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A review by lucius_gooseman
In Youth is Pleasure by Denton Welch
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“He hated other people to imagine that they understood his mind because he was a boy.”
What begins as a Burtonesque, quaint, coming-of-age story slowly becomes a boring tale of a precocious child and his perverted holiday. As a fan of perversion, my interest was quickly piqued, but as a hater of a precocious child, I was immediately tuned out. Welch writes beautifully, describing in sometimes too much detail Orvil's surroundings and actions, down to the last bead of sweat on Lady Winkle's forehead. I think that In Youth is Pleasure suffers greatly from the era it was released- I see it hailed as a queer classic, but I found very little subtle, let alone overt, queer aspects to the novel. Sure, Orvil's a little screwy and he puts on makeup, but I know straight's who wear makeup and act weird. Knowing the author, though, makes this seem a little more gay than it actually is. I was expecting something a little more yearning, a little more open, but this was very, very closeted homosexuality, if any at all.
As someone not too far removed from Orvil's age, the intense, awkward pursuit of sexuality and the immense curiosity it holds is portrayed so excellently by Welch, it's almost sickening. Orvil is super scummy and creepy, with that type of intense, unknown lust that only a fifteen-year-old possesses. I have seen a lot of people cite In Youth as a disturbing, near-horror story, and I do find it to hold more of those qualities than coming of age. I feel like a coming of age story usually has a lesson- Orvil learns no lesson, he simply floats through some icky situations (and puts himself in just as many). Things were just a little too ethereal for me to fully grasp what Welch was trying to say about growing up and being queer at this time. It must be an acquired taste.
As someone not too far removed from Orvil's age, the intense, awkward pursuit of sexuality and the immense curiosity it holds is portrayed so excellently by Welch, it's almost sickening. Orvil is super scummy and creepy, with that type of intense, unknown lust that only a fifteen-year-old possesses. I have seen a lot of people cite In Youth as a disturbing, near-horror story, and I do find it to hold more of those qualities than coming of age. I feel like a coming of age story usually has a lesson- Orvil learns no lesson, he simply floats through some icky situations (and puts himself in just as many). Things were just a little too ethereal for me to fully grasp what Welch was trying to say about growing up and being queer at this time. It must be an acquired taste.