October Read 2011: Wicked Gentlemen

[Anne]

I found the language very beautiful and loved the first sentences. It set the scene and the feeling immediately.

What I felt the most was the sense of place, the city came alive. It reminded me of Edinburgh, the dark, closed strets, the rain, it even has a Hells Below since the Old Town is build upon another older town. So I walked those streets with Belimai and Harper. I have even been to that bar I am sure :)


And then the parallells to our own, sordid history, how the Jews were treated in Europe or the apartheid regime in South Africa, and plenty others, around the world now or before. It was like looking at ourselves through a twisted mirror, the troll splint.

And btw, I loved the boys too.

[Jordan]

I'm just wondering what makes us love these types of books. As you mentioned, Anne, the sordid history of the Jews being treated badly in Europe and apartheid in South Africa... we look at those in a realistic setting and it turns our stomaches. Yeah? But then us writers and readers turn around and say "Yeah, but I wanna write about that! I want to read about a character that gets tortured, and I want it to sound beautiful." Maybe that's not quite the way to word that, but you know what I mean. I hope. And I LOVE dark stories, but clearly don't want any of that to happen to someone in real life. It just makes me wonder why.

[Becky]

Fiction can be a a great, non-threatening way to process emotion. And when it's something really awful, like torture, it helps to tell that story in an alternate reality. I think that is part of why paranormal is so popular. Things are ugly in the world right now, and with TV and the internet we have more access to that ugliness than ever. So we need that outlet of fiction more than ever, too.

[Jordan]

That's a great way of thinking Becky. I kinda like it... and now I want to go read something really dark and tragic... but instead, I have real work to get done. Darn it.

[Josh]

One of the things I appreciate about BEB is that though their books can be dark and tragic, the reader is left with a sense of hope and renewed possibility.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

I am going to say the obvious, but I think many people are attracted to (or interested in or fascinated by) dark themes and it's safe (safer) to explore them through fiction.

I edited this comment 5 times in less than one minute, lol

[Josh]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I am going to say the obvious, but I think many people are attracted to (or interested it or fascinated by) the dark side - not that they want to join it, lol - and it's safe (safer) to explore it ..."

I admit that as a reader and writer I am philosophically opposed to tragic endings in this genre. Maybe after 75+ years of happy endings in gay lit, I'll take a less political view.

Now in other genres, feel free to kill everyone and blow up the world. No problem here. :-D

[Jordan]

lol, Josh, that's too funny! Blow up the world... why on earth would I want to do that? But kill of the characters... ummmm.... I've at least done that in fanfic once or twice... my readers weren't so happy with me, but admited the stories were well written. lol.

[Josh]

Jordan wrote: "lol, Josh, that's too funny! Blow up the world... why on earth would I want to do that? But kill of the characters... ummmm.... I've at least done that in fanfic once or twice... my readers weren't..."

When one of my nephews was very little he used to have this dinosaur computer game, and he always ended it by aiming astroids straight at the earth.

I think it was a way of relieving the tension -- if he was blowing up the planet, there was no stress involved. ;-D

It did make for some interesting games.

[Jordan]

That is interesting. Blowing up the planet at the end... yeah, I could see something like that feeling pretty good at the end of a video game. lol.

[Josh]

He's a truly charming, funny, sweet kid but he's a nut. He'd play these black op war games and suddenly in the middle he'd turn on his own men and kill them all. :-D Or kill the guy he was supposed to be rescuing. :-D :-D

Now there was a child who instinctively understood the concept of plot twist.

[[deleted user]]

LOL. Definitely a color outside the box kind of guy. :D

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Lol! He's a compassionate kid, he wants to spare them from suffering when all hope is already lost!

[Josh]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Lol! He's a compassionate kid, he wants to spare them from suffering when all hope is already lost!"

He is a remarkably sensitive child.

Of course isn't that what all family and neighbors say when someone grows up to be a serial killer? :-P

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

There are kids that really surprise you when you ask them about something strange they do. I have this little cousin who always carried with him a bike helmet for some time when he was 4. Everybody thought it was because he just wanted to ride his bike all day. When I asked him why he told me it was because he wanted to protect himself from all the hurt in the world. I told his parents it might be a good idea to not let him watch the news on TV.

[Jordan]

Oh man, Emanuela, that's actually kind of sad.

Josh, yep, that is what everyone says. They had no idea anything wrong was going on inside that brain of his... no idea at all.... And gosh... now you're giving me plot bunnies with really bad twists at the end... gah! Running away from the evil plot bunnies now!

[Becky]

Josh wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Lol! He's a compassionate kid, he wants to spare them from suffering when all hope is already lost!"

He is a remarkably sensitive child.

Of course isn't that w..."

Fingers crossed that he's not reading Uncle Josh's mysteries, looking for tips!