I have forgotten when I first read anything by John Norman - perhaps 25 years ago. I found him hysterical.
He's 83 years old and has a Ph.D. in Philosophy, but is best-known for his series of (so far 33) Gor novels. And I suggest you read some, because they are truly a blast.
They're science fiction, but criticize men and women and their relationships - and gives as a cure his version of how they should be.
And what is the cure?
Women are to be slaves - and branded as such.
Men of course are brutal masters, which is one of the reasons I snicker so much at this Alpha/Beta silliness. You want to see some real comic-book "Alphas" then read these novels.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about him:
"Norman's Gor series was influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars novels. Norman's novels include lengthy philosophical and sociological dissertations criticizing the malaise of modern society (everything from common dishonesty to nuclear holocaust). A variety of societies, cultures, moral concepts, and technologies are described in depth in his novels; however it is always within the context of the male adventure genre, and, as such, families, children, and other mundane aspects of real life are generally absent and those roles are not discussed.
"His fiction places emphasis on living in accordance with a Nietzschean natural order, supporting a hierarchy of talent, especially strength. He uses this hierarchy as a framework to analyze gender role differences in society, and he contends that the woman is by nature a submissive helper and figurative slave of the dominant man. Norman's work often takes this observation literally: heroes enslave heroines who, upon being enslaved, revel in the discovery of their natural place. Bondage in the novels and in his Imaginative Sex guide is overtly and completely sexual in nature and while the philosophy presented is unquestionably that of male dominance, the male characters are themselves often temporarily and elaborately enslaved by powerful females. In an interview with Polygraff magazine, Norman stated that he believes that it is obvious that all societies are based on dominance and hierarchy.
Norman's Gorean themes also are heavily influenced by social darwinism — only the strongest will survive, and the ultimate test of this is mortal combat for territory, resources, and mating partners. Social co-operation and other altruistic considerations exist only to serve this ideal. The weak should be despised and exploited, and the strong exalted. This serves as the overriding theme in all of Norman's Gorean novels."
In his novels there are examples of "mannish" American women - career-oriented, power suits, etc. - who end up on Gor. At first they protest their treatment, but suddenly their true, womanly beat-me-and-brand-me nature comes out - and they love it! Finally they're real women - and blissfully happy!
Women's worst traits are arrogance and envy - and the society of Gor humbles them (read the Brothers Grimm "fairy tale" "King Roughbeard" sometime) so they become better, and happier, women. After all, is it not better that a woman be a slave to a man than to her base, petty, stupid, envious nature?
These novels are not badly written at all (although English teachers can't stand him). Everything he writes is just an exaggeration, but there is a lot of truth in what he writes.
So if you want to see the worst of the Manosphere, in its truest, purest, most adolescent form - but with a grain of truth - take a look at Norman's books.
7 comments:
I shouldn't admit it but I read most all of his books as a lad. Everything up to 24 of 33 I think and note the series is still kicking as of 2013.
For the most part I thought they are pretty fun sword and planet with a BDSM bent.
Sometimes though, you'd be reading about some macho warrior culture stuff say about Yetis (no joke Yetis are a proud warrior race in the books) and grooving to that than suddenly 10 pages of House of Gord and bondage exposition.
WTF Norman!
Of the series the 1st two are light on the BDSM and recommended, 3 and 4 are still good (though #3 Priest Kings of Gor is deeply weird)
The rest are an acquired taste.
I thought the first three were the best but there is a whole culture based on these novels, so they hit a nerve somewhere.
Just read "Roughbeard." In my mind I saw many modern women's heads explode. Great little gem and I appreciate you pointing it out. Nothing new exists under the sun, eh?
Interesting that the story refers to the princess as "haughty and proud" and what she needs is to be humbled. Which is what it took Norman 33 novels to say.
The problem is every man fancies himself a ruler who will subjugate women.
The weak men don't, the fat men don't, the old men don't, the lazy men don't, the uncharismatic men don't, etc..
The chinese and mongols had courts where the emperor had his pick of hundreds or thousands of concubines. Men were outright murdered, the smart men were made eunuchs to serve in the emperor's court, and many sent off in the many petty wars between warring factions.
In the medieval age, the european feudal lords had sex with your wife before you did, right after the wedding. He controlled your entire life and he probably would go on to have sex with your daughters.
Some of the ottoman sultans had large harems (in fact harem originated in the near east) where they had their pick of many many women. At the same time, some sultans used men as target practice as they were walking away from his palace, on a long bridge.
In south american pre-european empires leaders of men were given a proportion of women close to how many men they led. Meaning the bigger tribe you led, the more women of that tribe you got to have sex with.
Modern DNA tests show us that 40% of all men throughout history reproduced and 80% of women did.
Really, the sexual market has always been the same. We just now live in an internet age where every man can see exactly how stacked it is against him. Men had to fight to reproduce since the beginning of time, women were the wombs they fought (and still fight) over. Think Bathsheba of the Bible, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra of Egypt, Any Knight in Shining Armor rescues Princess variant (Mario games, medieval stories, bed time stories, etc.), any action movie where the guy kills hundreds of guys and endures torture just to have sex with the girl in the end, and so on. The list is never ending.
However the thing is modern men are finding out they aren't King David. They are Uriah who gets cuckholded then killed. They aren't Menaleus who gets his woman back. They are instead the cowardly Paris who brought shame upon his nation, his family, his woman and himself. They aren't the knight who slays the dragon or defeats the rogue knights to rescue the girl. They are a miserable dragon who is destined to be killed by a stronger dude than him, and all of his gold stolen as well as his virgin woman. They aren't Bruce Lee or Bruce Willis in that action flick, they are instead one of the hundreds of guys who gets killed for nothing.
Is the Gor world books showing that 60% of men in the society are not going to reproduce? Because if not, it is not painting the whole picture. Not all men can dominate and those that don't end their genetic lineage forever. That's 60% of all men according to genetic testing.
And this has been repeated to us through literature, through science, through holy books, through history, through movies, through videogames, through books, through bed time stories. Yet it takes presenting it in a fashion as "the redpill" for men to realize exactly what deep doo doo they are in.
@Anonymous He covered that as well...
"“This is Gor,” said Virginia. “Gor.”
“Why have we been brought here?” asked Phyllis.
“Strong men,” said Flaminius, “have always, even in the course of your own planet’s history, taken the females of weaker men for their slaves.”
“We are not slaves,” said Virginia numbly.
“You are the females of weaker men,” said Flaminius, “the men of Earth.” He looked at her intently. “We are the stronger,” he said. “We have power. We have ships which can traverse space to Earth. We will conquer Earth. It belongs to us. When we wish we bring Earthlings to Gor as our slaves, as was done with you. Earth is a slave world. You are natural slaves. It is important for you to understand that you are natural slaves, that you are inferior, that it is natural and right that you should be the slaves of the men of Gor.”
“We are not slaves,” said Phyllis.
“Virginia,” said Flaminius. “Is what I say not true? Is it not true that the women of weaker, conquered men, if permitted to live, have been kept only as the slaves of the conquerors, permitted to live only that they may serve the pleasures of victorious masters?”
“I teach classics and ancient history,” said Virginia, scarcely whispering. “It is true that in much of the history of the Earth the sort of thing you say was done.”"
Read his novels and even looking at his name gives me a headache lol.
Really, the whole, "Me manMe dominate little frail female" deal has honstly gotten way too rpeative and all the male characters are just too one dimisonal and literally the same in every sense. And the women, god so annoying that they would just turn on a dime like that with no logical reason.
Historical in the real world, women throughout the world have contributed so much from simple farmer girls becoming generals, to a single harem woman (not the fetishized sex slave western media would show) Take control and lead a Persian army from her chambers after both Viser and Sultan were kidnapped by Western Turks.
And other than the creepy eugenics and softe-core porn (I've seen health videos give me a hard-on better than these books) These books really do rot with age
There are better pulpfiction novels like these that do so much better than this alpha boy dreamworld. With powerful masculine men who aren't Conan wannbe fanboys and Women who can be super sexy and hot but not some worthless marysue horn bitch who can't go seven seconds without swooning and sighing about some rando guy she literally stated she hated four minutes ago
Also read through the books, and ho boy the repation, awkward grammar, and the copy-paste no wonder English teachers hate this guy. How did he get through school again?
Anywho I'm gonna find some real action barbarian pulpfiction and not some copypaste book that even inspired a creepy cult forming and lead to the deaths of actual real women just cause some creepy fat "master" decided since they didn't want to bone he gets to kill them
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