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He Swung and He Missed
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 14, 2019
Really, really depressing story of a disillusioned young Navy boy. Tone reminded me of Hemingway; incompetence of the military reminded me of Paths of Glory. The Kirkus review spoiled the whole book for me. But even if it hadn't, this was just too downbeat and hopeless, without the importance of Paths.
December 1, 2020
TLDR; He Swung and He Missed is a book that could have explored and said so much, but rather missed the boat (pun highly intended).
...
I first heard of this book by after seeing it listed within Lost Gay Novels, a reference book by Anthony Slide. After stumbling upon a copy, I thought to myself, hey, why not give it a read. And...?
Well...
To put it in brief, He Swung and He Missed, first published in 1937, follows our main character, Toby Brent, through his four years in the navy, after he enlisted with the hopes of continuing his studies at the Naval Academy. From Slide’s book, I was given one impression - that it would contain a look at queer characters from an early 20th century viewpoint. The cover of the book itself, gave me a different impression, emblazoned with the tagline “A Lusty Story of Sailors and Their Women.”
This book, in fact, is neither of those two things.
What this book is, in reality, at least what it tries to be, is an anti-military piece focused on the breaking of Toby Brent. He begins with a hopeful, positive, and naïve persona, albeit rather indecisive. Brent is then met with injustice, after bad luck, after cruelty, causing him to eventually crumble under its weight. The inside cover does a better job at portraying the story, than the extremely misleading front: “He lived a pattern set by men who drank to forget, who wanted women to escape from ugly reality, who taught him that the clean dreams of youth fade in a jumble of hours spent in bilges, cheap dockside bars, and without real love.”
Now, the LGBT+ aspect of this book? This is where I must regretfully inform that the gay “representation” comes in the form of rape. While the scene is only implied, thankfully non-explicit, Brent is assaulted by a character who up until that moment, has been seen as a friend. It is in his desperation to get away from this once “friend” that Brent finds himself on an ever increasing path towards a destruction of self. This path includes a mix up of blood tests, arsenic poisoning from unneeded medical treatment, alcoholism, broken promises, and an ever tightening sense of being trapped.
He Swung and He Missed has certain potential - as a discussion of the experiences of male survivors of sexual assault (which would certainly be something, considering the time period in which it was written), and as an anti-military piece. Sadly, though, I can’t say it is anything more than just potential. O’Brien’s writing is green and juvenile, touching upon many things but never truly delving into anything. It’s like an argument, a point, on the tip of the tongue but never said, never sure what it’s actually trying to be. This book is just an outline. I almost wish to rewrite it myself, delving truly into Brent’s character and psyche. There is so much that could be said and explored, if only the book was, say, triple the length (it is, in reality, only 157 pages). It could have been a truly intense piece.
(note: this review is also posted on my tumblr)
...
I first heard of this book by after seeing it listed within Lost Gay Novels, a reference book by Anthony Slide. After stumbling upon a copy, I thought to myself, hey, why not give it a read. And...?
Well...
To put it in brief, He Swung and He Missed, first published in 1937, follows our main character, Toby Brent, through his four years in the navy, after he enlisted with the hopes of continuing his studies at the Naval Academy. From Slide’s book, I was given one impression - that it would contain a look at queer characters from an early 20th century viewpoint. The cover of the book itself, gave me a different impression, emblazoned with the tagline “A Lusty Story of Sailors and Their Women.”
This book, in fact, is neither of those two things.
What this book is, in reality, at least what it tries to be, is an anti-military piece focused on the breaking of Toby Brent. He begins with a hopeful, positive, and naïve persona, albeit rather indecisive. Brent is then met with injustice, after bad luck, after cruelty, causing him to eventually crumble under its weight. The inside cover does a better job at portraying the story, than the extremely misleading front: “He lived a pattern set by men who drank to forget, who wanted women to escape from ugly reality, who taught him that the clean dreams of youth fade in a jumble of hours spent in bilges, cheap dockside bars, and without real love.”
Now, the LGBT+ aspect of this book? This is where I must regretfully inform that the gay “representation” comes in the form of rape. While the scene is only implied, thankfully non-explicit, Brent is assaulted by a character who up until that moment, has been seen as a friend. It is in his desperation to get away from this once “friend” that Brent finds himself on an ever increasing path towards a destruction of self. This path includes a mix up of blood tests, arsenic poisoning from unneeded medical treatment, alcoholism, broken promises, and an ever tightening sense of being trapped.
He Swung and He Missed has certain potential - as a discussion of the experiences of male survivors of sexual assault (which would certainly be something, considering the time period in which it was written), and as an anti-military piece. Sadly, though, I can’t say it is anything more than just potential. O’Brien’s writing is green and juvenile, touching upon many things but never truly delving into anything. It’s like an argument, a point, on the tip of the tongue but never said, never sure what it’s actually trying to be. This book is just an outline. I almost wish to rewrite it myself, delving truly into Brent’s character and psyche. There is so much that could be said and explored, if only the book was, say, triple the length (it is, in reality, only 157 pages). It could have been a truly intense piece.
(note: this review is also posted on my tumblr)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews