Reviews

I'll start by saying that this book would have had more of an impact on me had the characters been likeable at all. The casual misogyny ("These absurd women running around today, full of ideas and nonsense, and thinking themselves equal to men - quelle rigolade! - they need to be beaten half to death so that they can find out who rules the world." - Giovanni) and trans-/fem-phobia ("I always found it difficult to believe that they ever went to bed with anybody for a man who wanted a woman would certainly have rather had a real one and a man who wanted a man would certainly not want one of them.", "There was the boy who worked all day, it was said, in the post-office, who came out at night wearing makeup and earrings and with his heavy blond hair piled high. Sometimes he actually wore a skirt and high heels. [...] People said that he was very nice but I confess that his utter grotesqueness made me uneasy; perhaps in the same way that the sight of monkeys eating their own excrement turns some people's stomachs. They might not mind so much if monkeys did not - so grotesquely - resemble human beings.") were jarring. Such passages made my stomach turn every time, and I really don't care that this book was written in the 50s. An a*shole is an a*shole even if he lived a thousand years ago.

I can understand that David (the narrator) is ridden with internalised homophobia, but I can't excuse his attitude.
Other gay men are "lamentable" fairies that are beneath him, even though he really has very few positive qualities or things going for him in life. Literally, what did he do in Paris all day while Giovanni was struggling to make ends meet? Write to his Dad asking for money? Towards the end he wouldn't even do that, despite lying to Giovanni that he would.
Older gay men are always brought to the page with contempt. Don't get me wrong, Guillaume is despicable, but not for being old and no longer as attractive as the young gay men (like David) that seemed to believe they'll only be getting younger with time.

I also went into the book expecting a love story but I couldn't find one as hard as I looked. Giovanni tells David, "You do not [...] love anyone! You never have loved anyone, I am sure you never will!" and I fully agree with him. However, I think this applies to him as well, at least in part. I never got the feeling that I was reading about two people who loved each other - they were two men who lusted after each other (at least in the beginning), then found themselves stuck in a sort of half-hearted, unhealthy, codependent relationship that David didn't even want half the time. David, in my opinion, also never acts in anyone's interest but his own.

I almost feel bad giving the book only two stars, because I thought it was well-written and it kept me turning pages, but the characters stopped me from liking it. It was like being stuck for a day with someone you'd want nothing more than to avoid. When bad things happened to (or because of) the characters, I felt bad for them but my heart didn't break for them.

The only positive feelings it left me with was joy over living in a time where being queer is slightly easier and the hope that Hella (who was the only character I liked, mostly out of pity) will find someone who'll care about her.

I'd have much rather hung out with the boy in the skirt and high heels. At least people said he was very nice.