Do you know of any shmutz free secular novels?

chanchy123

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 3:19 am

I'm another Binchey fan, but I'm not sure her books would be considered "clean" I mean, there are no explicit zex scenes but the characters do engage in extra marital relations and as Raisin said, most husbands
in her books seem to have this thing with cheating (some wives too, but that's not as common).

imamama

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 8:42 am

Raisin wrote:

sequoia wrote:

imamama wrote:

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Will and Lyra have sx in the third book, and they're just teenagers.

Thats hardly the worst thing that happens in that book. Lets see: gay angels, G-d is depicted as a bumbling old man, who gets killed. Organised religion is the evil enemy. Thats just what I remember.

I have to say I greatly enjoyed that series, but it is an extremely athiest, anti religious book, written by an avowed athiest.

the books by cynthia voight about the tillerman family are good.

Oops. I read them over 10 years ago. Just remember them being excellent books. Oh, well.

thankyou

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:05 am

Im still trying to figure out what "shmutz free" means. I have read so many amazing book s but Im afraid to name any of them becuase Im not sure what you all are looking for.

frumshopper

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 10:03 am

feo wrote:

Im still trying to figure out what "shmutz free" means. I have read so many amazing book s but Im afraid to name any of them becuase Im not sure what you all are looking for.

I agree that it is hard to define. Basically, I am looking for books that I would not be embarrassed to give my high school daughter to read. I am thinking that includes excessive language, physical intimacy and extreme abuse/violence/gore.

Ruchel

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 10:39 am

Unfortunately Harry Potter gets less and less clean and more and more "teen dating" oriented. I wouldn't recommend the last books for a teen. Room613 tells you what to censor and it gets more and more LOL

sequoia

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 7:52 pm

Can I turn the question around? Why would you want to read "Jewish" (I.e. frum) novels? Have you read all the classics already?

Also I am so sick of "Jewish" being used as a synonym for a certain kind of novel written by a frum writer. There are so many Jewish writers, from Kafka to Sholom Aleichem to the Singer brothers, but I guess by imamother's definition they aren't really Jewish.

September June

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 8:41 pm

happywife wrote:

Can I ask you a silly question? Why would you want shmutz-free non-Jewish novels? Have you read through all the Jewish ones already?!

Some (many?) Jewish novels make you want to pull your hair out in frustration. Especially the translated novels.

iluvy

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:01 pm

Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy is also excellent. Non-explicit sx scene in the second book though. You might want to skip that book anyway, because it made me cry.

Oh, and zxual harassment in third book. Again, non-explicit.

the world's best mom

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:09 pm

sequoia wrote:

I don't know what those writers write about, but I'm assuming a Jewish book would mean that it's about a Jewish (okay, Frum) topic. Books by Jewish writers that are not about Frum topics are generally not considered Jewish books.

sequoia

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:23 pm

I don't know. Is turning into a giant cockroach a frum topic? It's a good question.

Chaim Potok, Sholom Aleichem, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Israel Joshua Singer wrote about Jewish people and Jewish communities.

As do Herman Wouk, Naomi Ragen and Dina Rubina today.

wispalover

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:34 pm

I dont know if anyone recommended this already, but one of the best books I have ever read is called 'Good Grief' by Lolly Winston. No smutz, just classically good writing with a chicklit feel.

As far as Naomi Ragen, it is Jewish themed but there are definite s*x scenes in Jephtes Daughter, Sotah and The Sacrifice of Tamar. Not raunchy by any means, but they are there.

I also LOVED hope in a jar by beth harbison. cant remember if there is s*x content though.

sequoia

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 9:38 pm

wispalover wrote:

As far as Naomi Ragen, it is Jewish themed but there are definite s*x scenes in Jephtes Daughter, Sotah and The Sacrifice of Tamar. Not raunchy by any means, but they are there.

I'm not suggesting her for the OP! I'm quibbling with the term "Jewish writer" as applied exclusively to a certain kind of fiction.

rachel6543

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 10:42 pm

"The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen" by Syrie James is a very nice novel. It's a clean, historical romantic piece and I really enjoyed reading it. In fact, I've read it twice. It's about Jane Austen, the author of Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Sense & Sensibility...etc who lives in the early 19th century. Jane Austen never married and this book poses what if Jane Austen had a romance?

Link on amazon to book:
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Mem.....41428

youngbubby

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 10:51 pm

Although u said u want a secular book a good jewish book would be mexico files. It is not your typical jewish book u know the kind where they find their lomg lost sibling or something like that it is a very exciting good reading book. Now a good book for you I just finished it is THE Help. Great book only one or two kissing sentences..but a good book. I couldnt put it down. It is the first book I have read in a long time...

Peanut2

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 11:09 pm

Since this is turning into a frummie book list, let me quickly say that the best Jewish book out there is The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I think it's clean, and it's a fantastic read.

Lots of books that I read in high school would fit. Mark Twain and the like...

Jewishmofm

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 11:25 pm

[quote="Ruchel"][quote="shabbatiscoming"]

Ruchel wrote:

In other threads I have read of women also avoiding s-x scenes for themselves, not only for a single child or a husband, though from what I read here and on FB women are much less careful (and there is basis in halacha for that). But I remember a poster asking why (for herself) why Ushpizin was PG and if the pregnancy storyline wasn't a bit "risky".

UMMM, frankly the thinking of women being less careful is waay off. as women we are m'kablim. we mirror what is around us- that's our nature. the same mirror can reflect a donkey or a chofetz chaim. which would you choose to reflect?

(read R' shimshon pincus' womens sefer for a beautiful piece on women and exposure to the world)

on topic: NOT old classics, please! I am an avid secular books reader, and the old classics are just as full of romance and insidous ideas about love and marriage. I don't know if the fact that they are less physically explicit makes them any better. and some of them don't even get that heter.

mltjm

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 11:25 pm

Try googling for homeschool book lists. Many non-Jewish homeschoolers feel the same way as frum people about shmutz. I am sure there are plenty of christan book lists as well, but I'm not sure how you would know which books have too many religious overtones.

sequoia

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 11:34 pm

Jewishmofm wrote:

on topic: NOT old classics, please! I am an avid secular books reader, and the old classics are just as full of romance and insidous ideas about love and marriage. I don't know if the fact that they are less physically explicit makes them any better. and some of them don't even get that heter.

Wait, so how can you be an avid secular books reader? You read them while thinking it's wrong to do so?