As it gets more accepted with homosexuality, it is not longer a sensation when a book with gay theme gets publicized; though the book might sparkle some debate. The first three books that I am presenting in this four-title-guide were publicized, or written, in a time when homosexuality was not accepted and was even by law a crime. When you start to come to the 50th the common view had changed a little, but homosexuality were still regarded as a sickness by the world in large, and in the film world there were still a ban off showing open homosexual characters. A Matter of Life and Sex is written in the early 90th when AIDS had become an issue gay people had to live with.
The four books are all discussing masculinity and sexuality in their own ways. They are also by their nature questioning the heterosexual society, and the meaning of being "normal". In the earlier books, The City and the Pillar and Maurice, the main character is very masculine. The only thing that make them different is their incapability of sleeping with women. The authors seem to stress their normality; and the fact that they look and act like ordinary men.
The gay characher in both Giovanni's room and A Matter of Life and Sex is more complex and have a more modern way of looking at masculinity, the characters have to deal with their masculinity more than what seem to be the case in the earlier written books. The main-character in Giovannis Room can't live up to his own ideal of a man, because he is homosexual, while the Hugo Harvey character in A Matter of Life and Sex rejects hetero normativity totally and no longer feel the need to live within the boundaries, but this decision made him live with the everyday rejection.
E.M. Forster
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) wrote Maurice in 1914, but didn't try to publicize the story because he didn't want to come out as homosexual. In the 1960th he made the final revision, but still refused to publicize it, or come out of the closet, although the time had changed drastically, and it would been good for the gay-cause for him to come open. This made him very disliked by the gay-activists of his time. Maurice got publicized in 1971 one year after the author's death, almost sixty years after it was written.
The plot is quite simple. The main character Maurice falls in love with his best friend. The other boy seems at first to respond and they are together for awhile, but in the end he chooses to live with a woman, and tries to make Maurice change his sexual desires too. Maurice really tries to become straight, but fails. He is lonely for quite some time, but then he meets Alec.
Maurice is taken place in an English milieu during the first decade of last century. The author never really describes a gay society, maybe cause the author didn't see a point in shocking the "normal" society, also perhaps because the author himself did not feel part of the gay society of his time.
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal publicized City and the Pillar in 1948. Novels about homosexuality starts to get more common in this decade, but they often ended very badly, with the homosexual character's dead. City and the Pillar tries to show the homosexuality as something normal, something that exists everywhere. It describes the subculture, that most Americans most probably at that time didn't know about. It is said that this book is semi-autobiographical.
Jim finds his first love in his friend, Bob, who Jim thinks, is responding. Bob is leaving the next day though, and Jim never has the chance to explore things. Although Jim knows in is heart that Bob is "normal", and finds him more attractive because of that, he is obsessed with the idea that he will be with him. For the next decade he goes from relationship to relationship, with mostly men, waiting for the moment when he can get together with Bob. At last after many years he can confront Bob, who is now married and has a daughter.
The plot takes place in America, both in New York and Hollywood. Describing the gay society in both of the cities during this time, but seen with a foreigner's eye, not necessarily from a heterosexual point of view however. One little detail that is notable is that the male homosexuals themselves are using the word gay, and even the word queen is used in the same way that it is used today. In the book the lesbians are also portrayed, but not in so many details.
James Baldwin
James Baldwin (1926-87) was never open about his sexuality, but it is known that he was homosexual. His life battle was instead against racism. Many of his books treats homosexual themes such as Another Country. It tells about the Harlem Renaissance.
Giovanni's room(1956), his second book, is about David who is escaping from his disastrous life in the States by going to Europe. In Paris he meets Giovanni, and falls in love with him, but can't come to terms with his homosexuality. He projects his feelings about his own homosexuality to Giovani and hates him strongly from time to time. David and Giovanni become two counterparts. David is a self-hating bisexual that wants to be "normal" but is driven by his nature to men. Giovanni on the other side don't feel any guilt being bisexual, and have a very girl friend view to love. David's girl friend Hedda also adds to the problem. She is coming back to Paris to continue her life with him.
This book is from an American perspective, but the main-plot is placed in Paris and in a village on the countryside. The gay society is described, as in The City and the Pillar with a foreigner's eye. David is, almost with disgust, seeing the other homosexual that are more campy than him.
Oscar Moore
The English journalist Oscar Moore wrote A Matter of Life and Sex in early 1990th. By this time AIDS had become something that gay guys had to live with, and the writers started to respond to this.
A Matter of Life and Sex is about the young boy Hugo Harvey and his way to become a man. At the age of 14 he starts to go to toilets for anonymous sex. He falls in love but the men abandon him. As he become older he get used to the random sex and the drugs around him. He becomes prostitute for the easy money. The important thing is that he chooses this himself, nobody really forces him. In the end he gets AIDS, and sees his partner and friends die in the same decease. The women have also a big part of this book. One of the most important persons for Hugo is his mother, who he adored as a child, and that comes to his hospital bed and stay with him until the end. The other one is his friend Cynthia, the woman that he might have married.
The story takes place in both England and New York. The gay sex scenes are very explicit at some points, and the author really tells you all the details. The gay life is described very cold in some parts, as Hugo cruises the beats and the sleazy hotels. This book has been influential with many of the gay authors active today.