7 Classical LGBT Novels

Classical LGBT works often have been rejected by publishers. Homosexuality has been a taboo for a long time. One that goes on being broken today. Next is a list of novels you can start your literary journey with.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

"Death in Venice" is the translation of the in 1912 published novelette "Der Tod in Venedig" by Thomas Mann (06/06/1875 - 12/08/1955). It is the pinnacle within the shorter work of 1929 Nobel prize winner. The story is about an elderly writer, Gustav von Aschenbach, suffering from a writer's block. On a whim, he visited by cholera stricken Venice. There he falls in love with the young Tadzio. It remains platonic. Inspired by homosexually tinted works of Plato and Nietzsche, Mann gives a philosophical description of this love. It ends with von Aschenbach's death as he also succumbs of cholera. He accepts it as a romantic fate. The story and characters are based upon existing persons. Thomas Mann met them in the summer of 1911, during a holiday with his wife (despite his gay tendencies) in Grand Hôtel des bains on the Lido. Several films have been based on this work, including the eponymous film by Visconti (1971). In 1973 Benjamin Britten edited it into an opera. In 1997 it was dramatized by Peter Wolf for BBC. And in 2003 John Neumeier used it as the basis for a ballet piece.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

David, a young American, gives up college and goes to live in Paris. Via an older gay knowledge, Jacques, he meets Giovanni, an Italian bartender of Guillaume's gay bar. David and Giovanni become friends. David moves in with Giovanni whose room is thoroughly described in the book. When David's girlfriend Hella is coming to Paris, David feels like proving for himself his heterosexuality. He has a superficial adventure with a wife Sue whom he won't see again. When he comes home from this adventure, he finds a hysterical Giovanni who was fired from Guillaume's bar. Then Hella arrives and they leave Giovanni's room for a few days. After have brought Hella back to her hotel room David states that Giovanni goes with Jacques. He meets Yves. Giovanni appears to be no longer with Jacques and has the possibility to return to work at Guillaume's bar. But instead he kills Guillaume in a fit of rage. On the day of his execution David and Hella are in the South of France. Encouraged by the manager they marry each other. When David meets a sailor, Hella discovers his homosexual nature that she had been suspecting all the time. Hella returns to America and David is left with guilt. He has mental images about the execution and debt herein.

Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet

This is the debut novel by the French writer Jean Genet (19/12/1910 - 15/4/1986). First published in 1943 it is largely the autobiography of a man who wanders into the Parisian underworld. The characters are described according to their real life representatives, homosexuals living on the edge of society. The story is about Divine, inhabiting an attic with view on Montmartre cemetery. This one she shares with different lovers. The most important of them is a pimp called Darling Daintyfoot. One day Darling brings a young gangster and murderer home. His name is Our Lady of the Flowers. Our Lady is eventually arrested, tried and executed. The book was written in prison and ordered to the executed murderer Maurice Pilorge. Genet performs a revaluation of all values. Treason is considered to be the highest moral value. Murder as an act of virtue and sexual attraction.

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust (10/7/1871 - 18/11/1922) was a French writer. This translated novel exists in seven parts Proust has been writing from 1909 to 1920. All together it consists of 3,000 pages and more than 200 figures. It makes Proust one of the 20th century's greatest writers. In his teens Marcel Proust learned that he was gay. But most of his described love affairs are with women. Only in the fourth part "Sodom and Gomorrah" his gay nature is reflected. But the narrator remains straight and he describes the gay relationships around him. At the end of his life Proust regrets not have been more open about this towards his friend and colleague Andre Gide. The novel is told in the first person and goes about his life. About his parents, about love, about the snobbery of the French society of the fin de siècle and about his love for art and nature. Centrally in the novel is the spiritual development of main character while undergoing his life, evolving to the last part: "Time regained". Typical is the Madeleine scene: baptizing a Madeleine cupcake in blossom tea his memory is activated. This causes a flashback to his childhood when he spent a lot of time with his great-aunt Leonie.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

"Orlando" is a novel by Virginia Woolf (25/1/1882 - 28/3/1941). It was published in 1928 en dedicated to Vita Sackville-West. It is about the career of the androgynous Orlando who lived from the late 16th century until today. The young male Orlando is a favorite of the queen while writing poetry. He is also a friend of the poet Nicholas Greene. Under Charles II he becomes ambassador with ducal title. After a night with a dancer he sleeps one week and when awakening he discovers his sex has changed. As woman she goes on with writing and meets Nicholas Greene again. This time as an influential Victorian critic who regulates the publication of Orlando's secular poem that brings her two hundred guineas. Meanwhile she is married with a sailor Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine and gets a baby. The novel goes on until these days. It shows different reactions whether Orlando is a man or a woman. Also it contains a lot of well observed historical and literary insights in the years the novel refers to.

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

The story starts in Europe with Robin, a kind of masochistic woman who only looks to torture herself. She marries a false baron who only cares about his name and aristocratic standing. After the birth of their son Robin realizes that this is not the life she really wants. She moves to America and meets there a certain Nora. They move together back to Europe, to Paris, but their relationship doesn't stand. Robin is unfaithful, she has a lot of adventures and at the end starts a relationship with Jenny, four times widow … The person of Robin is completely based upon the person of Barnes' lover, a certain Thelma. Djuna Barnes (12/6/1892 - 18/6/1982) is classified among the writers who became famous by writing just a few novels. "Nightwood" is an exceptional work and a masterpiece of lesbian literature. It was praised by several contemporaries (T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas…) for its passionate style and originality.

Billy Budd by Herman Melville

"Billy Budd" is a classical short novel by Herman Melville (1918 - 1891) who also wrote "Moby Dick". It was posthumous published in 1924. The story is about a mariner on a British war ship in the late 18th century. His name is Billy Budd and he has a speech defect. Captain Vere likes him very much. Only the antagonist, John Claggart doesn't like Billy. When he accuses Billy falsely from mutiny, Billy gets furious. Because of his speech defect not able to defend himself, Billy kills John under the only witness of captain Vere. Despite Vere's love for the guy he takes his now obtained task as judge, prosecutor and lawyer for Billy Budd very seriously. In conflict between his sense of duty and his personal love for Billy he chooses for following the law strictly. He persuades the jury existing in other officers among the crew who agree to condemn Billy. Billy is suspended immediately. Vere, dying in a sea battle still has mainly Billy on his mind.

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