The City and the Pillar: A Novel (utgåvan 2003)

Not one of my favorites by Vidal, and can [today] seem rather outdated, but is still important as the groundbreaking first novel featuring "masculine" homosexuals. This is the book that effectively got Vidal blacklisted for several years. ( )

I'm honestly not entirely sure what I thought of this story of a young man navigating the homosexual subculture of New York and Hollywood in the forties. I didn't care much for the style, though Vidal does get character sketches across pretty adroitly. I didn't find any of the characters particularly interesting, but the story was still compelling somehow. The whole thing is quite bleak without being depressing exactly, and there seems to be this suggestion that no two human beings ever have any chance of connecting because they will never be honest enough with themselves to do so. Which, meh. ( )

I liked this book. The straightforward prose is misleadingly simple, and hides a interesting structure and some good character development. Although Jim is our protagonist, we never get a really good sense of him as a character, and I think that is deliberate. Instead, the side characters are filled with details and dimensions that end up teaching us about Jim.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-city-and-pillar-by-gore-vidal-1948.htm... ] ( )

There is some question whether the analysis of the success or failure of a novel should take into account the times in which it was written. A novel that was ground-breaking and earth-shattering in its time may only be a decent read now. Is it still great for what it did in the past? Or should it only be evaluated for what it is today?

Such is the struggle with The City and the Pillar, Gore Vidal’s story of a young man’s discovery of himself as a gay individual. There is no doubt that, in the 40’s, this was a shocking story. Its frank discussions of sex between men (well, not that frank in today’s culture, but definitely not unapologetic) was not exactly what people were used to hearing about back then. However, today most readers will no longer be shocked. It will not be a shock that so many leading men in Hollywood are gay, it will not be a shock that there is a gay lifestyle in New York, it will not be a shock that there is a gay sub-culture in the armed forces, and it will not be a shock that there are a lot of gay people out there.

So, to stand the test of time, this novel has to be evaluated on the same criteria used to determine if any novel is good – does this tell a compelling story about compelling people?

And the answer is no and yes. Without the shock value, the first part of this novel struggles under Gore Vidal’s skill. He tells the story so simply and elegantly, that the modern reader is tempted to greet it with a “ho-hum” and the desire to move on. However, Vidal uses a device toward the end of the novel that brings the pieces together (and brings the story to its conclusion) in a way that piques the readers interest. Jim (the primary subject of the tale – the young man learning who he is), after almost dying and then finding the situation will lead to his discharge, sends out letters to all the people with whom he has been involved (in various ways). In this way, we learn their history after Jim has left, and Vidal also brings them back together for the conclusion.

All told, this means we have a well-written story that has, indeed, suffered some from changing times. The shock is not there. But a decent story still exists. ( )

A classic novel of the gay experience during the post-Depression era, The City and the Pillar deserves praise for its candid portrayal of homosexuality during a time when being gay was considered shameful and immoral. The book originally appeared in 1948, making it contemporary fiction rather than a historical novel.

Read the full review at http://fuzzyhistory.com/2008/09/18/the-city-and-the-pillar-by-gore-vidal/ ( )