Queers in Literature

How the gay community is portrayed in literary works, mainly fiction.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• gay
• lesbian
• queers
• trans
• literature
• book
• fiction
• non-fiction

[diehardyurifan]

Of the lesbian books that i've read, none being really "erotic" I think that the older ones were fantastic. these r well-known but i thought i might just say The Illusionist was fantastic and i am IN LOVE with the book The Well of Loneliness. anway, being a total nerd i read a lot of yuri manga (japanese lesbian comics) and yes, a lot are erotic but there are some really sweet stories without any erotica. also, i'd really like to hear some of the book!

[QTALKPDX]

I've never read any Yuri... I'll have to check it out.

[juliaormond]

books:

nightwatch (have, started didn't finish)

oranges are not the only fruit (have, started didn't finish)

fingersmith (want to read but never see it)

annie on my mind (young adult book-never read heard was good)

rubyfruit jungle (want to read, never see it)

luna (transgendered story-very good)

middlesex (have, haven't read yet)

[QTALKPDX]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! for the list. This is AWESOME!

[LatinaAngel1008]

would love you to hear more about your book. I am always looking for new books to read

[QTALKPDX]

I think I'll do an excerpt for y'all... :)

[QVic79]

"Rat Bohemia" and "Girls, Visions and Everything" by Sarah Schulman. Also "Nightwood" by Djuna Barnes - faves just off the top of my head : )

[buygreenbananas]

It's nonfiction, but Lesbian/Woman (written by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in the 1970s) is an interesting read.

[buygreenbananas]

It's nonfiction, but Lesbian/Woman (written by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in the 70s) is an interesting read.

[kristyclemente]

Ah no worries, thanks for letting me know. Also, have you read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides? I think this novel could definitely fall into queer literature and man oh man, it's so brilliantly written. I'd never really heard of hermaphroditism before reading this book and Eugenides just deals with it and the sexuality issues that I imagine would be part and parcel so well. Give this a read if you have the time. It's one of those great books my mind always finds a way of wandering back to.

[QTALKPDX]

Thanks for the comments! Wow, what a great response thus far. I just want to let you know that comments have to be approved before they post. I did this because some gross, creepy guy was posting some really ignorant, offensive stuff. Thanks for your patience with it. :)

[kristyclemente]

Argh, I don't think my comment loaded so I'll just give you my recommendations instead of writing the whole lot again. Some novels I found great, but not cheesy (as so many queer fiction works unfortunately tend to be): Patience & Sarah by Isabel Miller, The Hours by Michael Cunningham, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith and the rest of Sarah Waters' works. She's great! Tipping the Velvet is probably my fave but Fingersmith is also excellent.

[kristyclemente]

Ah, Tipping the Velvet definitely was excellent. I've enjoyed all of Sarah Waters' novels. I agree with your points in the video but I'd also like to add that so much of the queer fiction that is out there is just rubbish and really cheesy, cringe-worthy stuff. There are a few gems to read, sure, but they're hard to find amongst all of the shitty works. One great novel I found last year is called Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller. Beautiful story about two women 19th Century rural America.