Singletails Book Club

This morning, when the alarm went off, I found myself listening to what I quickly identified as a reading from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Courtesy of the BBC World Service.

I've gotta re-read BNW. And so should you.

And so should everyone interested in BDSM.

The book is all about the search for meaning in a world where we're all self-anesthetized consumers, where we separate ourselves from feeling, particularly intense feelings. I know I know I know it's usually relegated to high school reading lists, but don't write it off. It includes a man whipping himself until he bleeds as an attempt to feel something. High school students can't appreciate the redemptive and salvific value of intense pain, now can they?

But you sure can, can't ya, Champ?

I swear, everything I feel and believe about S/M, Aldous felt and believed first. Although maybe he didn't call it that. But who knows? Maybe he did.

Huh. Maybe I'll adopt 'The Savage' as my scene name [g]. Maybe that's what I'll have on my nametag next year at Inferno. See if anyone gets it.

Anyway, your assignment: go out and secure for yourself a copy of Brave New World. Find a Starbucks. Read. And then report back to me with your thoughts and observations, and how the book relates to your own S/M experience.

Note to Diabolique: Might this be a worthwhile endeavor for the Spirituality SIG?

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