regshoe

A Problem in Greek Ethics and A Problem in Modern Ethics by John Addington Symonds (1883 and 1891 respectively). I've been meaning for a while to do some proper reading of these late nineteenth-century works on homosexuality, and I thought these looked a bit more accessible than e.g. Edward Prime-Stevenson's 700-page brick. They were indeed very interesting stuff. The first is a study of the history, nature and development in Ancient Greek society of what Symonds calls paiderastia, which could probably have done with more of a classical background than I have to appreciate properly, but which provided some illuminating context for some of the twentieth-century books I've already read—there's so much Greek stuff in books like Maurice, etc. The second is an overview of contemporary attitudes to and writing on homosexuality, divided into various different contexts—e.g. legal, medical, anthropological and what Symonds amusingly calls 'vulgar errors'. As a summary of a diverse range of opinions and perspectives it's fascinating. I especially enjoyed the account of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs's views in the chapter headed 'Literature—Polemical', and Symonds's own views and arguments—much more sympathetic than a lot of those he quotes and discusses, and his criticism of the more ignorant and bizarre of these was enjoyable. He concludes with a list of 'suggestions in relation to law and education', which make an admirable progressive argument to read from the 1890s.

I've also been reading more about Symonds on Rictor Norton's website. He is a fascinating and significant figure, well worth knowing more about.

Pink Sugar by O. Douglas (Anna Masterton Buchan) (1924). I really enjoyed some things about this and other things about it really irritated me, so it's an interesting one overall! It follows Kirsty Gilmour, who after a youth of being dragged on constant travels by her stepmother takes a house in rural Tweeddale and settles down into her first stable home. She's joined there by an old aunt and by three children, relatives of a friend of Kirsty's and in need of somewhere to stay while their widowed father deals with his grief by travelling. We also meet Kirsty's new neighbours, of various characters, social classes and professions, in some detail. The book lays great stress on the importance to Kirsty of finally having a home of her own, and I really liked this aspect of the story, relationships between characters, places and the idea of home being one of my favourite things in fiction. I can see what oursin meant recently about houses in Douglas's books (I mean, the place is called 'Little Phantasy'—hardly subtle, is it—but I think it's an enjoyable fantasy!). I also enjoyed the relationship between Kirsty and the local clergyman's sister Rebecca as a portrayal of a believable antagonism between two characters who are both sympathetic, and who I both liked, although I thought the resolution of their conflict left something to be desired.

As for the things I didn't like—first, the idea that people who dislike and don't want to be around cruel children (I don't say 'badly-behaved'; that's not the issue) are being unreasonable. I actually thought Bill's 'badness' seemed more important than it was apparently supposed to be—I kept thinking some big dramatic thing would happen and some significant point would be made, but it never came to anything. More importantly, the book's main romance went from mildly annoying to very annoying by the end, and managed to sour quite a lot of what was otherwise good about the story. In the middle there's a bit where Kirsty meets a woman who lives happily unmarried with another woman and has a rich and full life and has a bit of a revelation; I couldn't help feeling that in a better book (or at least one I'd have liked better) that would have been foreshadowing the ending, but as it is it was just sort of there.