Review of "Master Nage's Guide to Training Consensual Slaves"

Posted by Tanos on Fri 6 Apr 07, 7:36 PM

I've been away this week and took the opportunity to read Nage's book. It's one of a sudden flurry of M/s books which have appeared in the last couple of years. I think it's clear that it's the weakest of the current crop but I'm going to try to highlight the good points as well as the rest.

The text is 254 pages with a ragged right hand margin rather than being fully justified, but the unusually large font and the conversational tone makes it quick to read despite this. Even though there is no index, there is a detailed table of contents listing the 70 or so short chapters. Master Nage presents himself as mainly interested in D/s and psychological domination, and the emphasis of the book properly reflects this and his promotional description of the book, with very little unnecessary coverage of other aspects of BDSM.

I particularly liked his discussion of slave's insecurities, desire to please, the pain of being disowned, and craving for attention and I think he hits the nail on the head with these chapters:

Slaves get off on making others happy and feel good, as long as they're not taken for granted. That's the ultimate thing for a slave. Appreciation validates who they are. It makes them happy. It fulfils them as a person. Attention from the Master is something every slave craves. That I give her attention she needs and understand what she needs; that I allow her to be a part of my life and serve me in many different ways; and that I offer my gratitude for that service, makes dana feel good about herself. (p37)

He also devotes a chapter to the importance of rewards, and connects that back to attention to put it on a par with punishment in importance.

Nage quite rightly stresses the importance of trust: "The entire D/s relationship is based on trust" (p210) and "Lying or evasion will kill the chance of entering a D/s relationship, which is based entirely on trust." (p50) But then he makes this remarkable admission about how he manipulated his online submissives to allow him to take on his current slave, dana, also initially online:

That August I interviewed dana. This was done secretly. More importantly, my two other girls had to approve her. If they hadn't, there would have been a problem, and problems were something I didn't need. So I had both girls interview dana in a private chat room, while I sat by and watched. This made it look like they had some say in what happened. The truth is, if my collared slaves couldn't have lived with it, I don't know what I would have done. I had a responsibility to the collared girls first, rather than the uncollared one. So I coached dana on the side to make sure she said the right things. (p114)

Is that a dignified way for a master to behave?

In fact, the further I got into the book, the more I realised that Nage's knowledge of M/s came from chatrooms and online D/s and that his first 24/7 relationship was with dana, and that he had to move from New York to her home in the Australian province of Tasmania to get it, even though New York isn't exactly short of M/s people. Indeed, although he repeatedly states he has always been a dom, he discovered BDSM by accident after looking for Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game chatrooms, entering a BDSM Dungeon room instead, and only realising after visits over several days.

This online background keeps interrupting otherwise good chapters: for example, he discusses subspace in detail but then says "The first thing that starts to send a girl into subspace is the sound of a Master's voice, which is why the telephone is far better for most slaves than the Internet." (p179)

And his negotiation process, in which he presents a transcript of a semi-formal interview of a slave candidate, includes leading questions which don't reveal anything - about the slave at least:

Master Nage: Tell me, would you consider sex with a friend of mine? ... Slave: Yes, Master Nage. If it would please you, I would sleep with a friend of yours. ... Master Nage: Would you be with a woman again? Slave: I don't prefer women, but yes, I would if you so desired it. (p69)

This is part of a constant tendency to spice up the text with references to sex, probably betraying the BDSM porn novels Nage also writes. For example, the ceremony in the chapter entitled "Master Nage's Collaring Ceremony" ends: "'Master is most pleased, girl. You will serve me now.' Many things might happen at this point. The Master might expose his cock and allow the new slave to blow him".

One of the aspects I did like was his emphasis on masters trying to understand their slaves: "Part of this is taught to slaves by society. Women who date men not into the lifestyle often find men don't want to hear what they have to say. Masters, on the other hand, the good ones at least, are keenly interested in everything about their slave. What they think, what they feel, what they want." (p217)

All good stuff.

But then he comes out with one like this, about his current slave: "I have to be extra vigilant when playing with dana, because she is unable to use her safe word when a scene gets too intense. Twice I've had to stop scenes when the burst into tears for reasons I never fully understood." (p27) My view is that it is vitally important to make the effort to understand this kind of reaction, and to take the time to get to the bottom of it.

With all this in mind, I can't recommend the book, as its strengths are mixed in with its weaknesses, and its good advice interleaved with the passages where Master Nage sets a poor example to owners.

Edited Fri 6 Apr 07, 7:41 PM by Tanos