Reading About Love - Like or Dislike?

[norilana]

Okay, so I've asked the sex question, and the responses were fascinating -- more people than I've expected admitted not to liking reading about it, gave some excellent valid reasons (connection between sex and abuse in so many people's minds, wrong mood, dissonance between author and reader), which in turn makes me wonder, if "sex sells," then who'

Comments

[upstart_crow]

I'd love to answer. But I wanna make sure I am clear first.

Do you mean love as in romantic love, or are we also talking other brands of love like philia, agape, etc.?

[norilanabooks]

I would say all brands of love, and if you want to discuss romantic it becomes a bit difficult to dissociate it from sex, but it can be done. No sex in this post! *grin*

[upstart_crow]

I think I can do it just fine without sex

[spartezda]

Oh, yes! I agree with your point entirely.

[norilana]

Makes good sense, and thank you for the comment! As far as I am concerned, platonic friendship is the main definition of love, but I want to see what everyone else thinks... :-)

[elialshadowpine]

That makes a lot of sense. Some of my favorite love stories (both inside the romance genre and out) are about deep friendships which have turned to romantic love.

I think it may also have to do with the fact that the most common romantic scenario is "boy meets girl," and then they're "in love" in what may be the course of the book but is a ridiculously short period of time. I have read books where characters were married mere days after meeting. In most cases, I don't "buy" it, because in reality, such whirlwind romances rarely work out for the best.