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...and not too long ago either. Yes, I liked that one. It wasn't a perfect book. There were some aspects of the writing that I didn't care too much for, but that book was an enormous step in the right direction. I definitely agree with you that it doesn't glorify boylove whatsoever. I actually liked how the book aimed for a more ambiguous note, depicting many of the sexual interactions between the man and the young boy as being kind of a mess of different conflicting emotions, both troubling yet romantic, not to mention unpleasant and abrupt, as well as having the experience negatively affect the boy in the long run, yet not exactly in a destructive way. He very much loves the man and misses him, yet there's that emotional frustration that comes from not being aware of whether what happened was truly love or if he was taken advantage of. Those kinds of feelings are common with children who are separated from their families, and I thought that the book did a good job of representing those feelings of loss and abandonment. I think that's the kind of book I would prefer to read, one that doesn't depict a relationship as being a good or bad thing, but just a thing that occurs that is mysterious and exciting and somewhat nonsensical, because that's how love is, just in general, and I appreciate when a book can be that realistic about things like that. I also saw the film on Netflix with my sister, which simplifies things quite a bit, but still leaves things a little ambiguous. I wasn't thrilled with it either (my sister liked it more than I did), but there were a few interesting directorial moments here and there (the dance scene, the transition scene near the beginning, the silent little moments of loneliness, etc) that I enjoyed enough. But yes, that's one of the few I've read that I thought was quite good. |