Identify Books Concering The City and the Pillar
| Original Title: | The City and the Pillar |
| ISBN: | 1400030374 (ISBN13: 9781400030378) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Paul Sullivan, Maria Verlaine, Jim Willard, Bob Ford, Ronald Shaw |
| Setting: | United States of America Virginia(United States) New York City, New York(United States) …more Los Angeles, California(United States) New Orleans, Louisiana(United States) Yucatán(Mexico) Denver, Colorado(United States) Hollywood, California(United States) …less |
Gore Vidal
Paperback | Pages: 207 pages Rating: 3.85 | 6909 Users | 478 Reviews
Interpretation Supposing Books The City and the Pillar
A literary cause célèbre when first published more than fifty years ago, Gore Vidal's now-classic The City and the Pillar stands as a landmark novel of the gay experience.Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in "awful kid stuff", the experience forms Jim's ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.
Specify About Books The City and the Pillar
| Title | : | The City and the Pillar |
| Author | : | Gore Vidal |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 207 pages |
| Published | : | December 2nd 2003 by Vintage (first published January 10th 1948) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. LGBT. Classics. GLBT. Queer. Gay |
Rating About Books The City and the Pillar
Ratings: 3.85 From 6909 Users | 478 ReviewsCriticize About Books The City and the Pillar
The story in this book, published in 1948, transcends its time and gives readers a plot of immediate relevance and a protagonist who never apologizes. Especially satisfying is the ending Vidal restored in 1964. It fits the flow of the narrative and deprives the earlier ending of its mandatory homophobia, until recently the price paid for any literary or cinematic treatment of the subject. The novelty of the book was once its characterization of a gay male who doesn't fit the image. TheThe City and the Pillar - Gore VidalIve always been fascinated by Gore Vidal as a man over any of his writings. Born in 1925 into privilege and a well regarded Democratic family, with his possession of an enviable intellect and military background he could have, one might say should have, been Governor of an interesting state, or followed his maternal Grandfather into the Senate.However, although an outspoken political animal all of his life, the young Gore chose to be a writer. His first book
Rtc but I was going to rate this three stars but then that completely unnecessary rape scene happened so nooooooope. Okay, here's the actual review. This book wasn't the best portrayal of homosexuality ever - it was sexist and awful in a way, lesbians apparently only existed as gross stereotypes - but it's an important book nevertheless. It was written in the 40's and I don't feel that this book has aged badly or that it's dated; rather it shows what life was like, used to be like. And again I
So few of my GR friends have read this and other Gore Vidal classics, I have to pose the question: where does Vidal stand in the American pantheon? Do his historical novels about the Republic turn readers off for their political content and supposedly dry writing? Does his late career as polemicist and hired mouthpiece present him as a dusty old eminence, far too close to the rich and famous to have any worth as an artist of substance? Can someone born into a wealthy political family, close to
This rating is for the original version. Which I preferred.I rated this lower earlier, due to lingering mixed feelings for the book's offered double endings (rather unnecessary, imho). However, disregarding certain perceivable hesitancy with the tonally none-the-better later edit, and focusing only on the original, the narrative is fairly strong. Prose not necessarily withstanding.It is not a happily ever after, nor is it perhaps without controversy for some current day sensibilities, but it is
Ughhh...I see why this was important for its time, but you know what? Go check out James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room which came out in the same time period but was unpublishable in the US because publishers didn't believe that readers would accept a black author writing about homosexuality. I mean, unless you haven't read enough stories about gay men being ashamed of who they are. In that case maybe Vidal's your cup of tea. Masculine tea, certainly, because femininity is just gross here. Or, uh,
Time had stopped. Head down to the visitor's attractions of earth open wishes. What were you dreaming when it hit. Asteroid eyes rove the green eyed monsters monumentally frozen into mountainsides. You get what you paid and sold. The secret smile cried into cold dead hands. Hold the palm shut to make stick in after life. Jim in the dark wonders that everyone doesn't know. What the bulges in trousers must have invited. They dance by tables in whirls of what to wear or does it always look that
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