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* "The Island" by Losgud (adult incest). Bookman: 9, 8, 9
* "The Island" by losgud (lushgod@hotnomail.com). Guest review by Bookman. Coming off the rubble of "The Amazing Adventures of Penis Boy", I found this story to be like a high hard dose in an oxygen bar. Clean, clear, and fresh. Actually, the two stories shouldn't even be mentioned together, for "Island" is a very good story. The narrator is a 40-ish man who goes out to an isolated family cabin to prepare for the rest of the family's arrival for an upcoming holiday. Looking forward to some time alone, he is mildly chagrined when his married daughter decides to come along. Then daughter comes along. . . "Island" stands above the usual Daddy Does Daughter crowd of incest stories in several respects. One, the parties are of an age where, even though they are related, they can choose for themselves; and two, these people genuinely like and respect each other. At no time is there even a hint that either party is taking undue or unfair advantage of the other, so that the relationship is free of a taint that many other writers doing incest stories would like to ignore but can't quite get away from. Losgud gives his protagonist a laconic, amusing voice and attitude that makes him a character I, for one, would like to know in person. The daughter is less well visualized, which leaves the reader unfortunately stuck solely in the narrator's head. We never really see the forces that move her to her (what must be life-changing) decision. She offers a vague "this-is-something- I've-always-wanted-to-do" kind of reasoning, which I found unsatisfying, given the rich reality woven for the character of the father. The humorous voice of the narrator, one of the central features in the construction of the story, is also disturbing, on a basic level. Losgud's words drawl across the page, making the father a likable person in his own right, but they have the counter effect of diluting the sex when it finally arrives. There's no way an author (go ahead, prove me wrong, folks) can maintain that kind of self-mocking attitude going through an intense sex scene. {Actually, take a look at Mike Hunt or Friar Dave- Celeste.} Either the very single-minded concentration demanded to make the sex hot will obviate the self-mockery, or the sense of humor will make the intensity of the sex scene seem hollow and silly. Losgud tries to go for hot-and-heavy, but doesn't achieve it, and the final result is a haphazard warm-and-romantic. The story maintains its integrity as a whole, but one senses the lack of a commitment to the act, and the changed relationship implied by the act, that would have brought the entire incident into sharper focus. The story is posted in two parts, and the reader is left with the vague feeling that there's a Part 3 lurking out there somewhere. These two people have started changes in their lives that will ripple out in unseeable directions. Losgud's ending only hints at what those directions might be. Technically, very good. I only found one typo, which means the more obsessive of you are now free to go perusing through the story to find what it was. Ratings for "Island" Athena: 9 Venus: 8 Apollo: 9 |