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Rid England of This Plague
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November 4, 2016
I am re-reading the book which in itself is unusual for me as I rarely read anything twice. In this case I made the exception. As a mirror of a time now gone the book makes very interesting reading - especially to anyone under the age of 35. It's hard to imagine rural country living outside of the Sunday supplements but here it is portrayed warts and all.
What is surprising is that the author grew up with little in the way of any hang-ups about his sexuality despite the rural village background. The availability of other men in such surroundings is also an eye-opener. The book is neither a novel nor social history but tries to combine them both. It is up to the reader to decide whether it is done well - it can be off-putting for some readers to have to leave a narrative for a piece of social or political history. It didn't bother me.
The police of course don't come off too well and with good reasons. They were on a crusade with the authority and backing of the Home Office to rid England of perverted homosexuals who, in their opinion and the opinion of all 'right thinking citizens' were recruiting the male youth of the country to their evil ways. They did actually believe this. They had manuals of how to spot them - unable to walk straight, wouldn't be able to smoke a pipe, only drinks half lagers etc etc. Laughable now but it wasn't fun for the thousands of men who came up against this sort of prejudice and had their lives completely ruined.
I agree with the other commentator in that there are far too many puns in the book - I presume a residual behaviour carried over from day to day speech of the '60s and '70s which would be considered a bit puerile today. Well worth a read though.
What is surprising is that the author grew up with little in the way of any hang-ups about his sexuality despite the rural village background. The availability of other men in such surroundings is also an eye-opener. The book is neither a novel nor social history but tries to combine them both. It is up to the reader to decide whether it is done well - it can be off-putting for some readers to have to leave a narrative for a piece of social or political history. It didn't bother me.
The police of course don't come off too well and with good reasons. They were on a crusade with the authority and backing of the Home Office to rid England of perverted homosexuals who, in their opinion and the opinion of all 'right thinking citizens' were recruiting the male youth of the country to their evil ways. They did actually believe this. They had manuals of how to spot them - unable to walk straight, wouldn't be able to smoke a pipe, only drinks half lagers etc etc. Laughable now but it wasn't fun for the thousands of men who came up against this sort of prejudice and had their lives completely ruined.
I agree with the other commentator in that there are far too many puns in the book - I presume a residual behaviour carried over from day to day speech of the '60s and '70s which would be considered a bit puerile today. Well worth a read though.
Displaying 1 of 1 review