Lavender Lit 101 - International LGB Literature up to 1923
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International LGB Literature up to 1923
This is a collection of 30 American and European gay, lesbian, & bisexual writers from the 16th thru early 20th Centuries. Heavy on poetry -- including a rousing WWI anthem from 1915 -- with a few short stories and essays. Non-English works should be read where possible in their original language. - Summary by BellonaTimes (6 hr 34 min)
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Reviews
Wide-ranging, variegated compilation
Kerrigan McCarthy
There are close to thirty different works here, with many expected names, some new to me, and some unexpected entries- I was surprised to see the author (and preface) of Eminent Victorians here. The strength of this collection is also, in a way, its weakness. It is so wide-ranging, one feels a bit lost. Gertrude Stein jostles with Christopher Marlowe; romantic poetry with rather dry nonfiction. And the entries are not, generally, important or famous works- as one would expect to see in a "101" level text- and some are hardly "works" at all, but descriptions of famous authors by their "friends", and then translated by third parties- rather far removed from the work of the authors themselves. With such a wide net of names, genres, and even lengths of entries, the listener wants a guide to explain things, but the collection is not curated. Entries are in no logical order, but scattered about. Still, it is informative and, at times, quite moving. The idea is fine, but the execution flawed. Really, though, only one minute for Rimbaud?