Thanks for introducing this incredible novel. I still remember the pain I felt when I first time read it twenty years ago. It's a masterpiece in TW's LGBTQ literature.
Do you read a lot of LGBT fiction? In my experience, a lot of it that gets passed off as really literary is somewhat ... lackluster. I keep trying, though. I read Forster's "Maurice" a couple of weeks ago, and really enjoyed it.
I actually read Maurice a few weeks ago too! Not sure yet if I'm going to have time to make a video on it, but I'd like to. I enjoyed it -- Forster has a certain clever and sometimes ironic style...but I personally liked the mood of Notes of a Crocodile better. They're different though, so I'd imagine many will find Maurice the more enjoyable and relatable of the two. I can't say I've read a ton of LGBT fiction though I'd like to read more. These two books are probably the only ones I've read recently. I do often find it hard to tell whether a work is being praised because it has a general broad literary appeal, or more because it speaks to and represents a very specific marginalized group. Well actually... either of those is something I appreciate. I guess what I'm not such a fan of is when a book that I don't think is really the best it can be seems to get a "pass" or is over-hyped because it represents diverse or marginalized groups. I mean, a big part of why I read these books is to understand and relate to experiences outside of my own, so it just feels to me like it's doing a disservice to everyone to say a book perfectly captures such an experience, if in reality it kind of doesn't, or is written in a distracting or clunky way. As for Notes of a Crocodile... I personally really enjoyed it in a literary sense! It's fairly unconventional in its form and tone, so it's certainly the kind of thing that won't fit everyone's preferences. And I guess by this point it's a bit of an LGBT cult classic, which also makes it hard to know what to make of the public discourse around it.
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Thanks for introducing this incredible novel. I still remember the pain I felt when I first time read it twenty years ago. It's a masterpiece in TW's LGBTQ literature.
Just downloaded it to listen to!
Great review :) I completely agree with much of what you said
Do you read a lot of LGBT fiction? In my experience, a lot of it that gets passed off as really literary is somewhat ... lackluster. I keep trying, though. I read Forster's "Maurice" a couple of weeks ago, and really enjoyed it.
I actually read Maurice a few weeks ago too! Not sure yet if I'm going to have time to make a video on it, but I'd like to. I enjoyed it -- Forster has a certain clever and sometimes ironic style...but I personally liked the mood of Notes of a Crocodile better. They're different though, so I'd imagine many will find Maurice the more enjoyable and relatable of the two.
I can't say I've read a ton of LGBT fiction though I'd like to read more. These two books are probably the only ones I've read recently. I do often find it hard to tell whether a work is being praised because it has a general broad literary appeal, or more because it speaks to and represents a very specific marginalized group. Well actually... either of those is something I appreciate. I guess what I'm not such a fan of is when a book that I don't think is really the best it can be seems to get a "pass" or is over-hyped because it represents diverse or marginalized groups. I mean, a big part of why I read these books is to understand and relate to experiences outside of my own, so it just feels to me like it's doing a disservice to everyone to say a book perfectly captures such an experience, if in reality it kind of doesn't, or is written in a distracting or clunky way.
As for Notes of a Crocodile... I personally really enjoyed it in a literary sense! It's fairly unconventional in its form and tone, so it's certainly the kind of thing that won't fit everyone's preferences. And I guess by this point it's a bit of an LGBT cult classic, which also makes it hard to know what to make of the public discourse around it.