I'm currently reading Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty, and it seems like it will have some class issues thrown in. It's about a young gay man in 1980s England, and it's great so far.
I shall remember that - *scribbles down title and author* - and rush into Waterstone's at the earliest opportunity. There just are not enough mainstream gay books or programmes about; only the smallest segment of it gets even close. I remember going into what purported to be the 'Gay and Lesbian Section' of Foyle's bookshop, and it turned out to be three shelves - c'etait tres disappointing.
The Line of Beauty is also a mini series, done two years ago by one of the UK TV companies, don't know which. I saw a tiny bit of it, and it seemed good.
AND! I cannot believe I forgot these.
Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited is largely about the decline of the British aristocracy in the 1920s and 30s, and it centres around the relationships the main character has with an aristocratic family, starting with a very loving, though not explicitly homosexual, relationship with the family's son, who he meets at Uni. It's an excellent work, a real classic.
And then there's Jamie O'Neill's At Swim, Two Boys. It's about three young men in Ireland during the First World War: the middle-class son of a shopkeeper, his very poor schoolmate, and a member of a very rich family, the aristocracy of the neighbourhood. Class struggle is big, especially with the coming of socialist ideas, and the rebellion against Britain. The book is very well-written, but also extremely dense; however, it's well worth the effort. I loved it
( ... )
Strangely enough, I have heard of all of these, but have never enquired too deeply about any of them - teaches me not to pay attention, doesn't it? Right, off I go to accost Amazon, Blackwell's and Waterstones and to deprive them of their literature! My birthday is coming up soon, so I shall ask non-committally for money, then go out and spend it all on books. At least I am not spending it on drugs, I suppose, though homosexual romance is my drug!
This is not really a 'novel', or even fiction, but a photo album of the couple that inspired Forster to write Maurice- it's called A Class Apart: The Private Pictures of Montague Glover. Aside from having many many pictures from their long life together, starting sometime during WWI, it also tells the story of Glover's relationship with lower class "rough trade" and how he came to fall in love with a boy named Ralph Hall. Highly recommended.
Oh - I am pretty sure I have seen/read/surreptitiously listened into a conversation on the subject of that! I must chase it up on Amazon or somewhere similar; thank you very much.
I know: it's dark, I am sure that there is a nest of spiders in here, and I keep banging into shelves. The problem is: I think someone has nicked the key, thus condemning me.
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I'll see if I can think of some others.
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AND! I cannot believe I forgot these.
Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited is largely about the decline of the British aristocracy in the 1920s and 30s, and it centres around the relationships the main character has with an aristocratic family, starting with a very loving, though not explicitly homosexual, relationship with the family's son, who he meets at Uni. It's an excellent work, a real classic.
And then there's Jamie O'Neill's At Swim, Two Boys. It's about three young men in Ireland during the First World War: the middle-class son of a shopkeeper, his very poor schoolmate, and a member of a very rich family, the aristocracy of the neighbourhood. Class struggle is big, especially with the coming of socialist ideas, and the rebellion against Britain. The book is very well-written, but also extremely dense; however, it's well worth the effort. I loved it ( ... )
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I hope you find your way out of the closet soon.
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