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The God in Flight
Precocious, ethereal Simion Satterwhite arrives at Yale University in 1878 at age 16, eager to escape his West Virginia fundamentalist upbringing. He meets 31-year-old art professor Doriskos Klionarios, who was sold in infancy by his Greek prostitute mother to a British lord. Together they embark on an emotionally reckless courtship, made all the more difficult by social bigotry and human jealousy.
478 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
May 27, 2009
Well, in its defence, I did actually read the thing in its entirety. However, it was really exasperatingly awful. It was obviously aspiring to be in the Anne Rice vein, but even Rice at her worst wasn't quite as painfully contrived. Ok, I get the girly dream of 'everyone's gay, everyone is supernaturally beautiful, except for the villains who are fat and have spots' but writing a book about it is really, really pathetic.
And the abuse of about five 'big' words. It was like she was so proud of finding those in the dictionary that she couldn't stop using them. But the biggest crime, as always, was the characters. I had no sympathy whatsoever for Simion or Doriskos (great names, by the way - I'm sensing an awesome parody with Simian and Doritos) because they exhibited no identifiable character flaws. They just sat around and bitched about nothing. Like the whole Simion trying to passively die because his father beat him. That was just... a little pathetic. I honestly had more sympathy for Peter the creepy stalker than anyone else.
Oh, and the second-largest offence was certainly the really inconsistent attempt at period dialogue and behaviour. Someone didn't do their homework, that's all I'm saying.
Last Word: Don't bother wasting your time with this one. Unrewarding and unmemorable. The only emotional response I got was from reading the 'praise' that compared her to Forster and other real authors.
And the abuse of about five 'big' words. It was like she was so proud of finding those in the dictionary that she couldn't stop using them. But the biggest crime, as always, was the characters. I had no sympathy whatsoever for Simion or Doriskos (great names, by the way - I'm sensing an awesome parody with Simian and Doritos) because they exhibited no identifiable character flaws. They just sat around and bitched about nothing. Like the whole Simion trying to passively die because his father beat him. That was just... a little pathetic. I honestly had more sympathy for Peter the creepy stalker than anyone else.
Oh, and the second-largest offence was certainly the really inconsistent attempt at period dialogue and behaviour. Someone didn't do their homework, that's all I'm saying.
Last Word: Don't bother wasting your time with this one. Unrewarding and unmemorable. The only emotional response I got was from reading the 'praise' that compared her to Forster and other real authors.
November 5, 2011
This is a unique book. There really doesn't seem to be anything else like it.
Saying it's a "historical gay romance" is technically accurate but doesn't convey the lush, evocative, peculiar, even creepy (as at least one reviewer said) mood. "Creepy," however, isn't the same thing as "bad." This book just won't be everyone's cup of tea.
The setting is Yale, late 1870s, 1880s. The subject is a "romantic," operatic, over-the-top love story involving a professor with an unusual life history and a student from an impoverished background, both literally and emotionally.
Readers who are looking for "typical" or ordinary gay characters to identify with will be put off. Readers who can enter into the fabulousness of the concept will be entranced. If you're fabulous yourself, or think you are, this book is for you. (And no, I'm not being saracastic--some people are fabulous. That's one of the many reasons fiction exists, to celebrate it). But if you're somewhere in between, like me, you may enjoy the story but find yourself keeping a slight distance.
Argiri does an excellent job of portraying the difficulties of being gay in a time when the concept barely registered with most people while the sexual act was illegal. For example, two professors who live together must pretend to be master and servant, the "servant" sacrificing his career in order to be with his partner. And the descriptions of boorish Yale undergraduates struck this graduate of Princeton roughly a century later as being spot on.
Argiri apparently labored for years (eighteen, I think) on "Flight" and never wrote (or at least never published) another. Some of that obsession shows in the writing and the story. This was more than a labor of love: it was a fixation. Everybody supposedly has one book inside; this was Argiri's. As a writer who writes slowly myself, I just wish Argiri had managed to write another. I would be curious to see what else was inside that fertile, obsessive, fabulous imagination.
Saying it's a "historical gay romance" is technically accurate but doesn't convey the lush, evocative, peculiar, even creepy (as at least one reviewer said) mood. "Creepy," however, isn't the same thing as "bad." This book just won't be everyone's cup of tea.
The setting is Yale, late 1870s, 1880s. The subject is a "romantic," operatic, over-the-top love story involving a professor with an unusual life history and a student from an impoverished background, both literally and emotionally.
Readers who are looking for "typical" or ordinary gay characters to identify with will be put off. Readers who can enter into the fabulousness of the concept will be entranced. If you're fabulous yourself, or think you are, this book is for you. (And no, I'm not being saracastic--some people are fabulous. That's one of the many reasons fiction exists, to celebrate it). But if you're somewhere in between, like me, you may enjoy the story but find yourself keeping a slight distance.
Argiri does an excellent job of portraying the difficulties of being gay in a time when the concept barely registered with most people while the sexual act was illegal. For example, two professors who live together must pretend to be master and servant, the "servant" sacrificing his career in order to be with his partner. And the descriptions of boorish Yale undergraduates struck this graduate of Princeton roughly a century later as being spot on.
Argiri apparently labored for years (eighteen, I think) on "Flight" and never wrote (or at least never published) another. Some of that obsession shows in the writing and the story. This was more than a labor of love: it was a fixation. Everybody supposedly has one book inside; this was Argiri's. As a writer who writes slowly myself, I just wish Argiri had managed to write another. I would be curious to see what else was inside that fertile, obsessive, fabulous imagination.
May 9, 2010
First of all, I read The God in Flight when I was newly out in high school. I saved up for it. I went to visit it at Barnes and Noble. It lay, piled in a colorful stack, clustered with all the new fiction. When I finally brought it home, I fell into it. I underlined sentences with pen and even crayon, when it was all that I could find. (I think I was on an airplane and asked to borrow the red crayon of the 4 year old next to me.)
The fact that Laura Argiri never wrote anything else is a crying shame. God is the tender, mystical, and Romantic (capital R) late 19th century love story between Simon Satterwhite, an 18 year old undergraduate at Yale, and Doriskos Killenarous, a Greek God of an art instructor. Think of a gay Wuthering Heights.
I have so much love for this book that I am fumbling through this review.
The fact that Laura Argiri never wrote anything else is a crying shame. God is the tender, mystical, and Romantic (capital R) late 19th century love story between Simon Satterwhite, an 18 year old undergraduate at Yale, and Doriskos Killenarous, a Greek God of an art instructor. Think of a gay Wuthering Heights.
I have so much love for this book that I am fumbling through this review.
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April 18, 2024
QUEER LOVE
I chose the word "queer" in the title of this review for its original meaning (strange, unusual, 0dd, peculiar, curious, bizarre, weird, outlandish, eccentric, unconventional). In chapter one of this novel set in the latter part of the nineteenth century we meet Simion, a boy from West Virginia who is repeatedly abused by his father, a fanatical fundamentalist minister. Then in the second chapter we meet Doriskus and it seems we've began reading a completely new book. There is absolutely nothing in this chapter that references anything we just read in the first. But... wait for it (lol)! In this second chapter, a bachlor English nobleman, on a trip through Greece, stumbles upon the most "beautiful" baby he has ever seen! The mother is unfit and not able to care for the child, so the nobleman purchases Doriskus and brings him back to England to raise as his own.
Both of these "creatures," a descriptor Argiri is fond of using, might be considered savants today and also possibly reside somewhere on the autism spectrum. Simion has genius talents especially in math, the sciences, and languages. Doriskus is a prodigy, a phenomenally talented artist (sculptor, painter). With help Simion is able to escape his abusive father and is accepted to Yale at the age of 17. Ten or so years his senior, he meets Doriskus who is an art professor at Yale having fled a scandal at Oxford University. Both men are "sexual deviants" by the definition used in their time, but their oddities extend well beyond their same sex attractions.
Simion is small and frail with an eating disorder stemming from his abusive childhood. He is bullied by his classmates for his superior intellect and deep devotion to his studies. Doriskus is totally consumed with the sublime, the beautiful, the perfect. He has chosen to remain a virgin as he patiently waits for "the one." In fact, stemming from an incident that occurred while he was at Oxford, he becomes highly intolerant of being touched by anyone even if casually. He has visions of eventually meeting the "perfect love," and, like a premonition, he begins to draw Simion before he ever meets him.
The book becomes largely about the trials and tribulations of this dysfunctional pair who must hide their forbidden love from a world that would despise them. Even today, the age difference and student-professor relationship existing between them would be a problem in a university setting, let alone the overtly religious judgments influencing America in the nineteenth century. The plot, largely about dodging multiple persecutions, revolves around this "love that dare not speak its name" between these two men and how it will be resolved?
Argiri is adept at writing Simion and Doriskus as fully three-dimensional. She also succeeds at this with a few of the other principal characters. With the rest of the supporting cast, however, they are largely either "good" or "evil" with little nuance, making them rather two dimensional and less interesting. Argiri also is clearly no fan of Christianity and its judgmental intolerance of alternative life choices in a society that was intended to be pluralistic. Certainly, this romance is clearly altruistic compared with American society then and now, but it's fiction and a little altruism never hurt anyone!
My other criticism of Arigiri is her style of prose. I suppose in order to help place us in the 1870s, she has chosen to frequently use very arcane language. Thankfully, I could highlight and hold my finger on these words and phrases and Kindle would provide me with definitions most of the time. I ended up depending on this feature a lot in order to capture Argiri's intent in a sentence or paragraph.
I recently purchased a coffee table book assembled by a gay couple that remarkably contains photographs from the 1850s through the 1950s of male couples who are obviously in love. Indeed, the book is titled, "Loving." The authors state that they were convinced of the romantic love existing between these men by looking at their eyes; how they gazed at one another or stared into the lens of the camera, the meaning was unmistakable. As I flipped through this collection of photographs, I often wondered what kind of lives these men led. In reading, The God In Flight, I reflected back to Loving and, although it was fiction of course, I could imagine this story being the one for any number of those couples pictured.
I chose the word "queer" in the title of this review for its original meaning (strange, unusual, 0dd, peculiar, curious, bizarre, weird, outlandish, eccentric, unconventional). In chapter one of this novel set in the latter part of the nineteenth century we meet Simion, a boy from West Virginia who is repeatedly abused by his father, a fanatical fundamentalist minister. Then in the second chapter we meet Doriskus and it seems we've began reading a completely new book. There is absolutely nothing in this chapter that references anything we just read in the first. But... wait for it (lol)! In this second chapter, a bachlor English nobleman, on a trip through Greece, stumbles upon the most "beautiful" baby he has ever seen! The mother is unfit and not able to care for the child, so the nobleman purchases Doriskus and brings him back to England to raise as his own.
Both of these "creatures," a descriptor Argiri is fond of using, might be considered savants today and also possibly reside somewhere on the autism spectrum. Simion has genius talents especially in math, the sciences, and languages. Doriskus is a prodigy, a phenomenally talented artist (sculptor, painter). With help Simion is able to escape his abusive father and is accepted to Yale at the age of 17. Ten or so years his senior, he meets Doriskus who is an art professor at Yale having fled a scandal at Oxford University. Both men are "sexual deviants" by the definition used in their time, but their oddities extend well beyond their same sex attractions.
Simion is small and frail with an eating disorder stemming from his abusive childhood. He is bullied by his classmates for his superior intellect and deep devotion to his studies. Doriskus is totally consumed with the sublime, the beautiful, the perfect. He has chosen to remain a virgin as he patiently waits for "the one." In fact, stemming from an incident that occurred while he was at Oxford, he becomes highly intolerant of being touched by anyone even if casually. He has visions of eventually meeting the "perfect love," and, like a premonition, he begins to draw Simion before he ever meets him.
The book becomes largely about the trials and tribulations of this dysfunctional pair who must hide their forbidden love from a world that would despise them. Even today, the age difference and student-professor relationship existing between them would be a problem in a university setting, let alone the overtly religious judgments influencing America in the nineteenth century. The plot, largely about dodging multiple persecutions, revolves around this "love that dare not speak its name" between these two men and how it will be resolved?
Argiri is adept at writing Simion and Doriskus as fully three-dimensional. She also succeeds at this with a few of the other principal characters. With the rest of the supporting cast, however, they are largely either "good" or "evil" with little nuance, making them rather two dimensional and less interesting. Argiri also is clearly no fan of Christianity and its judgmental intolerance of alternative life choices in a society that was intended to be pluralistic. Certainly, this romance is clearly altruistic compared with American society then and now, but it's fiction and a little altruism never hurt anyone!
My other criticism of Arigiri is her style of prose. I suppose in order to help place us in the 1870s, she has chosen to frequently use very arcane language. Thankfully, I could highlight and hold my finger on these words and phrases and Kindle would provide me with definitions most of the time. I ended up depending on this feature a lot in order to capture Argiri's intent in a sentence or paragraph.
I recently purchased a coffee table book assembled by a gay couple that remarkably contains photographs from the 1850s through the 1950s of male couples who are obviously in love. Indeed, the book is titled, "Loving." The authors state that they were convinced of the romantic love existing between these men by looking at their eyes; how they gazed at one another or stared into the lens of the camera, the meaning was unmistakable. As I flipped through this collection of photographs, I often wondered what kind of lives these men led. In reading, The God In Flight, I reflected back to Loving and, although it was fiction of course, I could imagine this story being the one for any number of those couples pictured.
January 22, 2008
As I've said elsewhere, this is an intensely emotional book with rich sensual and historic detail. It's not perfect but is highly addicting.
The core story is a romance between a brilliant late-teen boy who escapes a miserable childhood to attend Yale, and the development of his intense and highly problematic romance with a Yale professor. They're both far from "normal" by their emotional nature and lack of ordinary socialization as well as their considerable abilities and physical attractiveness. Their family members, friends and enemies are at least as fascinating. All of this creates a web of conflict, discovery , misunderstanding, bonds and delight.
If you have an interest in male same-sex romance, American Victorian culture, unusual characters, and/or an emotionally intense novel, I highly recommend The God in Flight.
What did I learn from this? An amazing amount. The author's attention to historical accuracy is not perfect (for example, the term "jailbait" was not used until the early 20th century), but she makes numerous tantalizing references that I simply had to scout out to get more of the flavor of the story, ranging from men's shoe styles of the time to Baudelaire's poetry. I was ignorant of the cold Puritanism in New England, including at Yale, in the late 1800s (considering much of the area is now quite progressive). The descriptions of dorm life for the poorer students is all too real. I'm fortunate to have a friend who read the book and could translate some of the Greek and Latin quotations for me (I didn't even try to figure out the analytical geometry).
And the characters...this story is among other things a study in why nonreligious people are kind to others--empathy with people in similar circumstances and simple human caring. It's also a loving (in both senses of the word) description of awakening sexuality and the many types of romantic crushes and romantic love depending on the personalities of the holder and object of the feelings.
And...well, some of it's all beyond words. Just try reading the book. I'm more than willing to loan my copy to friends!
The core story is a romance between a brilliant late-teen boy who escapes a miserable childhood to attend Yale, and the development of his intense and highly problematic romance with a Yale professor. They're both far from "normal" by their emotional nature and lack of ordinary socialization as well as their considerable abilities and physical attractiveness. Their family members, friends and enemies are at least as fascinating. All of this creates a web of conflict, discovery , misunderstanding, bonds and delight.
If you have an interest in male same-sex romance, American Victorian culture, unusual characters, and/or an emotionally intense novel, I highly recommend The God in Flight.
What did I learn from this? An amazing amount. The author's attention to historical accuracy is not perfect (for example, the term "jailbait" was not used until the early 20th century), but she makes numerous tantalizing references that I simply had to scout out to get more of the flavor of the story, ranging from men's shoe styles of the time to Baudelaire's poetry. I was ignorant of the cold Puritanism in New England, including at Yale, in the late 1800s (considering much of the area is now quite progressive). The descriptions of dorm life for the poorer students is all too real. I'm fortunate to have a friend who read the book and could translate some of the Greek and Latin quotations for me (I didn't even try to figure out the analytical geometry).
And the characters...this story is among other things a study in why nonreligious people are kind to others--empathy with people in similar circumstances and simple human caring. It's also a loving (in both senses of the word) description of awakening sexuality and the many types of romantic crushes and romantic love depending on the personalities of the holder and object of the feelings.
And...well, some of it's all beyond words. Just try reading the book. I'm more than willing to loan my copy to friends!
January 21, 2020
ETA: 2019 reread...
Reading this as an adult, so far away from my teenage/college student self, I find it is far from unproblematic in many, many ways. But! The writing is still just soooooo good! Still love!!! And I lobe these characters so much. It hurts my heart that they were not real people.
***
ETA: 2020 note
I've had a look at the ebook version published by Lethe Press in 2016, and there have been changes to the text! Random passages throughout the book have been changed, for no apparent reason. None of the changes are major, just lines being removed, or shifted around. Maybe to make the book shorter?? Like, for example, there's a point at which Doriskos compares something to "having pencil lead shoved under one's fingernail" (paraphrasing). In the original publication, it also says "Someone did that to me at Eton", but in the Lethe version, the Eton line has been removed. So Doriskos' statement comes out like an offhand and somewhat overwrought metaphor, as opposed to an illuminating comment drawing on his past to describe his present.
Another example: Doriskos is remembering something untoward that Peter said to him, and in Doriskos' mind, Peter's voice in the NEW edition takes on an explicit "Southern" accent; it's written out as "Drink yuh bathwatuh" (paraphrasing). In the original publication, it's just written as "Drink your bathwater." Why this change? So weird.
As much as I'd like to support this book remaining in publication and this author making some money from it, via Lethe Press or otherwise, I strongly suggest potential readers track down the original edition from the 1990s. The text is just better, and more complete.
***
Original GR comment, date unknown, ca 2013:
One of my favorite books ever. Must have read it a dozen times between 1998 and 2003.
It's so tragic that this author never published another book.
Reading this as an adult, so far away from my teenage/college student self, I find it is far from unproblematic in many, many ways. But! The writing is still just soooooo good! Still love!!! And I lobe these characters so much. It hurts my heart that they were not real people.
***
ETA: 2020 note
I've had a look at the ebook version published by Lethe Press in 2016, and there have been changes to the text! Random passages throughout the book have been changed, for no apparent reason. None of the changes are major, just lines being removed, or shifted around. Maybe to make the book shorter?? Like, for example, there's a point at which Doriskos compares something to "having pencil lead shoved under one's fingernail" (paraphrasing). In the original publication, it also says "Someone did that to me at Eton", but in the Lethe version, the Eton line has been removed. So Doriskos' statement comes out like an offhand and somewhat overwrought metaphor, as opposed to an illuminating comment drawing on his past to describe his present.
Another example: Doriskos is remembering something untoward that Peter said to him, and in Doriskos' mind, Peter's voice in the NEW edition takes on an explicit "Southern" accent; it's written out as "Drink yuh bathwatuh" (paraphrasing). In the original publication, it's just written as "Drink your bathwater." Why this change? So weird.
As much as I'd like to support this book remaining in publication and this author making some money from it, via Lethe Press or otherwise, I strongly suggest potential readers track down the original edition from the 1990s. The text is just better, and more complete.
***
Original GR comment, date unknown, ca 2013:
One of my favorite books ever. Must have read it a dozen times between 1998 and 2003.
It's so tragic that this author never published another book.
August 17, 2016
This book seems to be very polarizing, looking at the reviews! But it didn't get much of a rise out of me either way. Gay Lolita essentially.
It's best categorized as a gay Gothic romance, and a relatively straight-forward one at that. If you like the idea of gay Gothic romances, you will probably like this book. If you do not like the idea of gay Gothic romances, you will probably not like this book. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It certainly doesn't deserve any of the really intense reviews either way.
The plot is relatively easy to follow, with a pile of archetypal but very intense characters, and a rather weak and unsatisfying ending. The writing style is, at its finest, pleasantly melancholy, moody, and richly homoerotic. At its weakest it's turgid and drippy. This was the author's first and sadly only novel, which is a big pity, I get the feeling she would have really grown into her voice with a little more practice. There's a lot of promise in this book.
One reviewer on here was ~supa offended~ the author used the term "mulatto" and the characters had the audacity not to like black people, which is just a bizarre reaction. It's set in the 19th century? It's authentic to all the characters' voices for the time period. Shoo back to the YA section with you if you can't deal with uncomfortable historical authenticity I suppose.
It's best categorized as a gay Gothic romance, and a relatively straight-forward one at that. If you like the idea of gay Gothic romances, you will probably like this book. If you do not like the idea of gay Gothic romances, you will probably not like this book. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It certainly doesn't deserve any of the really intense reviews either way.
The plot is relatively easy to follow, with a pile of archetypal but very intense characters, and a rather weak and unsatisfying ending. The writing style is, at its finest, pleasantly melancholy, moody, and richly homoerotic. At its weakest it's turgid and drippy. This was the author's first and sadly only novel, which is a big pity, I get the feeling she would have really grown into her voice with a little more practice. There's a lot of promise in this book.
One reviewer on here was ~supa offended~ the author used the term "mulatto" and the characters had the audacity not to like black people, which is just a bizarre reaction. It's set in the 19th century? It's authentic to all the characters' voices for the time period. Shoo back to the YA section with you if you can't deal with uncomfortable historical authenticity I suppose.
December 16, 2016
I read this some years ago (borrowed from the library) and liked it so much that I bought a copy. I recently read it again. Every once in a while I come across a review that refers to that so-very-elusive and mysterious "Great Gay Novel" (which is as preposterous as identifying "The Great Straight Novel"). That said, we can indeed call "The God in Flight" a "very good novel in which there is a gay romance"; likewise, we can call "Anna Karenina" a "very good novel in which there is a straight romance." And the reason I'm speaking to both of these books in particular is that even though they are both beautifully written, they suffer from the same singular flaw: both are a bit long-winded. One reviewer here on goodreads compares this to "Wuthering Heights" and yes, in tone and time, they are alike. However, the characters in "Flight" are far more sensible than the psycho-twisted demons of "Heights", one of the most overlooked (and incorrectly read) horror books of all time.
August 25, 2016
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
The set up sounds sort of simple, but it belies an intensely layered and nuanced love story that unfolds between Simion and Doriskos. Watching these two in action was such a bittersweet joy for me. The story opens with what is basically two beginnings, one for Simion and one for Doriskos. Though wildly different in content, these early years explain how they ended up at Yale and why it was such a relief to even be there quite apart from the fact that they had instaboners for one another. Each of them is delightfully complex and extraordinarily well rounded, though I’d say Simion takes the prize for being the most, well, realistic—he’s a youth just entering the cusp of adulthood as he works on his studies, of course he’s going to want to explore and experiment. That is quite at odds with Doriskos who, although older, ultimately remains the more inexperienced of the two—simply because all he’s ever wanted since he was old enough to want anything was Simion.
The supporting cast also shines particularly with Moses and Helmut. Moses is another professor at Yale and Helmut is ostensibly Moses’ valet, but in reality his lover. While Moses is immediately smitten with the extraordinary intelligence he sees shining in Simion, he practically loathes Doriskos for even entertaining ideas about befriending the boy—yet as time passes and a health scare puts Simion’s life on the line, Doriskos proves his mettle above and beyond anything Moses thought the aloof Greek was capable of. Helmut is far more sympathetic and, in all honestly, lends more of a warm fuzzy quality to his scenes—he’s an excellent foil to Moses’ rage, but it’s hardly ever center stage. Over the course of the book, the established Moses/Helmut pairing offers glimpses of what life could and indeed maybe should be like between Simion and Doriskos, provided those who coveted Doriskos’ affections prior to Simion’s arrival don’t ruin everything first.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
The set up sounds sort of simple, but it belies an intensely layered and nuanced love story that unfolds between Simion and Doriskos. Watching these two in action was such a bittersweet joy for me. The story opens with what is basically two beginnings, one for Simion and one for Doriskos. Though wildly different in content, these early years explain how they ended up at Yale and why it was such a relief to even be there quite apart from the fact that they had instaboners for one another. Each of them is delightfully complex and extraordinarily well rounded, though I’d say Simion takes the prize for being the most, well, realistic—he’s a youth just entering the cusp of adulthood as he works on his studies, of course he’s going to want to explore and experiment. That is quite at odds with Doriskos who, although older, ultimately remains the more inexperienced of the two—simply because all he’s ever wanted since he was old enough to want anything was Simion.
The supporting cast also shines particularly with Moses and Helmut. Moses is another professor at Yale and Helmut is ostensibly Moses’ valet, but in reality his lover. While Moses is immediately smitten with the extraordinary intelligence he sees shining in Simion, he practically loathes Doriskos for even entertaining ideas about befriending the boy—yet as time passes and a health scare puts Simion’s life on the line, Doriskos proves his mettle above and beyond anything Moses thought the aloof Greek was capable of. Helmut is far more sympathetic and, in all honestly, lends more of a warm fuzzy quality to his scenes—he’s an excellent foil to Moses’ rage, but it’s hardly ever center stage. Over the course of the book, the established Moses/Helmut pairing offers glimpses of what life could and indeed maybe should be like between Simion and Doriskos, provided those who coveted Doriskos’ affections prior to Simion’s arrival don’t ruin everything first.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
September 25, 2024
I have stayed with this book for many months this year and I did not want to end it so soon, finding myself attached and unable to say goodbye to characters I didn't know they would feel so close and kept me company and somehow imagination and storytelling inside a book creates its own story, this relationship between the reader and the book is so singular and unique, the fact we all have different versions of the story inside our minds blows me away.
Now I struggled with a lot in this book and there were moments which were...jawdropping and my eyes just widened but honestly, aside that it was so entertaining but I found myself enjoying this lush unpruned garden of a story, looking at the characters as human experiences, not judging their emotions their actions but delving deeper, why, how and then you just find yourself connecting and thats what happened with me, I was looking at their heart in the end and this is exactly how it felt towards the end and it didn't disappoint me. I wish Laura Argiri would write more books, this book alone has my heart and one of my faves now. I'll miss Simion and Dori and Moses and Helmut and Andy; all those characters I love you, thank you for keeping me company <33
Now I struggled with a lot in this book and there were moments which were...jawdropping and my eyes just widened but honestly, aside that it was so entertaining but I found myself enjoying this lush unpruned garden of a story, looking at the characters as human experiences, not judging their emotions their actions but delving deeper, why, how and then you just find yourself connecting and thats what happened with me, I was looking at their heart in the end and this is exactly how it felt towards the end and it didn't disappoint me. I wish Laura Argiri would write more books, this book alone has my heart and one of my faves now. I'll miss Simion and Dori and Moses and Helmut and Andy; all those characters I love you, thank you for keeping me company <33
December 21, 2011
The God in Flight was melodramatic, sappy, exaggerated, disgustingly romantic, and overdone. And I loved every flippin' minute of it. I mean, really, it was your typically done gothic romance where the protagonists meet every obstacle but the kitchen sink before they can find happiness. It's the story of two damaged souls who try to find peace together only to find opposition from the outside world. The only difference of this gothic romance from the others is that The God in Flight is the story of two men instead of a man and a woman.
Most of the story takes place at Yale University in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Simion Satterwhite has escaped his abusive father and suffocating hometown to fulfill his dream of going to Yale. 30-year-old Greek-born Doriskos Klionarios was sent to Yale as an art professor by his English adoptive father after a scandal involving a student at Oxford. They eventually find themselves drawn together by feelings bigger than themselves.
Of course, this is scandalous, but they maintain a peaceful existence together in Doriskos' home for a while. Obviously, this doesn't last long, and everything hits the fan. Seriously, these two go through the ringer. The author showed no mercy and, I admit, I was scared of what would happen to the two by the end.
If you do not like dramatics and sappy love stories then I recommend steering clear of this. Reading through the reviews of the book, both good and bad, I knew it was the kind of book for me, and I was right. I took my time with it. I could have read it over the course of a few days, if I let myself. However, I took to only reading it at night, when everything was quiet, because I felt it was appropriate to the book. The God in Flight was an interesting experience, one I may want to partake of again.
Most of the story takes place at Yale University in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Simion Satterwhite has escaped his abusive father and suffocating hometown to fulfill his dream of going to Yale. 30-year-old Greek-born Doriskos Klionarios was sent to Yale as an art professor by his English adoptive father after a scandal involving a student at Oxford. They eventually find themselves drawn together by feelings bigger than themselves.
Of course, this is scandalous, but they maintain a peaceful existence together in Doriskos' home for a while. Obviously, this doesn't last long, and everything hits the fan. Seriously, these two go through the ringer. The author showed no mercy and, I admit, I was scared of what would happen to the two by the end.
If you do not like dramatics and sappy love stories then I recommend steering clear of this. Reading through the reviews of the book, both good and bad, I knew it was the kind of book for me, and I was right. I took my time with it. I could have read it over the course of a few days, if I let myself. However, I took to only reading it at night, when everything was quiet, because I felt it was appropriate to the book. The God in Flight was an interesting experience, one I may want to partake of again.
October 10, 2011
This is a gorgeous Victorian gay romance that takes place in Yale in the late 1800s. Argiri brings the setting vividly to life, paying special attention to food (which I appreciate) and art. The characters she creates are similarly vivid and real, if their histories are somewhat florid and extreme. But that's the hallmark of a Victorian novel, so it feels perfectly right for the world Argiri has created.
I really loved reading this book. My main complaint was the lack of an overarching arc of plot. The main conflict felt as though it had been resolved a third of the way through the book, and then again two-thirds of the way through, with the rest being a sort of "and then this other stuff happened" to wrap up the story. But this didn't make the book less enjoyable to read, merely less tense and suspenseful. I got the feeling that the author wanted there to be real tension about what was going to happen at the very end, but the characters themselves seemed to understand that there was no tension because their arcs had been satisfactorily resolved many chapters before.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone interested in good gay romance. It's a beautiful read and has many wonderful and horrific moments that will stick with me for a while.
I really loved reading this book. My main complaint was the lack of an overarching arc of plot. The main conflict felt as though it had been resolved a third of the way through the book, and then again two-thirds of the way through, with the rest being a sort of "and then this other stuff happened" to wrap up the story. But this didn't make the book less enjoyable to read, merely less tense and suspenseful. I got the feeling that the author wanted there to be real tension about what was going to happen at the very end, but the characters themselves seemed to understand that there was no tension because their arcs had been satisfactorily resolved many chapters before.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone interested in good gay romance. It's a beautiful read and has many wonderful and horrific moments that will stick with me for a while.
March 17, 2013
Here is one of the few books that I probably spent quiet a bit more money on than I should have. It was out of print when I bought it and something about the description and the simplicity of the cover just really drew me in. I will say that I was not disappointed with this book.
Set during a time when romantic friendships happened, 'The God In Flight', revolves around a student/teacher dichotomy. The main focus of the work was more on the characters and characterizations than any thing else.
Laura Argiri really let you see the people in this novel for who and what they were. It was very easy to get attached to these characters both those in the spot light and those on the fringes of the stage. They were a greatly diverse beautiful batch of players that you'll thoroughly fall in love with. *chuckles*
Over all, I would still recommend this book to other people; however, I honestly haven't looked up the prices or editions of this book. Much to my disappointment I never found anything else written by this author.
Set during a time when romantic friendships happened, 'The God In Flight', revolves around a student/teacher dichotomy. The main focus of the work was more on the characters and characterizations than any thing else.
Laura Argiri really let you see the people in this novel for who and what they were. It was very easy to get attached to these characters both those in the spot light and those on the fringes of the stage. They were a greatly diverse beautiful batch of players that you'll thoroughly fall in love with. *chuckles*
Over all, I would still recommend this book to other people; however, I honestly haven't looked up the prices or editions of this book. Much to my disappointment I never found anything else written by this author.
November 29, 2007
i recently reread this book, which i had never known until aj verdelle recommended it to me at princeton. it is hands-down one of the best books that i have ever read and is an exemplar in historical fiction. verdelle had called it "one of the shining luminosities of our time," and i stand by that assessment. it is sadly out of print now, but it is 100% worth it to snag yourself a copy online. one of those books that doesn't seem to have been written; instead, it seems to have just appeared by divine intervention.
August 11, 2012
Standard Victorian romance with the twist of the lovers both being men. The structure of the story is, quite deliberately, exactly what you would expect in a conventional Victorian melodrama: misunderstandings, illness, and villains all trying to thwart true love. What sets the book apart is the amazing language. The writing is lush and beautiful and I often found myself reading passages twice because I loved the author's turn of phrase.
March 19, 2013
Beautifully told, original juxtaposition of lush period storytelling and rough all-American bootstrap coming-of-age, all wrapped up in a soulful and touching romance. One of a kind and memorable gay romance.
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July 1, 2018Free on Smashwords July, 2018 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view....
April 3, 2015
The God in Flight by Laura Argiri
Simion Satterwhite is a very precocious little boy. Raised by The Reverend John Ezra Staterwhite in rural Haliburton, West Virginia, the boy is abused by the drunken ravages of John Ezra because the boy is pretty, smart, and effeminate. John Ezra hires Simeon Lincoln to tutor his son. Simeon is a gay and cultured man who realizes immediately the abuse Simion lives under and makes it his mission to rescue Simion and to qualify him to go to Yale University. Simeon has tuberculosis, so he must leave before Simion goes to college, but Simion is accepted at Yale.
At Yale, Simion finds the aloof art professor, Doriskos Klionarios (Dori). Dori is the adoptive son of an English aristocrat: Lord Alfred Stratton-Truro. Dori was bought from a Greek prostitute in one of Lord Alfred's weakest post coital moments. Brought up as something between a collector's item and a pet, Dori was expelled from Oxford because of a homosexual incident with another aristocrat. Dori has been drawing an ideal man for as long as he developed his art talents. Lord and behold, this idealized man is the picture perfect incarnation of Simion Statterwhite.
When they meet, Dori falls irreversibly in love with the student. Simion is having all kinds of troubles with Yale's living accommodations, so it is nothing but natural to both of them that Simion move in with Dori. This causes a big alarm to the other closeted gay couple: Moses Karseth - a Yale professor of Surgery, and his live in partner, Helmet Kneitel - another Yale surgeon. In spite of their warning, Simion does move in with Dori.
Dori can't handle Simion's affections with other students - most specifically with Andrew (Andy) Saxton Carpallon, so Dori and Simion fight. It's through the care and counsel of the other gay couple (Moses and Helmut) that they find balance for their love. Not before another student, Peter Tattnall Geoffrey - who was madly in love with Dori - makes hell for the couple and causes them to flee to avoid incarceration for crimes of abomination.
The title is derived from a sculpture that Dori submits to the Canova Competition in London and that Dori does win. It's the naked picture of Dori lifting a naked Simion after a vacation they have in Savannah, GA - in the beach house Simion inherits after the tragic death of Simeon Lincoln from TB. Pictures from the sculpture are the weapon Peter Geoffrey uses to blackmail Simion and Dori to submit to his lustful wishes.
The story is told from the third person point of view - although the writer likes to interject herself in the narrative. Her prose is beautiful and there's no question she's a wonderful writer; however, the story itself is not believable. The story takes place in the Victorian society of New Haven, CT in the early 1880's, yet everyone involved is either gay of performing gay acts. The fact that Simion and Dori - not to mention Moses and Helmut, get away with living like couples is disingenuous at least and unbelievable at most. Not to mention Peter Geoffry and Andrew Carpallon who are openly gay at Yale university in the 1880's. The work is redeemed by the ending - Dori gets shot by John Ezra, and Simion is expelled from Yale and not allowed to graduate.
In spite of these shortcomings, I enjoyed the book. The themes through the book are universal and timeless:
Art:
"...beauty is the outward reflection of an inner self." p. 170
"Compelling artistic ideas come from that daemonic part of me." p. 357
Love:
"I feel him in the house as if he were a flower scent, the odor of ferns...no weight, no light, no gravity, but everywhere." p 188
"...solitude and loneliness are forms of torture.....there is nothing in the world more important than knowing and loving someone else" p 221
"Lovemaking is the consolation for the living in the body just as art is the consolation for living in the world." p. 361
Homosexuality:
"...know your own nature, accept it, and let no one and nothing alienate you from it. You have as much right to it as anyone else has to theirs." p 221
"The happiest stories of this kind are the hidden ones." p. 330
Religion:
"The gentlemen looked as grieved as if they really thought that the rites at a funeral over a month after the death truly affected the ultimate destination of the honoree." p. 241
Knowledge:
"Understanding that you don't know everything is the cornerstone of all understanding." p. 294
Simion Satterwhite is a very precocious little boy. Raised by The Reverend John Ezra Staterwhite in rural Haliburton, West Virginia, the boy is abused by the drunken ravages of John Ezra because the boy is pretty, smart, and effeminate. John Ezra hires Simeon Lincoln to tutor his son. Simeon is a gay and cultured man who realizes immediately the abuse Simion lives under and makes it his mission to rescue Simion and to qualify him to go to Yale University. Simeon has tuberculosis, so he must leave before Simion goes to college, but Simion is accepted at Yale.
At Yale, Simion finds the aloof art professor, Doriskos Klionarios (Dori). Dori is the adoptive son of an English aristocrat: Lord Alfred Stratton-Truro. Dori was bought from a Greek prostitute in one of Lord Alfred's weakest post coital moments. Brought up as something between a collector's item and a pet, Dori was expelled from Oxford because of a homosexual incident with another aristocrat. Dori has been drawing an ideal man for as long as he developed his art talents. Lord and behold, this idealized man is the picture perfect incarnation of Simion Statterwhite.
When they meet, Dori falls irreversibly in love with the student. Simion is having all kinds of troubles with Yale's living accommodations, so it is nothing but natural to both of them that Simion move in with Dori. This causes a big alarm to the other closeted gay couple: Moses Karseth - a Yale professor of Surgery, and his live in partner, Helmet Kneitel - another Yale surgeon. In spite of their warning, Simion does move in with Dori.
Dori can't handle Simion's affections with other students - most specifically with Andrew (Andy) Saxton Carpallon, so Dori and Simion fight. It's through the care and counsel of the other gay couple (Moses and Helmut) that they find balance for their love. Not before another student, Peter Tattnall Geoffrey - who was madly in love with Dori - makes hell for the couple and causes them to flee to avoid incarceration for crimes of abomination.
The title is derived from a sculpture that Dori submits to the Canova Competition in London and that Dori does win. It's the naked picture of Dori lifting a naked Simion after a vacation they have in Savannah, GA - in the beach house Simion inherits after the tragic death of Simeon Lincoln from TB. Pictures from the sculpture are the weapon Peter Geoffrey uses to blackmail Simion and Dori to submit to his lustful wishes.
The story is told from the third person point of view - although the writer likes to interject herself in the narrative. Her prose is beautiful and there's no question she's a wonderful writer; however, the story itself is not believable. The story takes place in the Victorian society of New Haven, CT in the early 1880's, yet everyone involved is either gay of performing gay acts. The fact that Simion and Dori - not to mention Moses and Helmut, get away with living like couples is disingenuous at least and unbelievable at most. Not to mention Peter Geoffry and Andrew Carpallon who are openly gay at Yale university in the 1880's. The work is redeemed by the ending - Dori gets shot by John Ezra, and Simion is expelled from Yale and not allowed to graduate.
In spite of these shortcomings, I enjoyed the book. The themes through the book are universal and timeless:
Art:
"...beauty is the outward reflection of an inner self." p. 170
"Compelling artistic ideas come from that daemonic part of me." p. 357
Love:
"I feel him in the house as if he were a flower scent, the odor of ferns...no weight, no light, no gravity, but everywhere." p 188
"...solitude and loneliness are forms of torture.....there is nothing in the world more important than knowing and loving someone else" p 221
"Lovemaking is the consolation for the living in the body just as art is the consolation for living in the world." p. 361
Homosexuality:
"...know your own nature, accept it, and let no one and nothing alienate you from it. You have as much right to it as anyone else has to theirs." p 221
"The happiest stories of this kind are the hidden ones." p. 330
Religion:
"The gentlemen looked as grieved as if they really thought that the rites at a funeral over a month after the death truly affected the ultimate destination of the honoree." p. 241
Knowledge:
"Understanding that you don't know everything is the cornerstone of all understanding." p. 294
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2013
I simply couldn't finish this book. I must admit that it's beautifully written, poetic and polished, but the characters are so extremely naive and idealistic, that there was no way for me to feel them. I might have liked it in my teenage years, when I was myself idealizing the world, other people and myself, the but the moment is gone now. I'll go look for something less perfect!
July 19, 2020
Beautifully written beautiful story! I've never read a romance novel of a gay relationship in Victorian days that was so perfectly in tune with the time and wonderful to read. (She also NEVER split an infinitive! Bonus points for that alone!) It is quite a triumph, and I dare anyone to challenge her for being a woman and writing about a gay relationship....think American Dirt.
January 28, 2024
As a gay reader, I really appreciated book, given it came out before it was easy to find LGBTQ fiction. Please don’t let the small-minded and frankly some of the bigoted reviews of this book floating around the internet deter you from giving it a try. I for one loved how flawed the characters were - this is not a romance plotline full of impossibly perfect people.
February 13, 2013
This was one of the first gay historical romances I read. It remains in my top ten of the genre. It feels of it's time. Well written.
January 23, 2018
Got to about page 300, then quit. It started out alright--it seemed to wander a bit, but I could handle it--and it slowed down a bit with the background of the characters and introducing more, but nothing that a reader couldn't handle. That is, if said reader was getting something in return. But that's where this book fails for me.
There is a period in the middle (where I stopped) in which everything goes wrong, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I realize this is a "realistic" novel, with a "realistic" approach to its writing, but good lord, at least stay true to your characters. While the (rather 2D) side characters stayed themselves, mostly, the main characters seemed to act dreadfully against what we had previously known about them.
Up until THE scene (if you've read it, you know which one I'm talking about,) I was enjoying the novel and the characters, in that I cared about them and about what happened to them. Afterwards, they had close to zero redeemable qualities; I think, in going for realism, the author screwed up who she wanted these people to be.
I read the last few pages. I may have missed some context, but I have to agree with whomever said it was a pretty week ending. Perhaps it's the way I came into the book, expecting to have a good time, but I was severely let down by most of it.
The writing wasn't awful, and the blurb plot was promising, but the book itself? Simply depressing. Maybe one day I'll be bored enough to finish the last 200 pages or so. Until then, I will be picking up another novel.
There is a period in the middle (where I stopped) in which everything goes wrong, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I realize this is a "realistic" novel, with a "realistic" approach to its writing, but good lord, at least stay true to your characters. While the (rather 2D) side characters stayed themselves, mostly, the main characters seemed to act dreadfully against what we had previously known about them.
Up until THE scene (if you've read it, you know which one I'm talking about,) I was enjoying the novel and the characters, in that I cared about them and about what happened to them. Afterwards, they had close to zero redeemable qualities; I think, in going for realism, the author screwed up who she wanted these people to be.
I read the last few pages. I may have missed some context, but I have to agree with whomever said it was a pretty week ending. Perhaps it's the way I came into the book, expecting to have a good time, but I was severely let down by most of it.
The writing wasn't awful, and the blurb plot was promising, but the book itself? Simply depressing. Maybe one day I'll be bored enough to finish the last 200 pages or so. Until then, I will be picking up another novel.
August 6, 2024
As a rule, I do not read books twice. There are far too many great books out there and not enough time. This work is an exception, because it's exceptional.
The story is compelling. A young man from the Appalachian mountains meets—almost inexplicably—an older man from halfway across the globe. Their connection is immediate and intense, yet made all the more difficult by the constricting societal norms of the 1800s. It is this connection, though, that guides each one to become the man he needs to be. With a colorful backdrop of art and education, the unlikely story unfolds through twists and turns that are, alternatingly, heartwarming and heartwrenching.
The writing is deep, intense and descriptive. Context is provided with almost poetic prose. The language takes you directly into the characters' worlds and provides a 360 degree view of all that they see and face. Dialogue is reflective of the different cultures and socio-economic statuses of each character. It is clear and believable yet also effective at conveying emotion and turmoil.
The characters are complex, yet understandable. Each is independently driven by his own background, wants, needs and desires. Each character's world view is revealed—almost doled out in spoonfuls—until the reader has a complete understanding. The characters are ultimately real—people like us or like people we know, whether that's good, bad or indifferent.
I'm thankful for this book. It brought to me everything that reading can bring—pure enjoyment.
The story is compelling. A young man from the Appalachian mountains meets—almost inexplicably—an older man from halfway across the globe. Their connection is immediate and intense, yet made all the more difficult by the constricting societal norms of the 1800s. It is this connection, though, that guides each one to become the man he needs to be. With a colorful backdrop of art and education, the unlikely story unfolds through twists and turns that are, alternatingly, heartwarming and heartwrenching.
The writing is deep, intense and descriptive. Context is provided with almost poetic prose. The language takes you directly into the characters' worlds and provides a 360 degree view of all that they see and face. Dialogue is reflective of the different cultures and socio-economic statuses of each character. It is clear and believable yet also effective at conveying emotion and turmoil.
The characters are complex, yet understandable. Each is independently driven by his own background, wants, needs and desires. Each character's world view is revealed—almost doled out in spoonfuls—until the reader has a complete understanding. The characters are ultimately real—people like us or like people we know, whether that's good, bad or indifferent.
I'm thankful for this book. It brought to me everything that reading can bring—pure enjoyment.
August 3, 2022
What a good book this was. This book was given to me by a friend and after reading some of the reviews I was concerned about reading it. However, from the start I found myself invested in the characters and the story. There were times where I was irritated and tired by the actions of the characters but at the same time I did not want to put it down. I really enjoyed the writing and character development. After the story ended I felt the characters would live on in my memory like old lost friends. To me this is what makes a good book.
March 30, 2021
Quite good. Rich in historical detail, and unexpected - I never knew exactly where the plot was going to go. My only disappointment with it is that I was a bit unmoved by the relationship between the two leads and was actually more interested in the secondary characters. I'd have rather spent 500 pages on Moses and Helmut's story with Simion and Dori hanging about in the background than the other way around! But still worth reading.
August 30, 2017
I was so happy to have run into this book to read! I had never heard of it. It is well written, and very much in line with a Victorian romance, with authentic writing and a powerful story. It does drag at certain points, and the ending gets a little over the top, but that is also characteristic of the style it wants to replicate. An enjoyable read that also makes you think.
May 26, 2017
Perhaps one of the best, if not the best, romance in the gay genre.
August 17, 2017
One of the best reading experiences I have had. A wonderful book I have read several times now.
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