Maurice (1971)

E.M. Forster was gay.
Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay
Gayer than a Mayday Parade.
Gaygaygaygaygay.
Homosexual!

IN YER FACE!

Except he wasn't. I mean, he was gay but he wasn't IN YER FACE! about it. This is because of the prevailing culture in Cambridge (where he was a Professor) and probably the rest of Britain, when he was alive. Everybody knew he was gay and that was OK as long as he wasn't IN YER FACE! about it - or indeed as long as he didn't raise the subject in any way at all to any one publicly. I'm sure he thought this was an improvement on the fate of another notable writer of an earlier time, Oscar Wilde, who was also gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay etc. and got chucked into Reading Gaol for it - whereupon he wrote one of his finest works. But still, that didn't mean Forster had to be happy with his lot. In fact the worst thing about it, for him, was the hypocrisy. Because all his colleagues really did know he was gay. Gay. Gay etc and if they thought it was OK to be gay then why was it not OK to be gay and talk about it?

Forster hence came to be highly sensitive to hypocrisy in general in British society and to despise it. Truly loathe it. This is plain in all his novels, but he never tackled the root cause. Or so it seemed until after his death when a book he had written early on in his career as a novelist was published. This posthumous publication was on his own instructions. He could not publish it in his own lifetime without ruining his own life. But afterwards? Well, it might do some good then and help pave the way for people who are gay. Gay etc to be able to be IN YER FACE! about it without fear of negative consequences.

PS. Oh yeah, the book: If you're into Gay Romance you might like it. Otherwise you'd be better off with everything else Forster ever published except maybe Where Angels Fear to Tread.

PPS. Did I mention that Forster was gay?

PPPS. Go on Goodreads, I dare you to delete my review that's principally about how gay E.M. Forster was. I dare you!

PPPPS. IN YER FACE! ( )

4.5 stars.

Reading this was a religious experience. ( )

Lots of hair stroking
a few kisses now and then
why the angst, Morrie? ( )

I finally found myself a copy of Maurice and read it yesterday and today. Really, it's amazing that I hadn't done so earlier, given that Room With A View is one of my favourite books of all time and Maurice is just as beautiful and romantic, but about gay instead of hetero love. And oh! It was wonderful! And the author's notes at the end just made it all the more beautiful--I was grinning like a lunatic on the train home tonight. While I'm amazed that it's taken me so long to finally read it, I'm almost glad that it has, because this way I got to read it for the very first time, if that makes sense. ( )

A gay romance novel with a happy ending written in 1913? HELL YES! ( )