LGBT Classics Ep 4: The 1930's

episode four of my lgbt classics series, discussing the history of lgbt literature and authors. today i talk about the 1930's which seems to be a period of time where happy endings for gay characters became mainstream! come find out about some interesting books this pride month.

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[sick_icarus]

Thank you for making this series. I hope to see you cover the 40s and 50s someday!

[OliviasCatastrophe]

I always find it so entertaining when I come across love triangles / love squares in classics because we act like it is such an overused trope that YA introduced but it has truly been around for ages really. It's nice that in the 1930s the characters were finally able to start getting their happy endings. Goodbye to berlin sounds good and yes, hate can start in small spaces and grow. It's so scary.

[raoullupin]

It's awesome to see a Scottish booktuber.
Surprisingly, I haven't read many LGBT books - i'll be sure to check out these.

[lettersfromkinraddie]

I picked up Goodbye to Berlin without realising what a hidden gem it really is haha I'm so eager to pick this up now!! Loving this series so far!!

[thearchive]

I'm glad you liked Isherwood he doesn't get talked about enough on Booktube. I have Christopher And His Kind myself and I'm hoping to read it later this month (it's on my bookcase....somewhere)
I'd really recommend A Single Man too; it's a belter.
Great video as always Connor :-)

[MargaretPinard]

The 20s and 30s are so fascinating...but I end up saying that about most periods I listen to people wax lyrical about! Great video :)

[AdrianPica-Borjas]

This series was great, thank you for making it!

[meropale]

I've bought a couple of books by Isherwood *because* of their relation to Cabaret.

[thebookbella]

This is so cool! I haven't heard of any of these.

[literarylion]

This is such a great series. When I was younger and still figuring things out I was desperate for books. The only one I ever managed to find was Annie on my Mind.

[FilipeHeath]

never heard of any of these but thats the best part about this series.
im keeping my eye on goodbye to berlin.

[AbiofPellinor]

As always this has added more books onto my tbr! Especially now that I'm picking up more classics! I didn't realise queer had been used for the LGBTQ+ community so early!

[goodstrongwords]

Love this series! Goodbye to Berlin sounds particularly interesting, not just for the representation, but also for the historical context of the story.

[LarryHasOpinions]

very interesting about queer being used to say gay already in such an old book, i thought it was a lot more recent than that, nice vid Connor :-)

[OverstuffedShelf]

This is a really interesting series! I haven't heard of any of these, which makes you think about what is canonized in western lit.

[TheresesNook]

Omg, i agree that quotation marks makes such a difference! I remember reading a book with no punctuation and quotation marks and it was horrible 💀

And better Angel sounds super interesting!

[sampurnasaha]

all these sound good, but Goodbye to Berlin definitely caught my attention :)

[DaisyXMachina]

I've read Christopher Isherwood before but can't remember what it was (may have been in a collection). Anyway, love this series!

[jivanvasant]

ISHERWOOD AS EXEMPLARY ROLE MODEL
In March 1929, Isherwood joined W.H. Auden in Berlin, where Auden was spending a post-graduate year. His primary motivation for making the trip was the sexual freedom that Weimar Berlin offered, as he later wrote: "To Christopher, Berlin meant Boys." The ten-day visit changed Isherwood's life. He began an affair with a German boy whom he met at a cellar bar called The Cosy Corner.
While living in Hollywood, California, Isherwood befriended Truman Capote, an up-and-coming young writer who would be influenced by Isherwood's Berlin Stories. In a 1949 letter to Gore Vidal, Isherwood discussed happy gay relationships like his own.
On Valentine's Day 1953, at the age of 48, he met the teenager Don Bachardy among a group of friends on the beach at Santa Monica. Reports of Bachardy's age at the time vary, but Bachardy later said, "At the time I was probably 16."[33] In fact, he was 18. Despite the age difference, this meeting began a partnership that, though interrupted by affairs and separations, continued until the end of Isherwood's life.

[Catsandcamera]

I've seen the Christopher and His Kind movie but not read the book