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"History of a Friend" by H.D. Meister (teen sex) 8
"History of a Friend" by H.D. Meister. Guest review by Dave Myers. Perspective is everything in writing. Being able to communicate a particular human perspective to the reader is the gift that successful authors have. Most teen stories fall into either of two categories: (1) an adult looking back and thinking "Wouldn't it have been neat if my teen sex life could have been like THIS!", or (2) "Julie is inexperienced. Julie learns how to fuck. Fuck, Julie, fuck!" Neither theme tends to display the point of view necessary to be convincing (a different thing altogether from arousing!). Well, thankfully the awakening that occurs for the narrator of this story is not a purely physical one. This story manages to get the job of perspective (a young person moving past sex into love) done admirably until the very end, at which point it becomes one touch too wistful for my tastes. Synopsis: A young woman believes she is going to break in a virgin teen male, but he turns out to be a silent, mysterious charmer and a sexual animal. The author is at his (?? - I assume it is a he) best when characterizing the creepy and mysterious quality of our narrator's suitor. Too bad that this aspect of the plot is underdeveloped; it could have been taken even higher. The constantly mounting levels of enigma surrounding this character are handled nicely, as seen through the fuzzy lens of a teen who finds love when she least expects it. But the story could use a healthy re-write. Written almost in "diary" style, the tone is warm and nostalgic. The writer does a good enough job communicating this tone, in fact, that the generous use of ellipses (...) throughout the text is quite unnecessary. After a while, it gets quite distracting, really. There are numerous grammatical and spelling problems, too. The ending, while appropriate in spirit, is handled too swiftly and clumsily to be fully effective. Rating: 8 |