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Sep. 29th, 2005 08:01 pmSo I finished Solomon Gursky Was Here. Good book mostly, but it just kept getting more and more homophobic, and I began to wonder what Mordecai Richler's problem was.
All the homophobic parts were tangents to the main plot. They felt unnecessary, making me wonder why they were there. He kept using us as symbols of hypocrisy, of the empty decadance of jet set, or even as an indication of insanity. By the time we came to the insane cannibal rapist-of-men in a dress, I had to put the book down for a moment.
It was far too clumsy for a satirist of Richler's skill, and seemed over and above his usual misanthropy.
I could understand it if there was one gay character, and he was unsympathetic (the two Wiccan characters were very unsympathetic). The problem is, there were more than a dozen of gay and bi male characters (no queer women, except a passing mention of Vita Sackville-West), and most of them were at the worst end of evil.
I'm now back to reading the Samurai Susanna. I've also written 8.5 pages today, and played video games a little, so I feel my day isn't completely wasted.
All the homophobic parts were tangents to the main plot. They felt unnecessary, making me wonder why they were there. He kept using us as symbols of hypocrisy, of the empty decadance of jet set, or even as an indication of insanity. By the time we came to the insane cannibal rapist-of-men in a dress, I had to put the book down for a moment.
It was far too clumsy for a satirist of Richler's skill, and seemed over and above his usual misanthropy.
I could understand it if there was one gay character, and he was unsympathetic (the two Wiccan characters were very unsympathetic). The problem is, there were more than a dozen of gay and bi male characters (no queer women, except a passing mention of Vita Sackville-West), and most of them were at the worst end of evil.
I'm now back to reading the Samurai Susanna. I've also written 8.5 pages today, and played video games a little, so I feel my day isn't completely wasted.
