MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - New Leaf April 2018 Discussion • Making History by Stephen Fry

astrangerhere · 04-16-2018, 07:30 AM

While I agree with many of you that the book was not all it could have been, consider a different perspective.

The novel was written 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, I was certain that it would not ever be legal for me to marry my wife in my lifetime. There were still many parts of the state in which I live that it was physically unsafe to be out publically in. (Though there are still some of those). I wonder if the self-indulgence in this book came more from wanting to write a gay story and needing a larger plot to nest it in.

I assumed that Michael was at least bisexual very early in the book, and I was not surprised at all by the eventual conclusion to the arc. It was clumsy, clunky, and terribly heavy-handed, but I understood what he was trying to do. The parallel between the inevitability of a tyrant in Germany mirrored what might be seen as an inevitability in Michael's life once he met Steve. Again, clunky and heavy-handed, but gay storylines in popular fiction had to start somewhere, I suppose. That is, of course, not to say that much better LGBT fiction was not written before this time, because it was. But Fry is a hugely popular public figure and might have gotten more exposure than a lot of his peers.

I ended up giving the book a 2.5/5, but I appreciated Fry's knack for voice and characterization, even if I did not like most of the characters.

04-16-2018, 07:30 AM	#35
astrangerhere Professor of Law Posts: 3,755 Karma: 68428716 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Libra H20, Kobo Aura One, KoboMini	A Different Perspective While I agree with many of you that the book was not all it could have been, consider a different perspective. The novel was written 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, I was certain that it would not ever be legal for me to marry my wife in my lifetime. There were still many parts of the state in which I live that it was physically unsafe to be out publically in. (Though there are still some of those). I wonder if the self-indulgence in this book came more from wanting to write a gay story and needing a larger plot to nest it in. I assumed that Michael was at least bisexual very early in the book, and I was not surprised at all by the eventual conclusion to the arc. It was clumsy, clunky, and terribly heavy-handed, but I understood what he was trying to do. The parallel between the inevitability of a tyrant in Germany mirrored what might be seen as an inevitability in Michael's life once he met Steve. Again, clunky and heavy-handed, but gay storylines in popular fiction had to start somewhere, I suppose. That is, of course, not to say that much better LGBT fiction was not written before this time, because it was. But Fry is a hugely popular public figure and might have gotten more exposure than a lot of his peers. I ended up giving the book a 2.5/5, but I appreciated Fry's knack for voice and characterization, even if I did not like most of the characters.