Status Updates From Rat Bohemia

it really is a lot about rats

loving !!!

I don’t really get it and I want to read something else

calling it here—everyone needs to read “rat bohemia” ASAP

Every fag I’ve ever loved has had extermination hanging around his neck. How can that make for an equal opportunity at fate? Thank God pure mutuality is not my prerequisite for relationships. If it was, I wouldn’t be able to talk to anybody except one or two dykes sitting on park benches watching the rats.

This is THE book ever

why am i crying already

ill get there one day

im not going to be able to finish this by Wed when I have to return it bc I physically have to put it down it's so gut wrenching

in for it

Eww why am i reading ten books at once i fucking hate this >_<<<<<

enjoying it so far! i’m so prepared to cry my eyes out at this book. the introduction already made me tear up

Let’s see if I can read this entire book on my flight

all this rat imagery is giving trauma flashbacks to when I saw a rat run over a man’s bare foot last week

shed a tear reading the introduction (?!) on the train this morning so i know this is going to gut me

A bit disorienting at times transitions to and from the various stories — remembering the details and matching it to the right protagonist is difficult at times. However, the ways in which the stories are woven together creates an extremely rich portrait of queer life and the AIDS crisis is incredible and evokes strong emotions. It forces us to reflect on family, community, and loss.

“There’s nothing on earth that could kill us more efficiently than parental indifference.” Succinctly summarizes Dave’s experiences with his family in the second part. His experiences as a person with AIDS show the trauma and eventually desensitized grieving processes that the continual loss caused. Knowing that he had the same fate further complicates and darkens his perspective.

The shift in narration between parts confused me at first, but with the relationships between characters makes the transition between sections fairly seamless. Dave’s friendship with Rita in the first part and his desire to be remembered is actualized in a way in the second part, which gives the heavy subject matter a bit of lightness and hope for remembrance.

Rita fucks up rats but it’s like… also allegorical? Lots of cool stuff happening and some parallel plots are emerging. The writing style is difficult to follow at times with flashbacks and returns to reality, but it just requires close reading at those transitions.

I do enjoy this so far but its kinda a flop when theres a POV alternating situation but you only find one of the characters even remotely compelling

This book is fucking sad

"Offen lesbisch sein ist nämlich nicht das Ende von Wahnsinn. Er fängt da erst an."

"Ich möchte eine Zeugin meiner eigenen Zeit sein, weil ich seit kurzem den heimlichen Verdacht habe, dass ich ganz schön viel länger leben werde, als die meisten Leute, die ich kenne. Falls ich demnächst die einzige sein sollte, die noch übrig ist und weiß, was los war, dann passe ich jetzt lieber ganz genau auf."

there's a certain genre of 'suffering gay artists with AIDS' that i hate (,,,, Rent) and i was terrifyed that Rat Bohemia would be similar, but Schulman has gorgeous prose and a narrative i genuinely love.

woah its me in the title :)

Rita was caught by her dad with her girlfriend.

"... Two facts that would only come to light fifteen years later. First, that I did not do anything wrong, even though I was deeply punished. Second, that my father should have been overjoyed that someone love me and that I loved them. Why should such basic observations - ones available to most straight people without a second thought - elude me until adulthood and then their devastation continue unmitigated?"