The To-Be-Read Pile: Where'd all these homos come from, anyway?

A bookworm I may be, but I don't often read "gay" novels and such. That's in large part because my status as a professional homosexual means that my life is often overly saturated with gay-gay-gay, so I need a break. And, generally speaking, I'd prefer to take a gay break by reading non-gay-specific novels rather than, say, kicking my husband out of the house for a day or two.

Doesn't mean the topic doesn't crop up, often in some very weird ways. I recently went back to re-read Salem's Lot as part of a project I'm working on (no, I'm not writing a vampire novel -- I wanted to revisit how King handled the small town and multiple character aspect of the novel that I've always liked), and there were a couple of '70s tinged references to homos in the book. My attention span being what it is, I ended up also re-visiting The Talisman, King's dark-fantasy novel co-written with Peter Straub. I never finished the novel back when it came out in the 80s, and I was a little taken aback by the constant undertow of homosexual themes -- and not generally pleasant or positive ones. Both books have been a reminder that even "liberal" writers have odd cultural blinders that are more obvious in retrospect.

Anyway, with those books out of the way (including a quick re-read of King and Straub's more recent sequel, Black House) I was in the mood to move back to some science fiction. I recently picked up Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, one of those classics I'd never gotten around to in the past. Naturally, it being a product of the '70s obsessions with Malthusian disaster -- the same fears that gave us Soylent Green -- about 1/3 of the way through it veers into a dystopic future where homosexuality is encouraged, then mandated, as a form of population control.

I'd forgotten how prominent that particular meme was in those days -- I recall now even having it crop up as a punchline on Barney Miller -- and it's kind of hilarious now how it dates the novel. Of course, that's in large part because we've seen how birth rates actually decline in technologically advanced First World countries, turning the old Malthusian horror on its head as a certain class of right-wing nutters freaks out about non-white birthrates...a Soylent Brown scenario, I suppose.

Back in the '70s though, running around my front yard with a little American flag to celebrate the bicentennial, I wasn't thinking of a future of forced homosexuality. I was thinking of flying cars and rockets ships and replicated dinners and all the wile and wonderful things predicted by the science fiction novels, shows and magazines I devoured. The 21st Century is a little disappointing as a result, though I do love my iPhone and high-speed internet. I really thought I'd be on Mars by now (with my government-approved boyfriend, probably).

So, all that is actually the "just-finished-reading" pile. On the to-be-read pile is a large number of hard science fiction novels by the likes of Alistair Reynolds, Bruce Sterling and Stephen Baxter. I think I'm overcompensating a bit for the fantasy genre kick I've been on of late. Also on the stack -- literally a stack, or stacks, mostly right around my office door -- Nudge and The Black Swan, as well as a slew of cheap horror paperbacks. Then there's the stuff waiting on my Kindle, so I need to get my butt to the gym, where my Kindle most often comes into play.

I can't wait until August vacation -- it's the only likely time I'll ever get caught up.

Comments

[Sean Bugg]

Duuuude, I'm totally already a fan of World War Z. You need to read the short story omnibus The Living Dead, which totally rocks. Some amazing zombie stories, some with a very nice emotional punch. I really, really need to finish my zombie novel I've been putzing around with for ten years or so (75 percent done!).

As for Varley, I've never read his other work, but I devoured the Gaea trilogy as a kid. I'm sure my devotion to the books had nothing to do with the doubly (and enormously) endowed Centaurs.

[jimbo]

Duuuude....you so need to read World War Z. I'm surprised you haven't. You must.

I also liked "Mammoth" by John Varley (lasers, time travel, mammoths running amok in Los Angeles - good times), and his trilogy Titan/Wizard/Demon is getting a re-release too. I just finished the Hominids trilogy as well.