Top 100 Gay Novel: Half-Life by Aaron Krach
Half-life is not an easy story, above all for who, like me, has suffered a loss of a dear one: how can Adam behave in that way? The book follows two weeks in the life of Adam (starting the 6 of June 1999, 6/6/99, you can up turn the date and it is always 6699, it's just a case?), a 18 years old gay boy from Angelito, an imaginary suburb town of Los Angeles.Adam being gay is not the main issue in the story, and this maybe makes this book different from the usual coming of age stories; Adam has not hidden secrets, unbearable pains or vengeance feelings. Adam is gay, but so is his best friend Dart and his friend Fran, who has two "moms" and a girlfriend. Adam is gay and it seems that no one has a problem with it... and maybe this is the problem: Adam craves the attention of his family, but they are inhexistent. When Adam's mother divorced from her husband, she apparently divorced also from her children and now they see her every other weekends, if she is not too taken with her work and with her new up-class lifestyle and husband. Adam's father is depressed, he didn't expect his life to be like that, he loves his children, but now that they start to be independent, he seems to not have any more reason to live. He is clearly in a down fall phase and it seems that only Adam sees that.
Adam wants to be a teen, he has the right to be a teen, but in this situation it's not possible for him; his teen years are running away, high school is near to end and adulthood is around the corner. All his friends are craving to reach the point, all of them but Adam. And to make the thing worst, Adam meets Jeff, 38 years old cop and gay. Where Adam is older than his age, Jeff is younger. He realized later in his life what he wanted to be, and so now he is still in a growing phase, he is still learning from life and he is still building his future.
There are big life changing events in the book, but it seems like they are in an undertone; it's like if you are waiting for something to happen, time is hanging up, but when something happens, it's not yet the trigger event, and so you go on waiting for the next one. In the end nothing happens and all happens... since what it seems big from a near perspective, in the big game of life is only a little piece without importance.Half-life is more a novel about details than the telling of the "great discovery" of Adam; Adam doesn't need to grow, he just did that. Maybe this is the most unsettling thing of the book... the reader is waiting for something that will change Adam, and instead all happens around him, and he stays alike; he has so much protective layers around him that nothing apparently arms him... but then, it's only two insignificant weeks... a great loss, graduation, a new lover... for everyone else but Adam, changing life events, for Adam a reason more to add a protective layer around him. What, or who, or when he will let go all his layers you didn't know.
Amazon: Half-Life: A Novel
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1555838545
ISBN-13: 978-1555838546
Aaron Krach's In the Spotlight post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/761505.html
Half-life is not an easy story, above all for who, like me, has suffered a loss of a dear one: how can Adam behave in that way? The book follows two weeks in the life of Adam (starting the 6 of June 1999, 6/6/99, you can up turn the date and it is always 6699, it's just a case?), a 18 years old gay boy from Angelito, an imaginary suburb town of Los Angeles.
There are big life changing events in the book, but it seems like they are in an undertone; it's like if you are waiting for something to happen, time is hanging up, but when something happens, it's not yet the trigger event, and so you go on waiting for the next one. In the end nothing happens and all happens... since what it seems big from a near perspective, in the big game of life is only a little piece without importance.
Moor Love by Carol Lynne: Caleb is a young american student in England for one year to work in the sheep farm of Jon, an older man. Caleb is gay and out but he thinks that for one year he will see no action given that he will live in an isolated village in the English country.He doesn't know that Jon chose him right for that reason. Jon is gay but he has never acted on his desire; when he was still a teen, he said the truth to his father when they were in car, and the result was an accident, which killed Jon's father, and left Jon mute and limp. Caleb is a young and friendly guy, with no real problem in his life. When he has the chance to be with Jon he jumps to the occasion, since Jon, even if inexperienced, his kind and gentle, the lover of his dreams. Even if Caleb is younger, he is the leader in this relationship and so the age's difference is not so strong.
Yin Yang by Sedonia Guillone: Basho and Timothy were best friend when they were child, and then lovers. They were happy and young, and life seemed to smile to them. But then Basho returned to Japan with his family for a visit and instead they were all killed by the yakuza which has an open debt with Basho's father. Fifteen years later Timothy is still mourning Basho's death, and tired to find his lover in other man, he decides to go to Japan to finally say goodbye to his lost lover. I like this story since, even if pretty short, is very tender and romantic. The few scenes we read about young Basho and Timothy are the best in all the story; it would be quite interesting to read more about them at that age.
Kingsoak by Willa Okati: Willa Okati confirms her tendency to recreate fantasy story in a modern world. Matthew is a quite simple and nerdy guy who happens to go through a dangerous neighborhood, Kingsoak. There are quite a bit of metropolitan legends on Kingsoak, and no one recommend to Matthew to be alone in that place. But one day is car breaks up and he needs to venture alone in the labyrinth of this unknown territory. For the first time in his life Matthew feels free and with his great surprise no one seems to arm him. Instead he finds Gale, a very handsome and interesting guy, who from the first time they meet, says that he will take Matthew with him and for him alone. The story is very romantic, almost a fairy tale.
Under the Law by J.P. Bowie: In the swinging London of 1973, Peter is a night club singer with the dream to work in the West End theaters and John is a police inspector. Even if the time period maybe is not so open on gay couples, John and Peter in this story setting 25 years ago, seem to have a simpler life than today. They meet and they like each other, and they simple love, without the tension of AIDS or problems raised by the people around them. Truth, in a story so short, we can't know if John will have problem with his work, and even if Peter seems to be out, we don't know if his family knows about him. Anyway I like how smooth and joyful their relationship blossoms and develops, and both the characters are very nice.
Bound Together by Jane Davitt: Simon and Chris were both betrayed by the same man, Luke. Simon is over his relationship with the man, and instead Chris is still fresh from the break up. Plus Chris was also a carpenter who made some work for Luke and he wasn't paid for his work. So he stole a book from Luke, a book he thought that Simon could be interested in. But Simon is more interested in Chris than in the book, even if he probably doesn't want to take advanced of the young guy as Luke did. But Chris is not so naivee as Simon thinks, and maybe the sexual agreement Simon is thinking is a more interesting bargain for Chris. Both Simon and Chris are very "English" characters, probably the more stick to the tile of this anthology; Simon is the classical intellectual type, with a kinky but not much side, and Chris a young man, with no problem in express his sexuality, but with a gentle soul easy to be wound.
Bull Rider by Jade Buchanan: Wes is just arrived from London to Canada to work at the radio station in an English army base. The first night his friends bring him in a country night club he meets "Bull", a former bull rider with an impressive body. Bull is fast and ready to propose Wes, and since Wes is usually the type to not draw attention, he is pleased by the fact that a very handsome man wants to pick him up. The story is almost all two sex scenes, Wes and Bull move fast from first acquaintance to an intimate encounter. There is not much to read about the two men, rather than this is a case of opposites attract, since Wes is a cute but small man, with a shy behavior, and instead Bull is a man to his name, big and sturdy, and with no problem to take what he sees and likes.
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Moor Love by Carol Lynne: Caleb is a young american student in England for one year to work in the sheep farm of Jon, an older man. Caleb is gay and out but he thinks that for one year he will see no action given that he will live in an isolated village in the English country.He doesn't know that Jon chose him right for that reason. Jon is gay but he has never acted on his desire; when he was still a teen, he said the truth to his father when they were in car, and the result was an accident, which killed Jon's father, and left Jon mute and limp. Caleb is a young and friendly guy, with no real problem in his life. When he has the chance to be with Jon he jumps to the occasion, since Jon, even if inexperienced, his kind and gentle, the lover of his dreams. Even if Caleb is younger, he is the leader in this relationship and so the age's difference is not so strong. 
I was not sure if add also this one to the list of Gay Romance Movies... actually the romance in it is only a little part of the story which is more an horror... but well, I liked Matthew Montgomery in this role, so, you are warned, if you want to see the movie don't tell that I didn't tell you! 
I was not sure if add also this one to the list of Gay Romance Movies... actually the romance in it is only a little part of the story which is more an horror... but well, I liked Matthew Montgomery in this role, so, you are warned, if you want to see the movie don't tell that I didn't tell you! 
