In February 1963, The New York Times Best Seller list was reduced from its then 16-position ranking to a 10-position one, a configuration that remained for the rest of the 1960s. This means that several titles that might have made the list never did, which is a shame, but it doesn't mean the popularity of gay themes in literature was waning. Quite the contrary, in fact: the latter half of the 1960s marked the peak of the sexual revolution in literature, and the theme completely dominated the best seller list. And although most of the sex depicted in these works is heterosexual, gay characters also began to appear in unprecedented numbers — successful titles of this era, such as The Love Machine and Naked Came the Stranger, may not qualify as “gay novels,” but they do acknowledge homosexuality and contributed to a broader movement toward its mainstream acceptance.
Another Country (1962) by James Baldwin
James Baldwin's now-classic 1956 novel Giovanni's Room surprisingly never appeared on the best seller list, but it did help him build a large enough following to turn Another Country into a major success. Truth be told, the novel is closer to what the public expected from Baldwin than Giovanni's: an intricate look at race relations in the United States, centered on a bisexual Black man.
Released amid the upheaval of the Civil Rights era, the novel provoked controversy within and beyond the African American community and was censored in New Orleans on charges of obscenity. Overall, Another Country went on to become the second best-selling book of 1963 and has since sold over 4 million copies. A film adaptation was announced in 1964, but the project never materialized.
The Thin Red Line (1962) by James Jones
The Thin Red Line is the second novel in James Jones' War trilogy, following his 1951 smash hit From Here to Eternity. At the time, few knew that Jones had been forced by his publisher to remove explicitly homosexual scenes from Eternity: in the uncensored version of the work, finally published in 2009, some soldiers provide sexual favors to wealthy men as a way to earn extra money. Jones considered the portrayal of homosexuality important because it reflected realities he had witnessed while serving. Now, as an established author in a somewhat more permissive period, he was able to fulfill his artistic vision.
Unlike Eternity, which is set during peacetime just before World War II erupted, Red Line unfolds during the Battle of Guadalcanal. The narrative alternates between various servicemen, and homosexuality is a recurring theme: Privates Bead and Fife frequently engage in sexual relations, despite the latter stating that he's "no queer, or nothing like that."
The first film adaptation of The Thin Red Line was released in 1964, but it was the second, released in 1998, that became a Hollywood classic. Surprisingly, allusions to homosexuality are more present in the former.
City of Night (1963) by John Rechy
Inspired by Rechy's own life, City of Night follows an unnamed Mexican-American hustler as he travels across the country during the 1950s. The novel’s frank, detailed, and psychologically profound portrayal of the underworld inhabited by LGBT+ people broke into American mainstream audiences in a groundbreaking way: it sold 65,000 copies in hardcover and remained on the best seller list for an impressive 24 weeks.
City of Night was well-received by literary critics, as well as by popular gay novelists such as James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Isherwood. It remained a major influence in gay literature well into the late 1970s.
Our Lady of the Flowers (1943) by Jean Genet
City of Night's runaway success likely led Grove Press to publish another tale of the gay underworld: Jean Genet's Our Lady of the Flowers, originally released in French two decades earlier. By the 1960s, the author was already a well-known name in gay and literary circles, having been a major influence on Beat Generation writers. Like Rechy's novel, Our Lady — centered on Divine, a drag queen canonized after death — drew directly from Genet's personal experiences and was originally written for his own pleasure while in prison.
The Mask of Apollo (1966) by Mary Renault
Mary Renault's streak of best sellers remained strong with The Mask of Apollo, another of her forays into Ancient Greece. The novel follows Nikeratos, or Niko, an Athenian actor whose wanderings across Greece draw him into Plato’s Academy and the orbit of some historical figures — including one destined to play a major role in Renault’s later works. Niko becomes involved with numerous men throughout the narrative and also finds a steady male lover.
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968) by James Baldwin
Baldwin's second 1960s best seller has a similar premise to the first: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone focuses on Leo Proudhammer, a bisexual Black male artist involved with a white woman. The interactions within Leo's social circle provide the setting for exploring a range of racial and sexual themes.
Released just two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. — an event that was a major source of distress for the author — the novel fell short with critics, who felt that Baldwin's political persona was overshadowing his literary works.
Fire from Heaven (1969) by Mary Renault
Fire from Heaven is the first volume of Renault's Alexander trilogy, which chronicles the life and legacy of the preeminent Macedonian ruler. The novel focuses on Alexander's youth up to the assassination of his father, with considerable emphasis on his romance with his loyal confidant Hephaestion.
Renault's portrayal of Alexander's homosexual inclinations was considered refreshing at the time of the novel's release and paved the way for similar representations by other authors. Jeanne Reames, in her article "Alexander as Icon: Some Socio-Political Contexts of Alexander the Great in Twentieth-Century Fiction," describes the trilogy as "the best-known and most consistently reprinted" work of fiction about Alexander the Great.
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Ep 105 – The Thin Red Line – Guadalcanal But Make It Anti-War
Here is a war movie in which the director did not especially want to direct the war parts. Terrence Malick, a former philosophy professor and noted avoider of storyboards, made The Thin Red Line (1998) as an art film that happens to be set on Guadalcanal. The battle scenes are scored like tragedies, even when the Americans are winning. George Clooney shows up for approximately forty-five seconds with very long eyelashes.
We talk about James Jones, who fought at Guadalcanal, wrote the novel, and hated phoney war movies. We talk about Adrian Brody, who was promised a lead role and got two lines. We talk about Hans Zimmer composing six hours of music and losing the Oscar to Life is Beautiful.
A good episode. Episode 105, which means we are officially in our third year of podcasting, with no end in sight.
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Here you go Cubes the codes for the pioneers as crystal gems (+the wheelchair prop is from Gacha club and thinking of doing the crystal gems for the fire team)
