34 - OITT1 january 2002 Social life or Ethan Green You an recall that Ethan Green is Q learning to meditate._§ It Is recommended that , seek out ®@® of inner peace. {Bars an IBIS DON sériiiiixfi . . Iii’. \»urvu~-nnoonou an It came um. Q s?."r"£‘.‘t;‘;‘.’.“9 vecrsvlatntness .AI\ 0 ‘é \ \‘*;‘x" Va?’ 1' ‘ I ,._——-:-.*_ wuw.nnnnaet.con\eIn-mninue-u'n.nr FULL com me» canton Fill Rial? ASTRM “IVS! "ll? Elli} 0l‘l|Bl‘- Ethan, however, _ has been seeking out martian cruise bars. 60511. Mill l.0ns1"I'I\in|( new seen mu we ms Be1‘re_aEcaLL Swami. - E ' Dun‘! Tllis is Yer! \ D nscute as e cecueaee @9293 zou. Efisovl it 30 IN Hill 0I'Il8l' Mostly llnialnilnus social life at Ethan Green SPLRSH , DOWN ‘ wvw.s1onawu.Liuu.co c-ic_onm-G rnnuexeonum Classics continued from page 25 if it sounds like a exceptionally gloomy tale, it is. But Baldwin’s language is often so exquisitely mournful that you’ll want to embrace it even as you angrily reject the narrator’s assertion that two men zogether cannot have a life. When Baldwin describes a “tenderness so painful I thought my heart would burst,” you feel it._He falters only in his rendering of “les folles” — men who call each other “she” and ream “like parrots.” It may be the narrator who confesses that the sight of such men gives him an unease akin to that of “monkeys eat- ing their own excrement,” but it’s hard not to suspect that it’s really the author’s internalized homophobia intruding into the text. While Baldwin didn’t care for the label “gay” — preferring to be ‘open to love, no matter what form or gender it might take,” he also didn’t hide his sexuality. His unclosetedness was especially brave given his religious upbringing in the Bronx (where he did some preaching as a teenager) and his passionate involvement in the Civil Rights movement (which was generally hostile towards homosexuals). in fact, black activists such as Eldridge Cleaver were among Baldwin’s lxarshest critics, calling him a “faggot” in print and claiming that the ‘v:,:no scenes in his novels were somehow evidence of hatred towards tucks. (A black nian getting fucked by a white man in the 1961 novel uotber Country was the ultimate sin.) Baldwin’s insistence on c - luding multiple sexualities in his fiction was probably what exclud- nim from speai«:ing at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. lost of Baldwin 5 adult life was spent in France, where he moved he late 40s to escape the racial bigotry of the States. He consid- .d himself a “con‘:muter,” though. not an expatriate. in an interview ; said, “Only white Americans can consider themselves to be expa- Vtes.” During liis early years in Paris, he fell in love with a Swiss . tlo. J. . . Howls GUY 3UPl’03_ED ‘ ' ' gr TO RIOGTSDNQEIIB If e I mnjI'nA1' Because You've Been in ATRMICE For 3 DAYS. You wet-en’1' even 88! cHN‘l§I1’e&'I luv To Sit Here MurleeKen_d imcms surevou , Dion’! E%PIre...'I'hopwe (ALE ' ea Your wmi who suy xou were ASTIM. Prodecnne ~AT A cuuiss FM’ on MAv.s.. ‘ I've BER: Srooniue Brain REL Princess Leia. I was xiemne. IVE NEVEI’ l_)¢l'I¢!\ MflHiRp.fi0Ml1H To POW‘ inr or-union. There ‘r in PD» rm ems LEF1 euro 1 rgevev-‘T sisnwnh... some mm Here ormie Home his menus save at- been nwtvsv ream mum-gm necerrr sin I . 1‘hetAiLKY‘III‘l? ulith QVGH ‘W emaomuz-or Ems-04-‘&'2l| man named Lucien; their relationship and the city’s sexual ambiance at the time helped set the tone for Gioz/anm"s Room. Though Lucien went on to marry, the novel was dedicated to him, and he and Baldwin remained involved in one way or another until Baldwin’s death. a Many critics — particularly straight ones, I’m guessing — consider Baldwin’s essays rather than his novels and plays to be his lasting contribution to literature. The Publishing Triangle, however, ranks Gz'ovanm"s Room second (behind Death in Venice) on their list of the 100 Best Lesbian and Gay Novels. The first time I read Gz'ozmmm"s Room I found the narrator a bit cold and flat, as if the black commuter Baldwin didn’t quite want to get under the expatriate David’s privi- leged white skin. Baldwin did say he purposefully excluded race from _ the story because he didn’t think he could “handle both propositions‘ in the same book.” _ This time around I appreciated Gioz2cmnz"s Room most for its ele~ gantly simple structure, and for the nuanced _way Baldwin negotiated “the stink of love,” the “lying little moralities” we invent out of fear. When asked what Gioz/cmm"s Room was about, Baldwin said it.wasn’t about homosexual love per se, but about “what happens to you if you’re afraid to love anybody.” Giovanni is a memorable character because, unlike David, he isn’t afraid to love. He’s the lusted—after provincial straight boy who turns out to be not so straight and much too vulnerable. David may need to flee Giovanni and all his “filthy lit- tle room” represents, but the reader who‘s a sucker for the tragically romantic will want to linger in the squalor, to slip between the sheets and hold him tight.