So after seeing the movie Precious and being thoroughly moved and provoked by it I decided to read the book. So far it seems the movie stayed remarkably true to the story: the protagonist's hopeless, loveless existence only gets worse as the tale unwinds, and the firsthand account of her life (only partially narrated in the movie) adds further dimension to her character. The writing style is interesting in that Precious herself, the narrator and the only person whose perspective the reader gets, is illiterate. Despite the understanding that she could not be writing the book herself, the spelling is phonetic and the writing simple, repetitive.
A large part of what made the movie so haunting was the portrayal of rape and sexual abuse that Precious endures from both of her parents. Her father begins raping her at the age of seven, while her mother's only reactions are jealousy and rage at his twisted affection. She beats Precious but also uses her as her own means of sexual pleasure. This alone is enough to shock, revolt, and horrify the viewer, however in reading the book even more is revealed about the dystopian family dynamic. During a sexual encounter with her father, Precious fantasizes that she is someone else: beautiful, famous, rich, desired. This is to be expected of someone undergoing such traumatic treatment, and is presented in the movie. In the book, though, Precious returns to reality: "I start to feel good; stop being a video dancer and start coming. I try to go back to video but coming now, rocking under Carl now, my twat jumping juicy, it feel good. I feel shamed." This brings out a taboo within the most horrific taboo. Precious is so starved for affection that she allows the most monstrous act to bring her pleasure. Incest is something not often discussed and, if ever brought up, regarded as something too heinous to even imagine. This is not the first occasion I've seen the reality of incest as sex discussed in literature. One cannot deny, as Sapphire admirably avoids doing, that sex is partially physical and that physicality can overcome even the most dire circumstances. I wanted to address this specifically because it wasn't brought up in the movie and is something that really made me think about something I'd rather not, and that's how you know it's worth reading.
I guess this isn't so much a review as an analysis of one aspect of the book - either way it was a great and quick read and gave more insight into Precious' life than did the movie. Both were entertaining and intriguing and I would recommend either.
yesss, i too was intrigued by the concept of sexually abused children enjoying the sexual acts forced upon them. call me naive, but i'd never really considered it before - or more like i was never forced to think about it so deeply. parallels the idea of some rape victims feeling sexual pleasure.
ReplyDeleteafter i read 'push', i continued on my streak of reading books about fucked up child abuse... and 'when rabbit howls' has definitely forced me to break said streak. it is about a woman with 92 multiple personalities who was repeatedly raped and sodomized by her step father since age 2. she eventually realizes that she grew to enjoy the sex, and would actually seek it out herself at times. the guilt she felt from that realization was difficult to overcome, despite her therapist informing her how natural it can be when you are taught about sex at such a young age...
only happy books for jessica right now. but thanks for letting me borrow 'push'!!! have you heard of another book by sapphire called 'american dreams'? the girl touring with bubonic bear told me about it - she works at a bookstore and said that a lot of poeple who buy it end up returning it because they can't handle how disturbing it is...