Elio as narrator

As I said at the meeting, I read Call Me by Your Name eighteen months ago. It had been given to me by my X, ever vicariously nostalgic for my high-school romance. I enjoyed reading it but thought it most interesting and memorable for its last section, the coda. It was only this I reread before the meeting, not feeling the urge to revisit the main story and wanting to wait and hear what others had to say about it.

Though almost everyone at our meeting liked it, many seemed to have vague reservations, something along the lines of the whole failing to be more than the sum of its parts, or even of not clearly adding up at all. In rereading the penultimate third section I'm inclined to agree.

I mentioned at the meeting that it is not merely Elio's story, it is told in Elio's voice, and that we shouldn't simply fault Aciman for details Elio chooses not to tell us, such as what he's been doing the last twenty years, what his present occupational status is, etc (even less so his failure to rhapsodize on the beauties of Liguria).

I had noted in my first reading that the first night in Rome is the last time Oliver and Elio "make love" (the passionate, public kiss on the via Stanta Maria dell' Anima) but had failed to appreciate, until somebody mentioned it, how bizarre it is that nothing further is said about this in the remainder of the book. What does it say about Elio and his experience, his story, that he relates nothing about their last two days in Rome?

Much of Elio's silence(s) may speak volumes about him but I have lost faith in Aciman that this is artistically conceived. It's either a cheap trick at dimension, a failure of imagination, or meer authorial laziness. In any event, for all the intriguing silences in Elio's narrative, I'm inclined to feel now that it doesn't add up and that the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

I'm even beginning to have darker feelings about this novel being deeply (cheaply?) exploitative of gay experience in the guise of a romance for straight (women?) readers and gay (romantic?) men.

Nevertheless, it's well-written (though Steve may yet reveal how mistaken we all are in this view) and thought provoking, and I'm sure that in the fullness of time—even perhaps in the foolness that remains of my life—I will spend another summer on the Italian Riviera.

The Votes Are In!

Fall 2008-Spring 2009 Bookmen DC Reading List

9/17 Between Men: Best New Gay Fiction, pp. 163-250
10/1 A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
10/15 Men of Mystery, pp. 117-184
11/5 Dude, You’re a Fag by C.J. Pascoe
11/19 Freedom in this Village, pp. 255-330
12/3 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
12/17 Between Men, pp. 251-330

2009

1/7 Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums
1/21 Men of Mystery, pp. 185-275
2/4 Gay New York by George Chauncey
2/18 Freedom in this Village, pp. 331-444
3/4 The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William Burroughs
3/18 The Man with Night Sweats by Thom Gunn
4/1 Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
4/15 The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Great discussion of "Call Me by Your Name"!

Greetings, Colleagues--

Ten valiant Bookmen, a near-record turnout, gathered last night (9/3/08) to discuss Andre Aciman's novel "Call Me by Your Name." There was clearly a wide range of reactions to the work, but I think it would be safe to say that we all found it well worth reading and enjoyed a particularly lively discussion.

As someone who was less impressed by the novel than most of those present (though I did enjoy it), I have been challenged by a fellow reader to cite some passages that I found memorably infelicitous (so bad they're good? :-). I want to take a little time to sort through the many worthy contenders for that distinction before posting a few; but first, in the spirit of fair play, let me share a passage from the final few pages that I thought was truly wonderful:

"I tried to picture his happy family, boys immersed in homework, or lumbering back from late practice, surly, ill-tempered thumping with muddied boots, every cliche racing through my mind. This is the man whose house I stayed in when I lived in Italy, he'd say, followed by grumphy harrumphs from two adolescents who couldn't be bothered by the man from Italy or the house in Italy, but who'd reel in shock if told, Oh, and by the way, this man who was almost your age back then and who spent most of his days quietly transcribing The Seven Last Words of Christ each morning would sneak into my room at night and we'd fuck our brains out. So shake hands and be nice." (p. 243)

Other than correcting "bothered by" to "bothered with," I wouldn't change a word. :-)

Cheers, Steve

A Plug from the List

Going through the proposed list for future discussions, I've read And the Band Played On, Confessons of a Mask, The First Verse, The Object of My Affections, A Single Man, and The Wild Boys. Of these, the one I'm most keen on re-reading and discussing is Barry McCrea's The First Verse. We read an excerpt from it, generally liked, in Fresh Men. That excerpt was a little misleading in that most of the explicitly gay stuff was cobbled together into a "story". But the novel's through-line of obsession and pursuit is so profoundly homosexual—or even human!—that it makes John Rechy's novels look like childrens' counting rhymes. I'm not generally interested in re-reading the others (or in the case of the McCauley even discussing), even though I love A Single Man and would look forward to a discussion of The Wild Boys (an intriguing amalgam of pornography, fable, and textual mindwarp).

We haven't considered hardcovers before, mostly to prevent price from being a barrier to anyone's attending. That rule might be relaxed for an especially timely book or one that might never appear in paperback. Neither The Indian Clerk, however, nor The Story of a Marriage qualifies for such exception. Lambda Rising does offer a 20% discount but that is only available to people who are already attending our meetings (and have picked up a card—and remembered to take it with them to the store).

Finally, since it was I who suggested Blackbird and Wolf, I feel I should confess, having looked at both, that I think The Man with Night Sweats is the better choice, both on the merits and as a follow-on to our reading of Boss Cupid. (I think either more appropriate than the Mary Oliver.)

Hidden History on The New Gay Net

Our very "own" Philip is now a weekly columnist on The New Gay ("for everyone over the rainbow"), writing about DC's "Hidden History." Quick, read his first column about Pornograpers & Poets today—the second comes out tomorrow! A few more clicks will lead you to discover the general value of this website, which accurately bills itself as "An Online Resource for Alternative Queer Events and Ideas in Washington DC."

Hail, Fellow Bookmen (of Mystery...:-)

Greetings, Colleagues--

While turnout was low for last week's meeting, those of us in attendance enjoyed our discussion of Will Fellows' book, A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as Keepers of Culture.

This coming Wednesday, July 16, we will gather to discuss the selections found on pp. 53-116 of the anthology Men of Mystery: Homoerotic Tales of Intrigue and Suspense (edited by Sean Meriwether & Greg Wharton).

Don't forget that we have shifted our discussion of Thom Gunn's final poetry collection, Boss Cupid, from July 2 to August 6. The book is available at Lambda Rising for a mere $3.98 (and that's before the 20% discount). When I went by LR last night, there were 7 copies left, but at that low, low price they may not last!

Looking ahead: I am in the process of putting together a list of titles for the next iteration of our reading list and would warmly welcome your nominations, particularly for anthologies of poetry, short stories and essays. All titles should be in print and available in paperback; if you can provide a capsule description and/or links to online reviews, that would be great, but it is not required. I'd like to have all suggestions by August 1, sooner if possible; please e-mail them to me via this site (they'll be automatically forwarded to me) and we'll go from there.

Cheers,Steve Honley

The New Gay Teenager

Thanks for your kind comments, Steve. I'm looking forward to many more years of thoughtful and stimulating discussions. And on that note, I'd like to call everyone's attention to a recent "Pride" article by Kenji Yoshino (author of Covering, a book we all liked) on the new gay teenager, the older gay community, and the surrounding homophobia in which we all live. "They're Queer, And They Don't Need Us ... Or Do They?" appeared recently in The Advocate. Note his praise for Ritch C. Savin-Williams' The New Gay Teenager. I think we should put this book on our next reading list.