My Hundred Lovers in Aussie Readers

May 17, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: provided-by-publisher, aussie-author, arc-are, nonfiction

I am reading My Hundred Lovers (courtesy Allen & Unwin) as part of a read-a-long hosted by Bree at All The Books I Can Read over the next three weeks. Please be aware that it is likely that in answering the discussion questions, I will reveal spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Discussion Pages 1-88

Discussion Pages 89-172

Summary Pages 173-end

While fiction, My Hundred Lovers reads as if a confessional memoir- brief memories of physical and emotional awareness from the taste of a fresh croissant, her I am reading My Hundred Lovers (courtesy Allen & Unwin) as part of a read-a-long hosted by Bree at All The Books I Can Read over the next three weeks. Please be aware that it is likely that in answering the discussion questions, I will reveal spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Discussion Pages 1-88

Discussion Pages 89-172

Summary Pages 173-end

While fiction, My Hundred Lovers reads as if a confessional memoir- brief memories of physical and emotional awareness from the taste of a fresh croissant, her first knee trembling orgasm at the hand of a boy to the difficulty of her childhood as the daughter of an adulterous father and a narcissistic mother. I think its important to point out that the title is not literal – the chapters are not devoted to one hundred lovers – but the sense memories of moments of pleasure and pain. There is sexual content, quite explicit as times, but the novel is interspersed with descriptions of moments such as the feel of mud oozing between her toes, or the scent of fresh bread baking.

This is not a traditional story, the snippets vary in length, each loosely linked to the next give some form to the narrative yet not linear, moving forwards and back in time at will and it can feel a little disjointed and I do usually prefer a more structured narrative. I can certainly appreciate the rich imagery and lyrical nature of the text, she writes beautifully of the small things that give us such pleasure.

For much of her life Deborah is hedonistic, tangling visceral reaction with emotion. Her inability to separate sex from love, pleasure from punishment, sees her make choices that erodes her self esteem. She uses her body to search for intimacy, certain that she is too damaged to love, or be loved, for more than the physical succor she can offer. It seems to me that it is her son’s birth that is a turning point for Deborah, her body perhaps finally sated by the experience. She writes of one lover after the collapse of her marriage, ‘the kind lover’, and what can be inferred is that Deborah relates to this man emotionally instead of physically, perhaps for the first time in her life. Deborah’s final lover could be said to be herself, having finally found some measure of wholeness, “My body, mine at last.” .

Overall I appreciated this book more than enjoyed it. There are insights that resonate with truth and wisdom but I also find it a little pretentious. The read-a-long has been a good experience though, and I have found the discussions interesting. Thanks Bree, for hosting.

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Jun 09, 2012 Marg rated it really liked it

Shelves: readalong

4.5/5

Glad I got to participate in the readalong for this one.

Final post up soon.

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Jul 08, 2012 Bri rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, australian-writers, memoir, 2012

My Hundred Lovers was not what I was expecting (well what would you expect with that title???) but it was enjoyable all the same. I love a good memoir and Johnson’s change in narrator from first to third person was quite an interesting device as were the ‘snippet’ chapters interspersed between the more average length ones.

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