Someone posed this question to me during a discussion of the New York Senate's recent vote to legalize gay marriage: what is the best representation of a long term gay relationship in literature?
I had to admit a stunning ignorance---nothing I could think of really fit. So, not only did my street cred as literary know-it-all take a ding, but now I want to read something along these lines.
Any ideas?
I haven't read the book, but judging by the film - Christopher Isherwood's A SINGLE MAN? Not a happy plot but definitely a long-term relationship at its core.
ReplyDeleteThe Three Junes doesn't quite fit, but nearly so (if I remember, Fenno's long-term relationship was two platonic gay men, or men who were once lovers but not just friends).
ReplyDeleteWell, there's the new book by Brunonia Barry, The Map of True Places...
ReplyDeleteWell, good book but it's more about him dealing with his new life. Some about the precious relationship but it's not primarily about that.
ReplyDeleteThat's closer, but I am pollo for a novel that is primarily a chronicle of a single long term gay relationship.
ReplyDeleteI lookedup a review of that but I don't quite see how it might be relevant here.
ReplyDeleteA Single Man by Isherwood is about a man who's long term partner has just died. It may be the best gay themed novel, period. It's been a very long time since I read them but I think Ready to Catch if Should He Fall by Neil Bartlett might fit your bill. There's a mystery series the Donald Strachey Mysteries by Richard Stevenson that all feature a detective in a long term relationship. They're decent books. The later Tales of the City books alfo feature long term relationships.
ReplyDeleteJohn Cheever is a great writer for this . The Wapshot Chronicle may be useful , though its not primarily about a gay relationship but it does have a representation of a man struggling to deal with his homosexual feelings . But Cheever's other book ,Falconer should be pretty effective , and it definitely involves a gay relationship . I think this book is written in a way that helps the most heterosexual of readers understand or begin to understand the gay lifestyle .
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest A Single Man, but I see others have made that suggestion already. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters does involve a fairly long-term lesbian relationship, but that's just one of several strands, so it might not be what you're looking for. I'd don't know if you're into detective fiction at all, but Laurie R. King's Kate Martinelli books feature a lesbian detective in a long-term relationship. (I've only read part of the first book in that series, but King's books are generally very good.)
ReplyDeleteMidnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy (also one of my favorite movies) was the only one I could come up with that I've personally read, but it's definitely not the happiest book. Also Broke Back Mountain, but it's short fiction. Here's a list of LGBT fiction from Goodreads you might want to look through: ( http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/926.Best_LGBT_literature ).
ReplyDeleteAnnie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain is a long term gay relationship, although I'm not sure it is what you are looking for.
ReplyDeleteHere is a list of the 100 "best" lesbian and gay novels. Maybe you will spot something.
Thanks for the list; I will definitely spend some time with it.
ReplyDeleteBrokeback Mountain is close; what I am interested in is a novel primarily about a long-term (multi-decade) gay relationship. Think something like TENDER IS THE NIGHT, THE GOOD SOLIDER, or LIGHT YEARS by James Salter.
There seem to be quite a few novels where the relationship is one of several strands, but I have yet to find one that really does what I am interested in.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, yes The Falconer. Pretty close, though it is more a study of Farragut than a story of their relationship. About as close as we've come to finding something though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these suggestion. Single Man is interesting in that is sounds like what I am looking for, but isn't really.
ReplyDeleteTales of the City does what a lot of these books do: shorter vignettes or stories. I am looking for a big domestic story.
You could try 'The Spell' by Alan Hollinghurst. I'd guess 'Two Boys at Swim' would be a good bet, but still haven't read it (it's right there in the book case, come on self).
ReplyDeleteTales of the city is not a series of vignettes or stories. The books follow the lives of a set of characters over several decades. Each is a self contained novel. By the end of the series the major character is in a domestic relationship.
ReplyDeleteBut, I'm still trying to come up with one that fits the bill. Forman Brown wrote a novel called Better Angel in 1933 that does follow a set of friends for several decades. If I'm remembering it correctly, there is a long term domestic relationship in it.
What about Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, or Patience and Sarah, or The Color Purple? All of those have long-term lesbian relationships. Also Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters might fit the bill.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, though, that I suspect part of the reason that people are having a hard time coming up with titles is because until fairly recently open, normalized, long-term gay relationships were just not that possible. If art mirrors reality, then the drama of gay bashing, living in the closet, etc...would be more prevalent than novels with successful long-term relationships such as you describe.
BTW, while these don't fit your criterion, if you are looking to get yourself some classic LGBT lit cred, you might want to read Leslie Feinberg's roman a clef Stone Butch Blues, as well as Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle or The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe Hall. Or Maurice by E.M. Forster, And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts (non-fiction) or The Best Little Boy in the World (non-fiction).
ReplyDeleteFRIED GREEN TOMATOES might be the closest yet. The Color Purple is an interesting candidate, though what I remember of it is that the relationship between Celie and Shug isn't a long-term committed relationship (it's long-term in a way, but if I remember right Shug wanders an awful lot and their relationship is subsumed by other relationships).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions. I've read all of Forster and Rita Mae Brown.
ReplyDelete