mrsronweasley (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mrsronweasley) wrote2002-07-25 11:21 am
mrsronweasley) wrote2002-07-25 11:21 am
Musings et al.
I've been trying to figure out a good way of doing this, and realized that I can't. But I really really wanted to, so...
I have recently read a book that has made me incredibly happy - the giddy sort of happy, the kind that makes you grin like an idiot for days afterwards. The last book that made me this happy was "Prisoner of Azkaban". This one's called "The Boys on The Rock" by John Fox.
Essentially, it's about a young boy (16) growing up in the Bronx in 1968 who comes to terms with his homosexuality. But it's not that simple. He is actually quite content being gay - after all, that's the way he is ("It's not what I want to be, like a-a fireman or a president of the United States, it's what I am. I've always been. I mean, I don't not want it but it's not like I made some kind of choice. Like, I didn't decide to have blond hair.") But he has resigned himself to ever finding a lover, because, after all, he can't exactly come out and say "I'm gay, anyone want to fuck me?" But find someone he does. The love story in this book left me absolutely breathless, even though it wasn't all wine and roses - Al, his chosen one, is scared to be found out and in the end ends up having to make a choice between the one he loves (Billy) and his career as a politician (Al's a college sophomore). This book never left you completely satisfied for long - it dipped and swirved, just like real life does. But there were moments where I couldn't help but sigh and smile because they were so real and so incredibly beautiful in their subtlety. When Al comes to see Billy in a swim meet, Billy comes out to talk to him before anything starts. They're still friends, but at that point they have already reached an understanding and after the meet have plans to go back to Al's place while his family is away for the weekend. I don't want to spoil anything, but this was one of my favorite scenes:
...so I bopped out from the locker room in just my swimsuit past those timekeepers, some of whose eyes followed me over to Al. He sat up straight and scenned my body, sort of like browsing, and like he was overcome by the experience, shook his head once and said, "Whew," as I plopped down next to him and said, "Hi."
"Hey, hotstuff," he whispered huskily, touching my arm with an elbow. "Excited about the meet?"
"Yeah." I was more excited about being with him later at his house.
He said, "I can't wait till later."
"Me neither."
He glanced around, scratching his neck, his mouth in an O. Back to me, a pucker and an airy kiss. I returned it.
Then, there is the one adult who doesn't even flinch at the thought of Billy being gay, his aunt. He can't imagine telling anyone, of course, but during a visit to his aunt's house, he mentions two twins on his swimming team that he finds extremely attractive:
I remember telling her about Evan and Kevin and describing exactly what they looked like and she said, "They sound really cute," and I said, "Oh, they are," and she looked at me and I froze with food in my mouth and she smiled and winked.
I'll stop here, because I don't want to keep on spoiling everything, but this review, or whatever it is, doesn't even do the book justice. At all. There is nothing trivial about it, it is honest and beautiful, and there is no higher praise that I can give it. Seriously, it's amazing. Fox doesn't spare his readers any details, be they about their first sexual encounter or their first fight (not necessarily in that order). Billy is an introspective kid who seems to want to change the world just the tiny little bit but doesn't know how to do it. He wants to be happy. And, above all, to stop lying.
I cannot recommend it enough. I guess I just wanted to share a little bit of it.
It simply made me happy.
I have recently read a book that has made me incredibly happy - the giddy sort of happy, the kind that makes you grin like an idiot for days afterwards. The last book that made me this happy was "Prisoner of Azkaban". This one's called "The Boys on The Rock" by John Fox.
Essentially, it's about a young boy (16) growing up in the Bronx in 1968 who comes to terms with his homosexuality. But it's not that simple. He is actually quite content being gay - after all, that's the way he is ("It's not what I want to be, like a-a fireman or a president of the United States, it's what I am. I've always been. I mean, I don't not want it but it's not like I made some kind of choice. Like, I didn't decide to have blond hair.") But he has resigned himself to ever finding a lover, because, after all, he can't exactly come out and say "I'm gay, anyone want to fuck me?" But find someone he does. The love story in this book left me absolutely breathless, even though it wasn't all wine and roses - Al, his chosen one, is scared to be found out and in the end ends up having to make a choice between the one he loves (Billy) and his career as a politician (Al's a college sophomore). This book never left you completely satisfied for long - it dipped and swirved, just like real life does. But there were moments where I couldn't help but sigh and smile because they were so real and so incredibly beautiful in their subtlety. When Al comes to see Billy in a swim meet, Billy comes out to talk to him before anything starts. They're still friends, but at that point they have already reached an understanding and after the meet have plans to go back to Al's place while his family is away for the weekend. I don't want to spoil anything, but this was one of my favorite scenes:
...so I bopped out from the locker room in just my swimsuit past those timekeepers, some of whose eyes followed me over to Al. He sat up straight and scenned my body, sort of like browsing, and like he was overcome by the experience, shook his head once and said, "Whew," as I plopped down next to him and said, "Hi."
"Hey, hotstuff," he whispered huskily, touching my arm with an elbow. "Excited about the meet?"
"Yeah." I was more excited about being with him later at his house.
He said, "I can't wait till later."
"Me neither."
He glanced around, scratching his neck, his mouth in an O. Back to me, a pucker and an airy kiss. I returned it.
Then, there is the one adult who doesn't even flinch at the thought of Billy being gay, his aunt. He can't imagine telling anyone, of course, but during a visit to his aunt's house, he mentions two twins on his swimming team that he finds extremely attractive:
I remember telling her about Evan and Kevin and describing exactly what they looked like and she said, "They sound really cute," and I said, "Oh, they are," and she looked at me and I froze with food in my mouth and she smiled and winked.
I'll stop here, because I don't want to keep on spoiling everything, but this review, or whatever it is, doesn't even do the book justice. At all. There is nothing trivial about it, it is honest and beautiful, and there is no higher praise that I can give it. Seriously, it's amazing. Fox doesn't spare his readers any details, be they about their first sexual encounter or their first fight (not necessarily in that order). Billy is an introspective kid who seems to want to change the world just the tiny little bit but doesn't know how to do it. He wants to be happy. And, above all, to stop lying.
I cannot recommend it enough. I guess I just wanted to share a little bit of it.
It simply made me happy.