14 February 2006
"But, as human beings, we are not satisfied with a merely animal appeasing of lust"
Whilst browsing in the old book store downtown, I came across (for only $1 yet) what might be the perfect book, namely How to Attain and Practice the Ideal Sex Life, published in 1940 by Dr. J. Rutgers. As far as I can tell "Dr. J. Rutgers" is the author's actual name. His mother just thought "Dr. J. Rutgers" sounded good.
Now, the brilliance of this book is that when you turn it one way it could be an adventure story of a noble explorer on the frontier's of human experience; yet turned another (and consumed perhaps with a cup of very hot tea or hot chocolate) it is a better soporific than a sleeping pill. To be honest I'm not sure what it's even about, other than what is revealed by the title, due to the deliberate, and indeed systematic obfuscation enacted by the progenitor's own prose. Yea, a sample:
Although Dr. J. Rutgers was supposedly a leader in the new awareness of sexuality and the acceptance of birth control; I think at its heart this book is about abstinence. Because, at least in my case, by the time I was doing picking through it I realized what a vast and utterly complicated world sex actually was and decided I would do something more spontaneous and passionate...like perhaps rocket science. Incidentally, for those working on their graduate degree in sexuality, this book is in print again.
PS Hey, wait a minute, could "buds bursting anew" be innuendo? Dr. J. Rutgers, Happy Valentine's Day, you old dog you!
Now, the brilliance of this book is that when you turn it one way it could be an adventure story of a noble explorer on the frontier's of human experience; yet turned another (and consumed perhaps with a cup of very hot tea or hot chocolate) it is a better soporific than a sleeping pill. To be honest I'm not sure what it's even about, other than what is revealed by the title, due to the deliberate, and indeed systematic obfuscation enacted by the progenitor's own prose. Yea, a sample:
We might represent the passion-curve by a zig-zag line which falls suddenly below zero, but rapidly rises again. Through impure sexual intercourse, the curve falls from disgust so far below zero that one wishes to change the object of one's passion with every new rise of the curve. In pure, more ideal love, however, the curve approaches more and more to a constant straight line; even in marriage, both parties should reflect that after every connection their mutual love should blossom afresh; every time a fresh bud that bursts into a more lovely flower than before (Chapter 28, Social Restrictions on Sexual Intercourse).Which, needless to say, got my blood pumping, since nothing screams romance on St. Valentine's Day than graphing one's passionate concupiscence (wink wink nudge nudge). But look at that burst of poetry at the bottom! There you are, turn it another way and it's a volume of poetry; love poetry at that!
Although Dr. J. Rutgers was supposedly a leader in the new awareness of sexuality and the acceptance of birth control; I think at its heart this book is about abstinence. Because, at least in my case, by the time I was doing picking through it I realized what a vast and utterly complicated world sex actually was and decided I would do something more spontaneous and passionate...like perhaps rocket science. Incidentally, for those working on their graduate degree in sexuality, this book is in print again.
PS Hey, wait a minute, could "buds bursting anew" be innuendo? Dr. J. Rutgers, Happy Valentine's Day, you old dog you!
3:56 PM
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