*whimper*

[kindkit]

I just watched the first part of Man in an Orange Shirt, one of the shows the BBC produced for its Gay Britannia celebration, and it was wrenching. It's about two men who fall in love just after the Second World War, but one of them is engaged to be married, and everything plays out just as you'd expect. *sigh* I guess it's important for people to know queer history, and to understand that homophobia and criminalization wrecked lives, but . . . I would also like to see representation of the unwrecked lives, of the ways queer men found to resist and even to be happy.

I think the second part is going to be happier, but that's set in the present, and as such it doesn't speak to me as much.

Should've been more cautious, because I'm not really in a good emotional state for stories of heartbreak.

tl;dr still waiting for the Second World War era love story between two men that has a happy ending.

Comments

[sovay]

tl;dr still waiting for the Second World War era love story between two men that has a happy ending.

It may not fulfill the criterion for a love story (or otherwise be what you're looking for), but James Lord's memoir My Queer War (2010), while it does contain period-accurate homophobia, is not in any way a representation of a wrecked life.

[kindkit]

I know that book, though I think I only ever read part of it. I'm more in the mood for fiction at the moment, because I am craving the sort of happy endings that real life, being messy and without proper narrative structure, doesn't generally supply. One of these days I should go back and give the memoir another try, though.

[sovay]

I'm more in the mood for fiction at the moment, because I am craving the sort of happy endings that real life, being messy and without proper narrative structure, doesn't generally supply.

Fair enough. The internet suggests that Ensan Case's Wingmen (1979) is not full of queer tragedy. The author wrote it specifically to overwrite a homophobic subplot in WWII-era novel he had read in his adolescence.

[edit] Lethe can also do you the First World War.

[hagsrus]

The Charioteer?

[kindkit]

Ah, The Charioteer has been one of my favorite books since I was about 15. It's got to the point where I love it so much, and it means so much to me, that I hardly dare to re-read it. I'm too invested (I also can't really enjoy fanfic about Laurie, Ralph, or Andrew, though I'm happy to read fic about the other characters).

What I want from the universe is more books like The Charioteer, only preferably not worried about defending homosexuality for the straight reader. I'd also quite like some to be set in POW camps. *looks around hopefully at universe, waiting for delivery*

[magnetic_pole]

I guess it's important for people to know queer history, and to understand that homophobia and criminalization wrecked lives, but . . .

...but after you've absorbed that lesson there's actually some harm in seeing too many tragic stories--or at least that's what I've always thought. Fair enough to skip some! M.

[kindkit]

*nods* I think a lot of those queer tragedy stories are ultimately meant for straight viewers/readers, not queer ones. And that's not a bad thing necessarily, because unfortunately we still live in a world where some people think closeting is just "discretion" or "not flaunting it," instead of a soul-destroying system of oppression. But there ought to be a lot more stories for queer people, where queer characters live their lives (whether space pirate or retail drone) and maybe they're happy and maybe they're not, but they're not unhappy or made to be unhappy because they're queer.

It occurs to me now that a bunch of BBC programs whose specific remit was to mark the 50th anniversary of decriminalization may not have been the best place to look for those stories.

[magnetic_pole]

But there ought to be a lot more stories for queer people, where queer characters live their lives (whether space pirate or retail drone) and maybe they're happy and maybe they're not, but they're not unhappy or made to be unhappy because they're queer.

Yes yes yes yes yes! M.

[st_aurafina]

Not a war rec, but I'm not hating new bake-off - there might be some joy in that for you?

*hugs* I'm sorry things are crappy right now.

[kindkit]

*hugs back* I've been feeling better physically and emotionally for the last few days, so here's hoping it's the start of a trend.

I've been enjoying the new Bake Off, in fact. The challenges are really difficult this year--usually at least for the first few rounds I can tell myself, "Yeah, I could probably bake that." Not this year!

[sprentice]

tl;dr still waiting for the Second World War era love story between two men that has a happy ending.

If you ever do find one, please share. I've tried in the past to find something similar and there just comes a point where you have to wonder if they even exist.

[kindkit]

There's always Mary Renault's The Charioteer. It shows its age in quite a few ways, but the heart of the story is still wonderful.

Otherwise, I got nothin'. At least for professionally published stories. My friend halotolerant has written some gorgeous Yuletide stories in WWII-relatedfandoms, quite often as gifts for me. At Shingle Street is pretty much original fic, inspired by the Thomas Dolby song "Cloudburst At Shingle Street," and How Many Strawberries Grow In the Sea will still work for people who don't know the fandom (which is Eric Williams' autobiographical novel The Wooden Horse). With the Wild Geese is a little more dependent on fandom knowledge (it's the early 1970s POW TV show Colditz), but I think can still probably stand alone.

[sprentice]

Thanks so much for the recommendations! That's my weekend reading covered :)

[halotolerant]

Yes, I've still not watched it because I was just feeling not quite up to 'and then everyone's lives sucked and they were sad'

The happy WW2 love story needs to occur. And for goodness sakes, there *were* couples in that period who did fine, like Britten and Pears, writers really could go for it without total inaccuracy.

*sighs*