The Ages of Lulu

This is one of those erotic novels it's perfectly respectable to have on your bookshelves because of its claims to literary seriousness. But don't think you're kidding anyone: in the end it's an erotic fantasy, and you either enjoy it as that or you don't.
Grandes is in effect taking the format of the American gay novel of the late seventies/early eighties, replacing the transgressive, hedonist protagonist by a similarly transgressive heterosexual woman, and saying “Hey, we claim that territory too!”

She recognises that in doing that, she ends up with a narrative arc suspiciously similar to that of the classic exploitative female protagonist/male reader erotic novel of the Fanny Hill type, and indeed she deliberately invites the show more comparison in places, but she sets herself apart from this genre by destabilising the narrative framework, tricking us into taking the narrator’s fantasies as part of the main storyline and then stepping back from this, until we realise that the whole thing is only a game and a fantasy. She also has a lot of fun with the conventional imagery of sex as a form of play, by deliberately muddying the boundary between “sex toys” and those of childhood, until we have to ask ourselves whether there is anything grown-up about sex at all, if it isn't the thing that defines being grown-up...? show less

The Ages of Lulu
by Almudena Grandes
Review by Karl Wolff

Personal History: It would be untrue to say I don't choose books by their covers. Case in point, The Ages of Lulu, by Almudena Grandes. With its luscious black and white photograph by Craig Morey and a Booklist blurb saying, “Intensely erotic,” it ended up getting purchased. I bought it at my local Half Price Books in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Despite buying it years ago, this has been the first time I read it. I was glad I did.

While I'm familiar with Spanish-language literature, I'm not too familiar with literature from Spain. I've read my share of Mexican and South American literature, notably Roberto Bolano and Octavio Paz. My unfamiliarity with Spanish literature doesn't mean show more I'm unfamiliar with Spanish erotica. I've encountered it in different forms: comics and film. I've read the erotic comics of Ignacio Noe and seen numerous Spanish erotic films. These include: Jamon Jamon (Bigas Luna, 1992), starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, both in the bloom of their youth; Sex and Lucia (Julio Medem, 2001); and several films from the master, Pedro Almodovar. Jamon Jamon is a modern sex farce involving underwear and pigs, while Sex and Lucia is the hallucinatory journey of Lucia that becomes darker and more labyrinthine as it progresses. Almodovar is a category unto himself, creating films that are simultaneously comedic, tragic, and ornate. His well-rounded characters and baroque plotting put him in the company of Shakespeare in terms of storytelling mastery.

It turns out that Bigas Luna also directed a film version of The Ages of Lulu in 1990. I have not seen this film, but if it is available on Netflix, then I will have to watch it.

The History: Since The Ages of Lulu was written in 1989, I'll fold the historical material into my book summary. Like The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, this could be classified as a “modern classic.”

The Book: Told in the first person, The Ages of Lulu is about the life of Maria Luisa Ruiz-Poveda y Garcia de la Casa. The novel charts her life, beginning as an impulsive fifteen year old up to the brink of middle age. Like The Piano Teacher, it alternates between chapters set in “real life” and chapters that are Lulu's sexual fantasies. As the novel progresses, reality and fantasy bleed into each other. We learn that Lulu was eleven in 1969, meaning she was born in 1958, during the heyday of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. She comes from a large family and is a rebellious teen. When she gets seduced by Pablo, her brother's friend, she is fifteen years old.

The seduction occurs after an illegal Socialist rally. When Pablo introduces her to the concept of fellatio, Lulu's remarks are telling. “Somewhere far inside my head, far back enough so it didn't bother me, but near enough to be noticeable, throbbed the fact I was under-age, six years to go before I was twenty-one (at that time, coming of age was twenty-one – I couldn't give a shit, nobody could vote anyway).” The repression of Franco's Spain gives Lulu incentive to become reckless and rebellious. (Francisco Franco ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975.) While in others it becomes manifest as political opposition, for Lulu it becomes a means to explore the darker fantasies she harbors.

But the book doesn't begin with this seduction. It begins with Lulu and Pablo happily married. They have a daughter named Ines that they pick up from school. As the story progresses, we learn about Pablo's brief imprisonment on political grounds, Lulu's large family, and her work as editor of Martial's epigrams. She becomes friends with Ely, a tranvestite prostitute she meets while on a “transvestite hunting” trip with Pablo. Lulu, Pablo, and Ely have a menage a trois. The bisexuality of Lulu's encounters lead her to more dangerous things. She fantasizes a scenario with Pablo as her father, the role playing prefiguring the quasi-incest erotica subgenre.

Other acts include one between Pablo, herself, and her brother. She also participates in group sex with a group of gay men. In the end, she goes to a bondage scene run by a madam. The scene is notable for its frank brutality. She eventually escapes, thanks to a conveniently timed police raid. The novel closes with Lulu contemplating the consequences of her actions and facing the prospect of aging.

The Verdict: I would classify The Ages of Lulu as a modern classic. Through the genre of erotica, it weaves together the personal history of Lulu, her sexual compulsions, and her intimate fantasies. These inner and outer experiences confront the repression and monotony of the Franco dictatorship. It does this with language that captures the quotidian, but also illuminates Lulu's compulsions and fantasies in visionary scenarios. My only quibble is minor. My translation, by Sonia Soto, reads as British English and it doesn't fully capture the verbal flavor of the original Spanish. It reads like British actors in a Spanish novel, with Lulu talking about blokes and mates. The true power of Grandes's novel stands out despite its British-y translation. It is a backhanded rebuke of Franco's Spain and an exploration of the volcanic fury of female sexuality.

https://driftlessareareview.com/2014/03/07/the-nsfw-files-the-ages-of-lulu-by-al... show less

I found this book to be less erotic literature than simply literature which, although well written, offers descriptions of sexual activity that are almost unrestricted. These descriptions, however, to me better described as sordid than as erotic. Nevertheless, they are very intense, and fulfil their intended role of mapping the development of the sexual and emotional development of the leading character, Lulu. Sex, and her perception of it, play a dominant role in driving Lulu forward, and although she develops some strong friendships these are insufficient to prevent her descent into ever more desperate sexual entanglements, with an increasingly important masochistic flavour.

This is an interesting book though, which provides useful show more insights into a masochistic female character, and it is quite well written, with few signs of awkwardness in its translation from the original Spanish. show less

Me ha recordado un poco a Lolita de Nabokov, aunque una historia más desarrollada. con las consecuencias posteriores del trauma, que se supone la protagonista presenta.
Sí, no es un libro para todos los gustos ya que hay escenas bastante explicitas; pero ¿podemos comentar la imaginación de la autora? ¿las descripciones que hace de las escenas?
Almudena Grandes siempre me ha parecido muy buena escritora, pero verdaderamente era una artista. No puedo decir que vaya a ser uno de mis libros favoritos, pero sin duda es una obra de arte.

Las edades de Lulú, que obtuvo el IX Premio La sonrisa vertical, es una larga historia de amor que, como cualquier historia de amor que no se resigna a dejar de serlo, va haciéndose más compleja y envolvente.

Sumida todavía en los temores de una infancia carente de afecto, Lulú, una niña de quince años, sucumbe a la atracción que ejerce sobre ella un joven, amigo de la familia, a quien hasta entonces ella había deseado vagamente. Después de esta primera experiencia, Lulú, niña eterna, alimenta durante años, en solitario, el fantasma de aquel hombre que acaba por aceptar el desafío de prolongar indefinidamente, en su peculiar relación sexual, el juego amoroso de la niñez. Crea para ella un mundo aparte, un universo privado show more donde el tiempo pierde valor. Pero el sortilegio arriesgado de vivir fuera de la realidad se rompe bruscamente un día, cuando Lulú, ya con treinta años, se precipita, indefensa pero febrilmente, en el infierno de los deseos peligrosos. show less

Una larga historia de amor que, como cualquier historia de amor y de sexo que no se resigna a dejar de serlo, va haciéndose más compleja y envolvente.Sumida todavía en los temores de una infancia carente de afecto, Lulú, una niña de quince años, sucumbe a la atracción que ejerce sobre ella un joven, amigo de la familia, a quien hasta entonces ella había deseado vagamente. Después de esta primera experiencia, Lulú, niña eterna, alimenta durante años, en solitario, el fantasma de aquel hombre que acaba por aceptar el desafío de prolongar indefinidamente, en su peculiar relación sexual, el juego amoroso de la niñez. Crea para ella un mundo aparte, un universo privado donde el tiempo pierde valor. Pero el sortilegio show more arriesgado de vivir fuera de la realidad se rompe bruscamente un día, cuando Lulú, ya con treinta años, se precipita, indefensa pero febrilmente, en el infierno de los deseos peligrosos show less

A very interesting read - parts I found very sexy and parts I found very disturbing. I'm not even certain I understood all the action, but somehow, I couldn't put it aside.