture all on its own. I mean, I mean how many times is she gonna use that phrase in her tale of the events of her life.... I mean....
August 8, 2016
Provocative, sensual, daring, taboo. I was unsure about the content, but I could not put it down. A painter/ children's author having a love affair with a 16 year-old girl, who is more of a woman, due to her unusual worldly childhood, than any woman he has ever been with. The way Anne describes the paintings, the house, the love scenes, is almost like you are there.
June 6, 2023
MIDLIFE CRISIS MAN BABY and WISER THAN HER YEARS BABY SEDUCTRESS
- a lifetime movie -
So much yikes.
I could write a long review going into detail about where the difference is between a book that in good faith portrays the difficulty of "love" between an underage girl and a much older man and a book that simply feeds and exploits the fantasy of 14/15/16 year old girls being "underage nymphets", which is a dangerous idea always in bad faith, since no thought whatsoever is wasted on the inner workings of the child in that scenario, but only on the adult party, most often men.
The fact that this novel pokes fun at Roman Polansky's horrific rape of a 13-year old girl in the first few chapters as him having "some fun with girls" is a dead giveaway which kind this book is.
To be fair, and I sometimes try to be fair, I've had the "pedophilia is never even remotely okay" discussion with my mom, who is from another generation.
In the 70s, it was "normal" for European, French in particular, authors and philosophers (all of them male, obvs) to have underage groupies/nymphets/"students"/sex dolls around.
It was SO normal, in fact, that these guys felt comfortable going on television saying stuff like "it's unfair that we are seen as criminals for wanting to have sex with [even younger children]. real modernity is the sexual liberation of children of all ages!!"
(please note I am absolutely and violently opposed to this in every way or form) *gagging*
Mom told me all that and I actually *knew* that, because many of those "student lovers" are now famous literates and some wrote memoirs about their sexual exploitation and abuse by these disgusting older men.
My argument is that exploitation of children for sex is not a crime because of *zeitgeist* but because it is one of those obvious laws everyone can agree on, like, do not kill.
This novel is an everything-sandwich of "she made me do it the witchy seductress" and also "babylips babyface babyhair babyblablabla"
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS my god
The male protagonist is a children's book author and illustrator and he has a history of sleeping specifically with underage prostitutes, even though he could easily have chosen adult-(looking) hookers.
Ironically he feels bad for these "kids" and leaves them with a sizeable amount of money. He feels bad but ... he still sleeps with them. Huh.
What Anne Rice does well in this novel is the portrayal of the way sophisticated middle-aged, "kindly" literates, justified their disgusting and illegal shenanigans.
One could argue that she even translates this "persona" into the puritan American context with some credibility.
BUT she also made her voiceless, so-called "heroine", whom we really just experience from the outside, as readers, and always in her *pretty-doll, seductress, mature-for-her-age* role.
Belinda isn't multifaceted. Or rather, she is not allowed, on the pages of this novel, to be, since everything in this universe revolves around the piece of trash self-pitying adult man-baby.
Anyway I hate it when people - that includes my mom - pretend like some things that are wrong *weren't always wrong*.
Anne Rice knew exactly what she was writing and she chose - actively - to portray the plight of an adult who woefully loves baby legs.
One scene that stood out to me was when Belinda had to leave her apartment after her roommate was beaten to death by her bf and child-whispering book-slinger turns up in the guise of her father, picks her up, brings her to his home and instead of asking her how she is and whether she liked her roommate or not, he waffles about showing her the naked pics he drew of her or not. Not everything is about you, dude!
This whole book is about adults fetishizing kids.
- a lifetime movie -
So much yikes.
I could write a long review going into detail about where the difference is between a book that in good faith portrays the difficulty of "love" between an underage girl and a much older man and a book that simply feeds and exploits the fantasy of 14/15/16 year old girls being "underage nymphets", which is a dangerous idea always in bad faith, since no thought whatsoever is wasted on the inner workings of the child in that scenario, but only on the adult party, most often men.
The fact that this novel pokes fun at Roman Polansky's horrific rape of a 13-year old girl in the first few chapters as him having "some fun with girls" is a dead giveaway which kind this book is.
To be fair, and I sometimes try to be fair, I've had the "pedophilia is never even remotely okay" discussion with my mom, who is from another generation.
In the 70s, it was "normal" for European, French in particular, authors and philosophers (all of them male, obvs) to have underage groupies/nymphets/"students"/sex dolls around.
It was SO normal, in fact, that these guys felt comfortable going on television saying stuff like "it's unfair that we are seen as criminals for wanting to have sex with [even younger children]. real modernity is the sexual liberation of children of all ages!!"
(please note I am absolutely and violently opposed to this in every way or form) *gagging*
Mom told me all that and I actually *knew* that, because many of those "student lovers" are now famous literates and some wrote memoirs about their sexual exploitation and abuse by these disgusting older men.
My argument is that exploitation of children for sex is not a crime because of *zeitgeist* but because it is one of those obvious laws everyone can agree on, like, do not kill.
This novel is an everything-sandwich of "she made me do it the witchy seductress" and also "babylips babyface babyhair babyblablabla"
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS my god
The male protagonist is a children's book author and illustrator and he has a history of sleeping specifically with underage prostitutes, even though he could easily have chosen adult-(looking) hookers.
Ironically he feels bad for these "kids" and leaves them with a sizeable amount of money. He feels bad but ... he still sleeps with them. Huh.
What Anne Rice does well in this novel is the portrayal of the way sophisticated middle-aged, "kindly" literates, justified their disgusting and illegal shenanigans.
One could argue that she even translates this "persona" into the puritan American context with some credibility.
BUT she also made her voiceless, so-called "heroine", whom we really just experience from the outside, as readers, and always in her *pretty-doll, seductress, mature-for-her-age* role.
Belinda isn't multifaceted. Or rather, she is not allowed, on the pages of this novel, to be, since everything in this universe revolves around the piece of trash self-pitying adult man-baby.
Anyway I hate it when people - that includes my mom - pretend like some things that are wrong *weren't always wrong*.
Anne Rice knew exactly what she was writing and she chose - actively - to portray the plight of an adult who woefully loves baby legs.
One scene that stood out to me was when Belinda had to leave her apartment after her roommate was beaten to death by her bf and child-whispering book-slinger turns up in the guise of her father, picks her up, brings her to his home and instead of asking her how she is and whether she liked her roommate or not, he waffles about showing her the naked pics he drew of her or not. Not everything is about you, dude!
This whole book is about adults fetishizing kids.
December 3, 2008
Dull. Even the "hot" sex scenes are boring. If I want half-baked, overwrought literary porn, I'll read Anais Nin, thanks.
June 1, 2013
Can't believe I haven't added this before! It's one of my childhood favourites (weirdly enough) and I absolutely loved it. I loved all the insane characters and globe-trotting and rich famousness. I was dying to read Crimson Mardi Gras (the book Jeremy ghost-writes for his mother) and watch Belinda's mother's night time soap and the inscrutable foreign film Belinda makes with the cowboy-hat lesbian.
If you're thinking of reading it and expecting a 1980's Lolita, stop. This is pure soapy trash. When I first read it I was about 13 and didn't really think anything was up with a sophisticated 16-year-old like from Sweet Valley High getting it together with a much older man. Now I'm almost 30 and 16-year-olds look about 10 so that ramps up the ick-factor and I'm almost afraid to re-read it in case my memories of it are ruined, so I'm just going to remember it through the haze of ages.
If you're thinking of reading it and expecting a 1980's Lolita, stop. This is pure soapy trash. When I first read it I was about 13 and didn't really think anything was up with a sophisticated 16-year-old like from Sweet Valley High getting it together with a much older man. Now I'm almost 30 and 16-year-olds look about 10 so that ramps up the ick-factor and I'm almost afraid to re-read it in case my memories of it are ruined, so I'm just going to remember it through the haze of ages.
June 24, 2023
This book was a ghost of Lolita. Technically, yes, it’s written well, nothin to fault technically. But paedophilia is paedophilia. No matter how anyone dresses it.
January 29, 2009
I wanted to read an Ann Rice book, but not about vampires, so I picked this.
I liked this story and found it incrediably interesting and I could hardly put it down. It is really a different type of book.
Best way for me to describe this book, listen to the song Lullabye (Rock-a-Bye) by Shawn Mullins. weird
I liked this story and found it incrediably interesting and I could hardly put it down. It is really a different type of book.
Best way for me to describe this book, listen to the song Lullabye (Rock-a-Bye) by Shawn Mullins. weird
July 26, 2016
Meh...this is unbelievably embarrassing, but I only recall reading this because I was under the assumption that the heroine(?), Belinda, was a clandestine vampire who would ultimately devour the hero after sex0rz. :|
FAIL.
FAIL.
November 16, 2022
Rereading this book after deprogramming my brain of the Lolita trope was a very different experience. There's so much to unpack behind Belinda's character that makes me wonder exactly why it was a trope I was so invested in when I first read this book at 17.
April 3, 2012
I love this. A Lolita for the new generation but more tender and more accesible.
June 26, 2014
Se me ha hecho largo el exceso, me esperaba otra cosa y no un tío con obsesiones que, desde mi punto de vista, rozan la pedofilia.
Me he sentido incómoda por mucho que se quiera disfrazar a Belinda de madura, pensando que ella no deja de ser una niña en un mundo de adultos con la presión que ello conlleva y planteándome si esa obsesión del protagonista no se hacía ya patente en las oscuras pinturas de las niñas que realizaba hasta entonces.
Me ha costado mucho, muchísimo la primera parte; la segunda se me ha hecho un tanto soporífera en tanto que me resultaba inverosímil y lioso tanta explicación y no he terminado de entender por qué era tan importante Susan Jeremiah y la película que rodó con Belinda, adquieren una relevancia desorbitada. La tercera parte me ha resultado más amena, pero quizá simplemente es que tenía afán por terminar de leer de una vez.
Es el segundo libro de Anne Rice que leo no relacionado con el mundo de la vampirología y me ha decepcionado muchísimo. Aburridísimo.
Me he sentido incómoda por mucho que se quiera disfrazar a Belinda de madura, pensando que ella no deja de ser una niña en un mundo de adultos con la presión que ello conlleva y planteándome si esa obsesión del protagonista no se hacía ya patente en las oscuras pinturas de las niñas que realizaba hasta entonces.
Me ha costado mucho, muchísimo la primera parte; la segunda se me ha hecho un tanto soporífera en tanto que me resultaba inverosímil y lioso tanta explicación y no he terminado de entender por qué era tan importante Susan Jeremiah y la película que rodó con Belinda, adquieren una relevancia desorbitada. La tercera parte me ha resultado más amena, pero quizá simplemente es que tenía afán por terminar de leer de una vez.
Es el segundo libro de Anne Rice que leo no relacionado con el mundo de la vampirología y me ha decepcionado muchísimo. Aburridísimo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2018
I first read this book in 1998, when I was 18, not much older than the 16-year-old love interest in this novel.
I know why people hate this book. I know how problematic it is. And yet, I can't bring myself to care. It's one of my favorites. I identify so much with Belinda, and always have. I don't have her specific body type or her background, but I have her mindset, and Anne Rice gave me myself in fiction when I picked up this book. If you don't like to think about teenage girls who want older men, definitely stay away from this book.
I've reread "Belinda" over the years, or read at it, I should say. I make it about halfway through and then my interest wanes and I skim or skip places to get to the end. On a technical level, I would not call this meandering, overly detailed book a masterpiece.
Except for me personally, this book is a masterpiece. It's an own forever book. I don't have very many of those, and it's kind of weird that this book is one of them. But so it goes.
I know why people hate this book. I know how problematic it is. And yet, I can't bring myself to care. It's one of my favorites. I identify so much with Belinda, and always have. I don't have her specific body type or her background, but I have her mindset, and Anne Rice gave me myself in fiction when I picked up this book. If you don't like to think about teenage girls who want older men, definitely stay away from this book.
I've reread "Belinda" over the years, or read at it, I should say. I make it about halfway through and then my interest wanes and I skim or skip places to get to the end. On a technical level, I would not call this meandering, overly detailed book a masterpiece.
Except for me personally, this book is a masterpiece. It's an own forever book. I don't have very many of those, and it's kind of weird that this book is one of them. But so it goes.
December 1, 2010
A childrens writer 44 years of age becomes besotted with an 16 year old girl. The story takes you through their relationship which is highly sexual one.She had her period at 9 was wearing c-cup bra at 13, her mother explains in the story she was on the pill at 12. Who is this girl? Who are her parents? these are the answers he tries to find which turns the story into a sort of mystery, also the ramifications of the public discovering that a childrens writer is involved with a 16 year old is overshadowing their love affair will he do the honest thing and marry her?
Story was ok inside look of celebrity life no great thrills but easy read.
Story was ok inside look of celebrity life no great thrills but easy read.
July 19, 2023
If Belinda went by hashtags at the time of publication, these would have been the likely tags: #softcoreporn, #schoolgirlfetish,#jailbait, #statutoryrape, #lolitafetish, #sugardaddy. Or anything not along the lines of #annericeastoundswithgroundbreakingnovel.
December 26, 2010
I m fourteen and I happen to like it book along with her other books as well like interview with the vAmpire and Also the vampire lestat
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