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Gay Lit vs M/M – FIGHT!!!

Review 34

So, I’m getting back to some reading, since I’ve been mired in Stargate Atlantis marathons on a daily basis, and catching up, (getting addicted to the McShep) and my reading has taken a serious nosedive. So I’m reading two books at the same time.

Strange Meeting by Susan Hill – a critically acclaimed homosexual story set in WW1; and

His Master’s Lover by Nick Heddle – a m/m romance set just after WW2

And it struck me, as I read Strange Meeting, how very different m/m and gay literature can be. can (and it isn’t always, I consider some m/m to be as good literature as any that Andre Aciman, Ms Hill or Ms Waters can write)

So here, just for my own amusement and  are my vies on the differences between gay fiction and M/M.

Gay Fiction

M/M
The book will begin with lush, often surreal description.  Weather, landscape, internal thoughts, perhaps a journey being taken The book will begin with an introduction to the protagonist – if not both.
The first interaction between the main protagonists may take a while, and when they do meet they will have a long conversation, peppered with long pauses, more description of the landscape, and talk of nothing personal. They won’t immediately be friends. The first interaction between the main protagonists will involve a lot of mental leering, some witty banter, touches of skin somehow, and probably some stiffening. Either that, or they’ll hate each other.
There will be NO – repeat NO mention of the word homosexuality.  As the friendship grows there will be nothing more than a gradual dependence on each other and a desire to see more of each other. (alternated with much description of landscape, and possibly some weather.) Both men will be aware that they are different, (if a historical) or if a contemporary will be loud and proud.
If there is any physical contact, it will be in the form of a manly hug that is regretted instantly and angsted much over Sexual contact takes place in chapter four.
By the time the protagonist realises that he’s love!!!! with another man, all is lost and there’s nothing for it but someone’s death, or separation for their own good. After a humungous amount of shagging, the protags decide to shack up/get married.
Bleak last section with more landscape. Happy Ever After with added shaggage!

So, yes, I’m not being serious.

I love both types with a passion and am happy when they are seperate and am happy when they have the differences.

But I have to say, reading Strange Meeting, I did get a point when I just started to giggle and I said to my cat, who was curled up on my shoulders, “Yanno, if this was a m/m, they’d be shagging already – and they’d be a LOT happier.”

Author

Erastes

Erastes is an author of gay historical fiction. Her novels cover many time periods and locations. She lives in Norfolk UK with demanding cats and never seems to have enough time to serve them.
http://www.erastes.com/

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34 comments

  • Great post Erastes.

    I spent many years reading books which would be considered ‘worthy’ which contained angst filled characters who began the book feeling happy and ended the book filled with pain or dead.

    I’m past all that now, thank goodness.

    Yes, I want well written books and I even don’t mind the odd lovely bit of description but no, I don’t want to feel suicidal when I reach the end of a book any more. I just have to turn on the news or read a paper for that.

    So I think I’ll stick to my m/m and give the gay lit a bit of a wide berth.

  • LOL Very funny. And when I read Chapter 4, I thought “What the hell? Page 4 usually.”

    I have to confess that I don’t read “literature” and Oprah’s favorite book because I get too bored reading about the weather and the landscape and long introspective looks at someone’s thought process. I like to get to the meat *giggle* of the story a lot sooner. So I’m shallow. Thankfully there is something for all of us out there.

    And holy hell, I was looking for a particular picture today and actually saved the cover you used as your second picture (the guys in the moonlight). What are the odds of that?

  • If it says on the sleeve “critically acclaimed” then warning bells start to sound in my head.
    Those books never end well whatever kind of book it is. So I tend to avoid those books or I must be in a really generous mood.

    Books I read for my entertainment, feeling depressed after closing a book is not entertaining to me.

  • I probably read more gay literature than I normally would because of Speak Its Name, but generally I do enjoy them, I just get so sick of the DEAD GAY, but apparently that’s the only way serious gay books could be published pre-Stonewall (in the main)–either it was pulp/porn or Dead Gay Lit.

    I can’t talk, actually, having a tragedy I’m trying to sell…. 😀

    I have to say, although that cover is over the top, I wish there were along those lines, if a little bit more toned down.

    • Maybe with those sort of pre-Stonewall books the reader could just stop reading at the end of the penultimate chapter. 😀 Which is maybe where the author wanted it to end, but had to have “dead gay” at the end to get published. Hah, I’ve read a few books of various sorts where I should have closed it at the end of the penultimate chapter!

      Heard something the other day actually, on Radio 4 maybe, that the endings of even great novels are often kind of lame. That people recall great first lines and hooks, but last lines and endings often aren’t nearly as memorable. Maybe because they don’t have to be. A rubbish opening and nobody will get past chapter one, in fact, it probably won’t even be published. But by the ending, well, you’ve already read the book!

  • Where is my reply??

    Anyway: When it says on sleeve “critically acclaimed” warning bells start to sound in my head. THose books never end well whatever genre it is.

    I read for entertainment and feeling depressed after finishing a book is not entertaining imo.

    • I must admit that a beautifully written book, even if it has a sad ending, and God, I’ve read so many of those – really touches me and if I’m still obsessing about it days–weeks–months later, then it really makes me happy (I know that sounds odd)

      Hmmm. Perhaps in a few weeks, I’ll do my favourite weepies.

  • 😀

    I love me a good descriptive paragraph as much as the next ex-English major, but come on . . . some of those well-turned phrases need to be put to use in rip-roarin’ shag scenes!

    Manly hugs–omigod.

    Great post, Erastes! I confess, you’ve piqued my curiosity about “gay lit’rature.”

    • I thoroughly agree with you, KZ!!!

      🙂

      There are some lovely gay lit books, obviously – I really will have to do a list of my faves, just to show people that sad doesn’t necessarily mean AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

  • LMAO! This was a great post!

    Srsly though, wouldn’t it be nice if there were *more* middle ground books? Hot “rip-roarin’ shag scenes” and a deep meaningful book with rich descriptions…

    I frequently (o.k., almost always) want well written hot smexxin with HEA romance, but sometimes I want serious with smexxin. Call me picky!

    Manly hugs? o_0

    Does that go with “the single touch on the upper back that has so much meaning and fills them both with angst and makes them realize that their friendship must end”?

  • Thanks Amie – I think there are m/m books that are starting to breach the gap, which can only be a Good Thing. Alex Beecroft and Ruth Sims certainly are helping in that respect. The trouble with beautiful prose+sex scenes is that it can lead to somewhat purple prose, something I’ve been rather guilty of from time to time!!

    Ah yes, the unasked for touch – that’s a definite no no!! 😀 “Oh GOD, what will he think of me?”

  • Heh, that was funny and yep, pretty familiar! Though I have to say I’ve just read a literary gay novel and though there was a certain amount of angst (and with a 17-year-old narrator angst is pretty much a given!) there’s no “dead gay” nonsense. Nobody feels the urge to kill themselves at any point that I remember. But of course, there’s no guarantee of a happy ever after ending either, even when there’s not going to be a totally grim one.

    It was Call Me By Your Name by Andre Acimen and definitely worth giving a go, by the way. Very accessible for “litfic.”

    But it’s good to have some variety. I’ve got The Charioteer on my To Read stack so I’ve got more literary gay fic to try.

    • Hi JFM,

      Yes, I very much liked Call Me by Your Name, I thought I’d done a review of it on my LJ but I can’t see it off hand. But once again, it had a bitter sweet ending, if not a particularly tragic one. I didn’t really madly want them to get together, and stay together, but the way the ending was handled annoyed me – there was really no need to have Elio so disenchanted and basically unhappy – or thats how it struck me. I’d have been much happier if that first love had set him up for good loves in his life, as he had such a well-balanced family life.

      Beautifully written though, but just tainted with YOU MUST NOT BE HAPPY BECAUSE THOU ART GAY LIT.

      • I’d have preferred not to see the jump forward to later in their lives at all really. I’m not that keen on that, as it often feels tacked onto a story, plus I want to use my imagination about how things turned out for a person. Maybe they found happiness, maybe they didn’t. I don’t need to know that for sure, I’m quite happy to just enjoy the story of this particular time in their lives and say goodbye. If there is more the writer wants to say about them – write a sequel!
        Maybe one reason I’m enjoying romances is that most do have a definite ending. Though some will insist on a tagged on epilogue to show us, look they got married and here’s their lovely baby – awww, most romances have the sense to end on ‘and they lived happily ever after’. There’s a good reason for that of course. Happy people are boring! 😀

  • Oh jeez, not this again!

    OK, what you call Gay Lit and I call Gay Lit can be seen as two different things.

    I call “classic” books like Maurice… Gay Claptrap!

    Most of the book is all angst and emotional blackmail and stolen kisses and in the last five seconds suddenly sex breaks out followed by the required shame and eventually all the Gay Characters running away from evil repressive “society” where Gay Characters will never be happy anyway to live as woodcutters after changing their names of course.

    Who can relate to that? It’s as bad as suicidal queens in Gay Pulp. No, no, no, use the razor up and down and not side to side… Now try. Or it’s as bad as any OK Homo plot line where every character is Gay and yet they find themselves suddenly in trauma coming out of the closet for no reason I can tell… Why if everyone is Gay do you need a closet?

    Now we want to talk about fun interesting and historically relevant Gay Lit like Tales From The City written by a writer with OMG talent and wit then bring it on because I will take you down.

  • Plus, use your graph and compare Patricia Nell Warren ~ The Front Runner to M/M. I personally think that’s more character driven and romance oriented even if the ending is not HEA.

  • Rule 1: Bad Weather is not inherently dramatic.
    Angel’s corollary: Inaccurate weather is a book-hurling offense.

    I don’t mind a good sense of setting, but spare me endless landscapes. I already read Tolkien and you won’t manage it better.

    There are complete differences in style between gay lit and m/m and I think it is audience and purpose that create them. Thanks for outlining this so neatly.

    And yes, some of us wait until chapter 4 to have sex… because our boys aren’t THAT kind of boy. Except that they totally are and plot keeps getting the way.

    • Thanks Angelia.

      I agree with you about the weather – I remember reading a book m/f historical romance and the heroine was looking at the daffodils in january.

      *smack*

  • “daffodils in january” o_O Ick! That’s a book thrower if I ever saw one! *sigh* … *grin*
    I’m really enjoying the “bridge” books. I can think of quite a few m/m authors who have well written descriptive and enjoyable work. Some are funny, some are fluffy, some are HFN and some are so full of angst that I cry while reading them. I just read a really sweet short with no smexx at all! Descriptive historical, tender, some angst, fear of death then a possible (because they might still die in the war) HEA. Fantastic! I’m just a greedy reader and I want more, more, more! (But that’s just me)

    I think that the lines are blurring a bit though. The numbers of books being published now are giving us a wonderful rainbow in those shades of grey and I couldn’t be happier about it!

    • Yes, I think the lines are blurring. It’s gradual, and as the shock and horror from some factions “women writing about gay men?!!! fetch the smelling salts” wears off (lets not mention Maria McAnn, Renault, Gregory…) I think they will blur even more. There certainly does seem to be more demand than supply, which is always a good thing.

  • I love your comparative table, Erastes. It made me giggle like crazy it was so spot on.

    I was talking to someone about this very topic the other day after reading “Call Me By Your Name” – seems like we all have recently. She was completely confused by the fact that there could be separate genres for m/m romance and for gay lit. After I explained it to her, her response… “So basically it’s a HEA thing”. My Mumma got it in one. Gotta love her.

    • Thanks Kris!

      I think that the lines regarding the genres are more blurry–or they should be –I’d definitely call Maurice and The Charioteer gay lit, but under the rules they also qualify as romance, so I long for more just like them.

  • Great post Erates.

    I’ve read just about all the ‘classy Oprah angst’ books I can take. I’m all about M/M and chapter 4, or page 4 really. I love a good story by a great writer and my preferences all fell into the boxes under the M/M heading. 🙂

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