After asthma, I came down with a cold, which confined me to bed last night. I didn’t do much reading (or anything) but I have started a wonderful book by Jane Hamilton.
In The Short History of a Prince, Walter McCloud is faced with a double whammy: the death of his brother and his own homosexuality. Walter is 15 years old on the day this novel starts, the day his older brother’s illness is discovered. Daniel will die of it about a year later. And Walter is agonizingly aware that Daniel is the heterosexual son, the one who’d have produced grandchildren for his parents, the one who’d have stayed close to home.
“He had been happy as a child and had not realized it. But happiness was spent so quickly, he thought, and identifying it, feeling it, trying to hang on to it, made him nervous. Maybe it was better to be ignorant of bliss, unselfconscious, and later have the sense to recognize its traces.” [33]
Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll post the list of books for the 24-hours read-a-thon.
Filed under: American Literature, Books, Contemporary Literature, Gay Literature, Literature, Reading | Tagged: American Literature, Books, Contemporary Literature, Gay Literature, Literature, The Short History of a Prince
That sounds interesting. I’ll put that on my book list. I’m currently making my way through The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, waiting to … find a reason not to put it down.
I hope you feel better soon!
What a turmoil for a teen.
Hopefully, there was a happy ending.
Turmoil and struggle for a teenage kid always vouch a good story. Another one on my list!