# Do You Skim Over The "Sexy" Parts of A Novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2001, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946 "2001-10-17T09:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/21 "2001-10-18T12:56:46Z")
Yes. Why should I have to watch _other_ people having fun? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/22 "2001-10-18T13:57:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\* > he gazed into her emerald depths > \*\* Sounds like she has a green cooter. I don’t usually read the sex scenes, either. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/23 "2001-10-19T11:41:29Z")
Isn’t JD Robb a pseudonym for a writer that originally wrote romance novels? I can’t remember the name, but I’m pretty sure it is. And when I was a teen I used to read all the sex scenes, get all hot, and I’m sure y’all can imagine what came next (Me! LOL) But now, seriously, it’s all old. Even the good authors that write a really good story (and I’ve read a lot of 'em. I am a habitual reader of romance novels by the way. It’s not the only thing I read though, I promise) really can’t write an original love scene. It’s all the same sequence of events, same lingo, same body parts, same everything. So now I skim quickly over the parts. In my mind I’m thinking “ok…kissing…tongues blah blah blah…nipples, licking blah blah blah, manhood, wetness, yadda yadda, blinding ecstasy, etc etc…ok, now back to the plot” Lorie ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/24 "2001-10-19T17:16:07Z")
The novels I read (detective and war/adventure) usually have obligatorily gratuitous sex scenes that I skim over, just trying to make sure nobody gets killed during them. It bites otherwise to not find a character on the other side and not know what happened to him or her. I don’t enjoy poorly-written porn and often wonder how the lead manages the time and energy to screw in the middle of storming a pillbox after he’s been shot several times. And, since the female leads in these books have a ten percent chance of surviving the book, I hate getting attached to them. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/25 "2001-10-19T17:29:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > **The [Bad Sex Prize](http://www.infoculture.cbc.ca/archives/bookswr/bookswr_11271998_badsex.html) is a real hoot** [Hohoho!](http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/01/11/bookend/bookend.html) Is it surprising that it is handed out by Evelyn Waugh’s son, Auberon? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/26 "2001-10-19T18:03:40Z")
I try to read them, and try and try and try… If you want the gold standard, try the paragraph about a page and half into Chapter 37 of Hemingway’s _For Whom the Bell Tolls_…great stuff and not explicit, although it did prevent the Pulitzer committee from awarding him the prize (which went unrewarded for that year)… ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946/27 "2001-10-22T14:51:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuperLorie \* > \*\*Isn’t JD Robb a pseudonym for a writer that originally wrote romance novels? I can’t remember the name, but I’m pretty sure it is. > > And when I was a teen I used to read all the sex scenes, get all hot, and I’m sure y’all can imagine what came next (Me! LOL) But now, seriously, it’s all old. Even the good authors that write a really good story (and I’ve read a lot of 'em. I am a habitual reader of romance novels by the way. It’s not the only thing I read though, I promise) really can’t write an original love scene. It’s all the same sequence of events, same lingo, same body parts, same everything. So now I skim quickly over the parts. In my mind I’m thinking “ok…kissing…tongues blah blah blah…nipples, licking blah blah blah, manhood, wetness, yadda yadda, blinding ecstasy, etc etc…ok, now back to the plot” > > Lorie \*\* Oh, gods, you wrote the same thing I was going to. Practically word for word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-skim-over-the-sexy-parts-of-a-novel/87946.md?page=1)