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Cody: Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada
By turns funny, romantic, erotic, and sad, this evocative novel brilliantly recreates the landscape of late adolescence, when friendships seem eternal and loves reincarnate. Set in Arkansas but first published in Amsterdam under the title Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada, Cody quickly won praise from reviewers and readers across Europe and North America and caught the attention of William S. Burroughs and other writers who befriended the young author (Hale began writing the novel when he was sixteen). The first edition of the book was immediately banned in the United Kingdom during Margaret Thatcher's Operation Tiger. Today, Clicking Beat remains current and continues to be unique in both coming of age literature and the gay literary canon.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
9 people are currently reading
882 people want to read
About the author
Keith Hale
53 books38 followersKeith Hale grew up in central Arkansas and Waco, Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Following a five-year career as a journalist in Austin, Amsterdam, and Little Rock, Hale earned a Ph.D. in literature from Purdue and took a position teaching British and Philippine literature at the University of Guam. Hale writes both fiction and scholarly works including his groundbreaking novel Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada (Cody), first published in the Netherlands, and Friends and Apostles, his edition of Rupert Brooke's letters published by Yale University Press, London.
Keith's books are available from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, Scribd, Odilo, Gardners, and OverDrive. Readers may follow new releases on the Watersgreen House website or Twitter account (watersgreenhaus).
Keith's books are available from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, Scribd, Odilo, Gardners, and OverDrive. Readers may follow new releases on the Watersgreen House website or Twitter account (watersgreenhaus).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
February 6, 2024
✰ 3.5 stars ✰
“Remember friends like brothers, when friends were what we lived for. I remember friends always there, to live your life with. Then it was you and me ‘cause we were in this crazy wreck together, that being what we had.”
And something within me awakened and replied, “It was everything.”
Whether it's 1983 or 2003 or 2023, the feelings of the human heart remain the same. No matter the time, these feelings are as stubborn and ever-present as is how relationships and friendships evolve and dissolve over the passage of time. Published in 1983, Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada: Cody is a heartbreaking exploration of what it's like having to deal with feelings of forbidden love, unrequited love, first love, and a certain kind of love lost forever. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“It occurred to me that to be lying in bed beside the person you love, and feel alone, was the most aching kind of loneliness, worse actually than being alone, although I wouldn’t have wished Cody out of my bed for anything.
Even when they made me miserable, I was thankful for my blessings.”
As a permanent member of the unrequited love club, the inclusion of Cody to the title is not lost on me, despite the fact that it was done many years later to the original story. It feels justified for how pivotal a role Cody's appearance played in the narrator, seventeen-year-0ld Trotsky's life. Trotsky who is in love with his new best friend - 'there was something about him which made you feel good, made you feel alive, just being with him' - and wishes more than anything that his feelings could be reciprocated, despite how Cody never claims to be anything but straight. 🥺 'But at the same time I feel you know me pretty well. I think you knew me even before we said a word to one another — that’s what’s so crazy.'
Their friendship is built upon spiritual discussions, and fiercely content energetic happiness of thrills, while never losing that free-spirited vibrancy that reflected in this joie de vivre they both found in one another - a kindred of being bodhisattvas, a seductive soulmate, a best friend. And when he's unable to have his affection noticed, he finds love with his younger brother's best friend, fourteen-year-old Mark, one who has much more sexual experience, but is still undoubtedly happily attracted to Trotsky. 🫂
Being with Mark is a great source of comfort for Trotsky, not only to be able to physically express his desires for someone who returns his affections, but to better understand what he is feeling for Cody - and give himself a bit more closure into it. '...full of movement, full of life. Three-fourths my age and stealing my heart, you are driving me off the edge and I love it.' Mark had such a brightness and kindness and even innocence to him, despite how much more prowess he had in bed. He brought out the kind and nurturing side of Trotsky - one which he didn't hesitate to shower him with, despite the restraints he had in openly showing his emotions - the fear of their obvious age-gap, yet so content and happy in his arms. 🥹 It's this heart-wrenching dynamic where you feel so strongly for someone else, not quite knowing if it will ever be something real, and then to have this other soul, who is warm and willing to touch, and knowing in your heart that it is real and still wondering, if it is enough. 💔💔
“What does it feel like, looking like you?” I asked. He froze for a moment in surprise, then honked his horn with a sudden slap at the wheel.
“Trotsky, I expect this face stirs more emotion in you than it does in me. I just think of it as a very special gift --- But every gift carries with it a responsibility.”
About a third into the book, there is enough foreshadowing that hints that it is not going to be a happy ending. 😟 Did it better help prepare me to brace myself for what is to come? No, for the sadness that gripped me over the loss of what could have been cannot even compare to the grief that prevails when it hits so unexpectedly. I felt sad and hopeless and helpless. How this is known as a gay classic, banned upon its publication and even widely praised is startling, but oddly fitting. For the way that Keith Hale describes Trotsky's lingering feelings - his conflicting attraction for Cody, his growing love for Mark, his ever-present searching for what is the meaning of life does pull you in. 'You can hug an image until it bursts apart, you can tie a friend in knots around your heart in hopes he’ll stop the bleeding.' 😔 The writing has this soft but strange cadence to it that probably won't speak to everyone, but if you give it time, you'll start to feel all the various relationships come to light - that I couldn't quite anticipate that through all this tender loving and generous kindness and grappling heartache - there was still so much more I was not prepared for.
For it is such a bittersweet portrayal of being in love for the first time and not knowing how to go about it - should I still pine for the best friend who is unsure of whether or not he'll ever feel the same way, or the one who returns those feelings - even if our love is dangerous, he makes me happy? Is that not enough? 'Perhaps there would be something spiritual about our friendship. Perhaps love was a chemical reaction to the spinning of the world.' 🥺And friendships forged once, can they be kept? How close a friend can one be, before the passage of time drifts them apart? That magnetic pulse that Trotsky clung to - that he fed off of whenever he was with Cody - Cody that embodied life - was it worth it? It is a crippling thought that is proven in the conclusion. It's that tender, but realistic and heartbreaking exploration of these dynamics that reels you in - one that catapults into an explosive backstory of political views and social prejudice that eventually overtakes the love story in such an alarming fashion that I teared up. 😢😢
“With the look Cody gave me, I could tell the tables were about to be turned, and I was the one who’d soon be grilled.
“And what’s it like for you, Trotsky, being my friend but wanting to be more? When you look at me, does it make you happy or unhappy?”
I shifted my gaze to the puddles forming on the courts.
“There’s not a face in the world I’d rather look at.”
The ending is sad - angsty and downright depressing' there's no other way of sugarcoating it - I teared up. And yet, I still made it till the end to appreciate how the author brought out the angst to the core - he really did not hold back in making you feel everything. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 It was a sucker punch - you don't see it coming till it did, and I hurt. I hurt at the words that were used to capture that heart. I hurt for the unfairness of the cruelty in this world, I hurt for the anger I felt and I hurt for those beautiful moments that will never come to pass - as fleeting and forgotten as the friendships upon which they hoped it would last. The poetry at the end was such an impressive, if not heart-wrenching inclusion - one that reflected so deeply Trotsky and Cody's friendship that once was. It's not only the moment but the lingering thoughts that follow, sadness of longing and loneliness where Nada really comes to light - it is nowhere - the nothingness of being and existing that Trotsky can never reclaim the adolescence of his youth. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“It was that gripping fear
that even the closest of friends grow apart.”
There are some books you'll probably never read again; it doesn't necessarily mean you'll quite forget the moment you read them. And much like a forgotten friendship or a lost love, there will always remain that piece of your heart that will always remember those precious memories shared with the ones you loved. 😞
“Remember friends like brothers, when friends were what we lived for. I remember friends always there, to live your life with. Then it was you and me ‘cause we were in this crazy wreck together, that being what we had.”
And something within me awakened and replied, “It was everything.”
Whether it's 1983 or 2003 or 2023, the feelings of the human heart remain the same. No matter the time, these feelings are as stubborn and ever-present as is how relationships and friendships evolve and dissolve over the passage of time. Published in 1983, Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada: Cody is a heartbreaking exploration of what it's like having to deal with feelings of forbidden love, unrequited love, first love, and a certain kind of love lost forever. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“It occurred to me that to be lying in bed beside the person you love, and feel alone, was the most aching kind of loneliness, worse actually than being alone, although I wouldn’t have wished Cody out of my bed for anything.
Even when they made me miserable, I was thankful for my blessings.”
As a permanent member of the unrequited love club, the inclusion of Cody to the title is not lost on me, despite the fact that it was done many years later to the original story. It feels justified for how pivotal a role Cody's appearance played in the narrator, seventeen-year-0ld Trotsky's life. Trotsky who is in love with his new best friend - 'there was something about him which made you feel good, made you feel alive, just being with him' - and wishes more than anything that his feelings could be reciprocated, despite how Cody never claims to be anything but straight. 🥺 'But at the same time I feel you know me pretty well. I think you knew me even before we said a word to one another — that’s what’s so crazy.'
Their friendship is built upon spiritual discussions, and fiercely content energetic happiness of thrills, while never losing that free-spirited vibrancy that reflected in this joie de vivre they both found in one another - a kindred of being bodhisattvas, a seductive soulmate, a best friend. And when he's unable to have his affection noticed, he finds love with his younger brother's best friend, fourteen-year-old Mark, one who has much more sexual experience, but is still undoubtedly happily attracted to Trotsky. 🫂
Being with Mark is a great source of comfort for Trotsky, not only to be able to physically express his desires for someone who returns his affections, but to better understand what he is feeling for Cody - and give himself a bit more closure into it. '...full of movement, full of life. Three-fourths my age and stealing my heart, you are driving me off the edge and I love it.' Mark had such a brightness and kindness and even innocence to him, despite how much more prowess he had in bed. He brought out the kind and nurturing side of Trotsky - one which he didn't hesitate to shower him with, despite the restraints he had in openly showing his emotions - the fear of their obvious age-gap, yet so content and happy in his arms. 🥹 It's this heart-wrenching dynamic where you feel so strongly for someone else, not quite knowing if it will ever be something real, and then to have this other soul, who is warm and willing to touch, and knowing in your heart that it is real and still wondering, if it is enough. 💔💔
“What does it feel like, looking like you?” I asked. He froze for a moment in surprise, then honked his horn with a sudden slap at the wheel.
“Trotsky, I expect this face stirs more emotion in you than it does in me. I just think of it as a very special gift --- But every gift carries with it a responsibility.”
About a third into the book, there is enough foreshadowing that hints that it is not going to be a happy ending. 😟 Did it better help prepare me to brace myself for what is to come? No, for the sadness that gripped me over the loss of what could have been cannot even compare to the grief that prevails when it hits so unexpectedly. I felt sad and hopeless and helpless. How this is known as a gay classic, banned upon its publication and even widely praised is startling, but oddly fitting. For the way that Keith Hale describes Trotsky's lingering feelings - his conflicting attraction for Cody, his growing love for Mark, his ever-present searching for what is the meaning of life does pull you in. 'You can hug an image until it bursts apart, you can tie a friend in knots around your heart in hopes he’ll stop the bleeding.' 😔 The writing has this soft but strange cadence to it that probably won't speak to everyone, but if you give it time, you'll start to feel all the various relationships come to light - that I couldn't quite anticipate that through all this tender loving and generous kindness and grappling heartache - there was still so much more I was not prepared for.
For it is such a bittersweet portrayal of being in love for the first time and not knowing how to go about it - should I still pine for the best friend who is unsure of whether or not he'll ever feel the same way, or the one who returns those feelings - even if our love is dangerous, he makes me happy? Is that not enough? 'Perhaps there would be something spiritual about our friendship. Perhaps love was a chemical reaction to the spinning of the world.' 🥺And friendships forged once, can they be kept? How close a friend can one be, before the passage of time drifts them apart? That magnetic pulse that Trotsky clung to - that he fed off of whenever he was with Cody - Cody that embodied life - was it worth it? It is a crippling thought that is proven in the conclusion. It's that tender, but realistic and heartbreaking exploration of these dynamics that reels you in - one that catapults into an explosive backstory of political views and social prejudice that eventually overtakes the love story in such an alarming fashion that I teared up. 😢😢
“With the look Cody gave me, I could tell the tables were about to be turned, and I was the one who’d soon be grilled.
“And what’s it like for you, Trotsky, being my friend but wanting to be more? When you look at me, does it make you happy or unhappy?”
I shifted my gaze to the puddles forming on the courts.
“There’s not a face in the world I’d rather look at.”
The ending is sad - angsty and downright depressing' there's no other way of sugarcoating it - I teared up. And yet, I still made it till the end to appreciate how the author brought out the angst to the core - he really did not hold back in making you feel everything. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 It was a sucker punch - you don't see it coming till it did, and I hurt. I hurt at the words that were used to capture that heart. I hurt for the unfairness of the cruelty in this world, I hurt for the anger I felt and I hurt for those beautiful moments that will never come to pass - as fleeting and forgotten as the friendships upon which they hoped it would last. The poetry at the end was such an impressive, if not heart-wrenching inclusion - one that reflected so deeply Trotsky and Cody's friendship that once was. It's not only the moment but the lingering thoughts that follow, sadness of longing and loneliness where Nada really comes to light - it is nowhere - the nothingness of being and existing that Trotsky can never reclaim the adolescence of his youth. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“It was that gripping fear
that even the closest of friends grow apart.”
There are some books you'll probably never read again; it doesn't necessarily mean you'll quite forget the moment you read them. And much like a forgotten friendship or a lost love, there will always remain that piece of your heart that will always remember those precious memories shared with the ones you loved. 😞
Read
November 8, 2011Cody, or as its author wanted to title it, and as he did in the reprint edition, Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada, is at the same time one of the most easy and most difficult novel I have read. Easy because you fall in love for all the characters, Trotsky, Cody, Mark, Freddy, Christian, Flipping, Sarah, all of them so real and simple that they can be your high school mate, your neighbour, your brother; easy because, despite being written in an almost immaculate style (if not perfect at all), it’s not boring or pedantic, and it calls both to young adult than adult readers. Difficult because it’s one of the saddest novel I have ever read, but it’s a strange type of “sad”, I’m not crying, as often do when I’m moved by a novel, it’s more like clamp around the heart, a feeling I think will remain long after I put down this book.
I knew this was not an happily ever after novel, I was not expecting it, but the range of reviews run from nice to awesome, so I had to read it. And really I’m happy, it was worth the experience; plus for most of the book, even if knowing, I had not the feeling of imminent drama, the mood was really in line with the story, they were teenagers we were talking about, and as teenagers they behaved. In some point slightly funny, in some other very romantic and sometime even a little bit sexy, I really forgot that I was supposed to wait for a tragedy to strike.
Trotsky is in love with Cody, but Cody is straight. This is not an unrequited love, since even if Trotsky is not able to realize his love for Cody, they nevertheless build a strong relationship, something that is for sure more than friendship. Plus Cody is really the epitome of best friend, someone that will be always there when you need you most, and that will arrive to do everything to bring you comfort. Something that I like of Cody is that I think he was confident of his sexuality, and so not “threatened” by the fact that someone could be gay; even before Trotsky, Cody had a bond with Christian, who is openly gay, and he doesn’t question him or Flipping, Christian’s friend and maybe lover. The bond between Trotsky and Cody is strong, a bond probably stronger than love.
Trotsky will find love in the arms of Mark, his little brother’s best friend. Mark is 14 years old against Trotsky 17, but he is way more experienced on a sexual level. It’s Mark that seduces Trotsky, and it’s at the same time an healing and learning sex. Healing because it allows Trotsky to balance his relationship with Cody, learning because it gives him a piece of him that was essential for his growing, something he would not be able to find with Cody. Both Cody than Mark are essential to Trotsky’s development into a man and I agree with another reviewer who was hoping for Keith Hale to write a novel about an adult Trotsky; sadly I don’t think it’s in the stars and to whom wants to know what happened to Trotsky, I think the only way is to imagine, he is maybe a poet, he is maybe a teacher, he is maybe an activist… in a way or the other I think he made his own all the teachings he received from Christian, Mark, Freddy, Cody and all the wonderful soul he met the year when he was seventeen.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/141965991X/?...
I knew this was not an happily ever after novel, I was not expecting it, but the range of reviews run from nice to awesome, so I had to read it. And really I’m happy, it was worth the experience; plus for most of the book, even if knowing, I had not the feeling of imminent drama, the mood was really in line with the story, they were teenagers we were talking about, and as teenagers they behaved. In some point slightly funny, in some other very romantic and sometime even a little bit sexy, I really forgot that I was supposed to wait for a tragedy to strike.
Trotsky is in love with Cody, but Cody is straight. This is not an unrequited love, since even if Trotsky is not able to realize his love for Cody, they nevertheless build a strong relationship, something that is for sure more than friendship. Plus Cody is really the epitome of best friend, someone that will be always there when you need you most, and that will arrive to do everything to bring you comfort. Something that I like of Cody is that I think he was confident of his sexuality, and so not “threatened” by the fact that someone could be gay; even before Trotsky, Cody had a bond with Christian, who is openly gay, and he doesn’t question him or Flipping, Christian’s friend and maybe lover. The bond between Trotsky and Cody is strong, a bond probably stronger than love.
Trotsky will find love in the arms of Mark, his little brother’s best friend. Mark is 14 years old against Trotsky 17, but he is way more experienced on a sexual level. It’s Mark that seduces Trotsky, and it’s at the same time an healing and learning sex. Healing because it allows Trotsky to balance his relationship with Cody, learning because it gives him a piece of him that was essential for his growing, something he would not be able to find with Cody. Both Cody than Mark are essential to Trotsky’s development into a man and I agree with another reviewer who was hoping for Keith Hale to write a novel about an adult Trotsky; sadly I don’t think it’s in the stars and to whom wants to know what happened to Trotsky, I think the only way is to imagine, he is maybe a poet, he is maybe a teacher, he is maybe an activist… in a way or the other I think he made his own all the teachings he received from Christian, Mark, Freddy, Cody and all the wonderful soul he met the year when he was seventeen.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/141965991X/?...
July 13, 2012
I'm surprised at the reviews I've read here, notwithstanding every reader's right to their opinion. There seems to be a consensus that Trotsky, Cody, and their friends are too erudite for seventeen-year-olds in Arkansas in the 1980s. And yet at least half those I called good friends at my school wrote existentialist poetry, could quote whole passages of Sartre, read Hesse (as well as James Bond for light relief), and discussed endlessly the point of life (or lack thereof). So much the the review of the reviews. Hale's story undoubtedly belongs in the ranks of other gay masterpieces.
November 15, 2025
[This novel was at the centre of the attempt by the UK conservative government in 1984 to limit the amount of 'Gay' books available. In truth it was in response to the UK novel 'The Milkman's On his Way' by David Rees they wanted to ban but, as that was impossible (see my full explanation after my review), they demonised this novel though in the end it was not part of the prosecution nor was it ever banned in the UK - the GR synopsis is wrong on that point.]
My editions of this novel, like many other editions, is garlanded with much praise including the following from William S. Burroughs:
"A haunting vision of young friendship shattered by an outrageously cruel world. Keith Hale's novel aches with adolescent first love. It is tender, funny and true."
Which is over egging the pudding by a great deal. What, for me, is extraordinary about this novel is how reticent it is compared to the 1982 UK 'The Milkman's on His Way' by David Rees which was far more relaxed, open and direct in dealing with a story about gay teenagers. It is also far better written, though I may be prejudiced. I didn't attend High School in America and have always found the America obsession with High School hard to comprehend and a genre I don't care for. I also found the obsession in the novel with Eastern mysticism, the novels of Herman Hesse and French existentialism a la Satre and Camus and the meaning of life tiresome and frankly dated. Does anyone still read Hesse in English translation - he strikes me as hopelessly stuck in a hippy time warp. I also think that having deaths of one character in car crashes and two in an arson house fire is just too much.
I found the relationship between 'Trotsky' and Cody evasive when it wasn't full of ridiculous things like both boys having the same dream on the same night. The whole gay boy and his friend who is straight trope is given such an over-the-top operatic treatment as to be ridiculous. Why this novel of young gay love is passionately loved while the superb 'Pryor Rendering' by Gary Reed is unknown I find inexplicable. This is not a bad novel, it is just not very good and I find a great deal of the promotional material about - its publication in Amsterdam, banning in the UK (which it wasn't see below) - designed to misinform and suggest that the novel is more explicit then it is. I ha ve given it my compromise three stars and not shelved in any of my 'bad' catagories though part of me thinks I should have.
Attempts to ban this novel in the UK:
This anthology was one of many 'imported' gay books which were at the centre of an infamous attempt to push UK gays back into the closet by the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Amazingly this event, important not only for gays but civil liberties in the UK, does not have any kind of Wikipedia entry. Because of this lack I have assembled links to a number of sites which anyone interested in free speech should read. If we don't remember our history we will be condemned to repeat it.
The genesis of the prosecution of 'Gays The Word' was the anger of homophobes to books like 'The Milkman's On His Way' by David Rees which were written for young people and presented being gay as ordinary and nothing to get your-knickers-in-a-twist over. Unfortunately there was no way to ban the offending books because censorship of literature had been laughed out of court at the 'Lady Chatterley Trial' nearly twenty years earlier. But Customs and Excise did have the ability to seize and forbid the import of 'foreign' books, i.e. those not published in the UK, if they offended community standards. As most 'gay' books came from abroad, specifically the USA, this anomaly was the basis for the raid on Gays The Word and the seizure of large amounts of stock. The intention was that the legal costs, plus the disruption to the business, would sink this small independent bookshop long before it came to trial. That it didn't is testimony to the resilience of Gay's The Word, the gay community and all those who supported them.
The best, not perfect, but only, guide to the event is at:
https://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/10/1...
There follows a series of links to the event connected with an exhibition at the University of London:
The background:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The 142 books seized:
https://exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/se...
The history of the prosecution:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The fight to clarify the law after the prosecution was dropped:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
My editions of this novel, like many other editions, is garlanded with much praise including the following from William S. Burroughs:
"A haunting vision of young friendship shattered by an outrageously cruel world. Keith Hale's novel aches with adolescent first love. It is tender, funny and true."
Which is over egging the pudding by a great deal. What, for me, is extraordinary about this novel is how reticent it is compared to the 1982 UK 'The Milkman's on His Way' by David Rees which was far more relaxed, open and direct in dealing with a story about gay teenagers. It is also far better written, though I may be prejudiced. I didn't attend High School in America and have always found the America obsession with High School hard to comprehend and a genre I don't care for. I also found the obsession in the novel with Eastern mysticism, the novels of Herman Hesse and French existentialism a la Satre and Camus and the meaning of life tiresome and frankly dated. Does anyone still read Hesse in English translation - he strikes me as hopelessly stuck in a hippy time warp. I also think that having deaths of one character in car crashes and two in an arson house fire is just too much.
I found the relationship between 'Trotsky' and Cody evasive when it wasn't full of ridiculous things like both boys having the same dream on the same night. The whole gay boy and his friend who is straight trope is given such an over-the-top operatic treatment as to be ridiculous. Why this novel of young gay love is passionately loved while the superb 'Pryor Rendering' by Gary Reed is unknown I find inexplicable. This is not a bad novel, it is just not very good and I find a great deal of the promotional material about - its publication in Amsterdam, banning in the UK (which it wasn't see below) - designed to misinform and suggest that the novel is more explicit then it is. I ha ve given it my compromise three stars and not shelved in any of my 'bad' catagories though part of me thinks I should have.
Attempts to ban this novel in the UK:
This anthology was one of many 'imported' gay books which were at the centre of an infamous attempt to push UK gays back into the closet by the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Amazingly this event, important not only for gays but civil liberties in the UK, does not have any kind of Wikipedia entry. Because of this lack I have assembled links to a number of sites which anyone interested in free speech should read. If we don't remember our history we will be condemned to repeat it.
The genesis of the prosecution of 'Gays The Word' was the anger of homophobes to books like 'The Milkman's On His Way' by David Rees which were written for young people and presented being gay as ordinary and nothing to get your-knickers-in-a-twist over. Unfortunately there was no way to ban the offending books because censorship of literature had been laughed out of court at the 'Lady Chatterley Trial' nearly twenty years earlier. But Customs and Excise did have the ability to seize and forbid the import of 'foreign' books, i.e. those not published in the UK, if they offended community standards. As most 'gay' books came from abroad, specifically the USA, this anomaly was the basis for the raid on Gays The Word and the seizure of large amounts of stock. The intention was that the legal costs, plus the disruption to the business, would sink this small independent bookshop long before it came to trial. That it didn't is testimony to the resilience of Gay's The Word, the gay community and all those who supported them.
The best, not perfect, but only, guide to the event is at:
https://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/10/1...
There follows a series of links to the event connected with an exhibition at the University of London:
The background:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The 142 books seized:
https://exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/se...
The history of the prosecution:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The fight to clarify the law after the prosecution was dropped:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
did-not-finish
June 19, 2019I certainly cannot call the writing “bad“, but it was not for me. Plus, I’m not sure I will ever be able to get over my allergy to reading fiction set in high school
September 2, 2012
I am still reeling from the emotional ending of this book. First I have to say that the novel itself was not written in the most correct manner, some sentence structures being artificial and a little distracting at first. Then I got into the rhythms of the story and the characters grew on me with such intense emotions that I continued on regardless of some possible errors or overused speaking language. This book is short but deals with so many themes of weight that it is hard to remember them all; friendship developing into romance, coming out and coming of age, first major tragedies in life, loss, grief and depression, shared existences, growing apart and the depths of true love. There is a little Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in there with the theme of philosophically trying to find one's way as balanced with the ways of those around you. I was so upset at Trotsky's choices involving Mark and Cody near the end that I wanted to shake him, but remembered that he's young and, even though great, SPOILER SPOILER these wounds will heal and I am hopeful that he will find his special someone that loves him in exactly the same way as he loved Cody. I was so pleased that there were poems, and some shared poems, at the end to bring us back into the power we felt between them, rather than ending the way it did. The poems were excellent as well.
January 13, 2020
Heartbreaking gay coming-of-age story about teens in Little Rock, Arkansas in the late Seventies. This is an exquisite, tender, realistic, and honest novel that beautifully captures adolescence. The book was first published in the Netherlands, where Hale was then living, in 1983, and it was banned in the U.K. for its gay subject matter until the courts overturned the ban. The book seems decorous by today’s standards.
July 26, 2013
Reminds you of those lasting memories you make during adolescence. This book depicts a pure, warm honesty that's hard to find in literature sometimes. Not just any honesty but one you can bond with and relate to. The characters are really easy to become attached to. I enjoyed reading this book. It's very well written which I like.
April 2, 2025
4.5 🌟
Thought it was about time to hit this queer classic. Originally published in 1983 as Cody (and almost instantly banned in many countries), this was republished much later as Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada. Yeah, lol, I've no idea either, even after reading it. But this really was something else. Magical, quirky, hilarious, but with an outrageously bleak, heart-breaking ending, which leaves you staring at the horizon with tears rolling down your face. This is the story of Trotsky, aged seventeen, living in Arkansas, and in love with a beautiful straight boy. We've all been there. But this is far more than a coming of age tale, incorporating philosophy, socialism and existentialist poetry, alongside all the usual madness of being a teenager in the 1980s. This was an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable, too, with fantastic dialogue and a powerful sense of yearning. An intense and lyrical dissection of teenage love and friendship, and of the cruel world that shatters it. I won't say too much about the last section because I've probably said too much already, but honestly, the guy deserves an award for that sort of ending. Brave doesn't even come close. A haunting and evocative queer classic. William Burroughs was even a fan!
Thought it was about time to hit this queer classic. Originally published in 1983 as Cody (and almost instantly banned in many countries), this was republished much later as Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada. Yeah, lol, I've no idea either, even after reading it. But this really was something else. Magical, quirky, hilarious, but with an outrageously bleak, heart-breaking ending, which leaves you staring at the horizon with tears rolling down your face. This is the story of Trotsky, aged seventeen, living in Arkansas, and in love with a beautiful straight boy. We've all been there. But this is far more than a coming of age tale, incorporating philosophy, socialism and existentialist poetry, alongside all the usual madness of being a teenager in the 1980s. This was an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable, too, with fantastic dialogue and a powerful sense of yearning. An intense and lyrical dissection of teenage love and friendship, and of the cruel world that shatters it. I won't say too much about the last section because I've probably said too much already, but honestly, the guy deserves an award for that sort of ending. Brave doesn't even come close. A haunting and evocative queer classic. William Burroughs was even a fan!
October 24, 2015
It's interesting reading this book, published the year I was born and knowing how different the world was, particularly when it came to sexuality.
I was thinking that this book feels timeless. Like it could have been written yesterday, and aside from reference to Reagan and the Cold War, it still holds up. It's the book's biggest strength.
I was going to write that it doesn't feel as cutting edge as I assume it was in 1983, but in retrospect that's not at all fair. The fact that the book is still relevant, that a gay kid can pick it up and instantly see themselves in the story, is quite an achievement.
And even though in another thirty years the world will hopefully be even more accepting, there'll still be room for this funny, sad and heart-warming story.
I was thinking that this book feels timeless. Like it could have been written yesterday, and aside from reference to Reagan and the Cold War, it still holds up. It's the book's biggest strength.
I was going to write that it doesn't feel as cutting edge as I assume it was in 1983, but in retrospect that's not at all fair. The fact that the book is still relevant, that a gay kid can pick it up and instantly see themselves in the story, is quite an achievement.
And even though in another thirty years the world will hopefully be even more accepting, there'll still be room for this funny, sad and heart-warming story.
July 21, 2012
This book is beautifully written. I love the characters and the writing itself is beautiful and simple.
A very moving story that you won't regret reading.
5 stars.
A very moving story that you won't regret reading.
5 stars.
October 28, 2012
I read this book while on vacation. I don't know if it was the vacation high or the book high, but this book made me want more. Glad I read this one!
October 2, 2019
Το “Clicking beat on the brink of nada” ή “Cody” είναι ένα εφηβικό μυθιστόρημα της δεκαετίας του 1980 με gay θεματική. O Keith Hale με δραματική τρυφερότητα φτιάχνει έναν έφηβο που διηγείται τι συνέβη την χρονιά που ήταν δεκαεφτά χρονών.
Αιωνίως το «καινούριο παιδί» ο Steven Trottingham Taylor, για τους δικους του «Τρότσκι», ξεκινά στο νεο του σχολείο, αυτό του συνεχώς βροχερού Little Rock στο Αρκάνσας. Ένα βλέμμα και ένα πολιτικό σχόλιο του ,που κανείς δεν περίμενε, στο μάθημα για τον Ψυχρό Πόλεμο κάνει το όμορφο αγόρι της τάξης να τον προσέξει. Ο συγγραφέας αφηγείται λιτά και με ένταση την γνωριμία και φιλία των δυο αγοριών, την σχέση με τον μικρότερο αδερφό του Freddy και τη μητέρα του, μια συνεχώς διωκόμενη απο την εργασία της , λόγω των σοσιαλιστικών της απόψεων ,καθηγήτρια οικονομικών, αλλά και τους καινούριους του φίλους, την εκκεντρική Sarah, τον ομοφυλόφιλο Christian, τον μακρυμάλλη μουσικό Flipping και τον όμορφο φίλο του αδερφού του, τον Mark.
Όπως ξεδιπλώνεται η ιστορία πολλά φωνάζουν αλήθεια, πολλά είναι ομορφιά. Ένα ρεαλιστικό απόγευμα στην εργασία στο βενζινάδικο για το εφηβικό χαρτζιλίκι, ενα πάρτυ «λείπουν οι γονείς απο το σπίτι, ελάτε», οι διάλογοι που γίνονται αφορμή να αναπτύξει ο Keith Hale όλη του τη δυνότητα να πιάνει την εφηβική οξύνοια, το δεικτικό χιούμορ του να λες για έναν φίλο σου οτι είναι τοσο «προβλέψιμος, όσο ενας bisexual στρόβιλος».
Υπάρχει πολύ χρώμα. Εκείνο που βάζουμε εμείς σκεφτόμενοι τη σκοτεινή γωνία του μπαρ που τους συναντάμε στη ζούλα να πίνουν, εκείνο που δίνει ο συγγραφέας με τον ουρανό που έχει ένα απο γαλάζιο πισίνας χρώμα ή τα μαλλιά, ξανθά με κάτι απο νερό πλυσίματος πιάτων. Υπάρχει το λευκό, οι λευκές κάλτσες και τα κουρελιασμένα σνικεράκια του αγοριού που κάνουν ελκυστική τη φτώχεια του.
Κύρια όμως είναι τα χρώματα που ο συγγραφέας βάζει στα συναισθήματα των χαρακτήρων του. Στην ιστορία που μας χαρίζει ο Hale υπάρχει έρωτας, υπάρχει μύηση στον έρωτα. Και αυτό δίνεται σε μια έκταση δωματίου, που πάλλεται απο την ανάσα του πλαγιασμένου δίπλα σώματος και το πρωί βρίσκει τον λαιμό του πρωταγωνιστή. Υπάρχει το κάλεσμα, η μεταμεσονύχτια παραχώρηση στο σαλόνι με τις καφέ και μπεζ αποχρώσεις και το λίγο φως ή ακόμα μια ματιά στο δωμάτιο του μικρού αδερφού και μια εξολολόγηση για την αίσθηση του φόβου.
Τί είναι, όμως, αυτός ο φόβος, αυτό που κυνηγά τον πρωταγωνιστή με ενα «Ρυθμικό κλίκ στο χείλος του τίποτα», όπως μεταφράζεται ο τίτλος; Οικείες σκέψεις για τον θάνατο, που όλοι σκεφτήκαμε στην πρώτη νεότητα, σκέψεις απόδρασης απο μια κοινωνία που δεν τον χωράει, μια πόλη που συζητά για κυνήγι, όπλα, π��υ γελά με ρατσιστικές προσβολές, μια πόλη φτωχών θρησκόληπτων, Ευαγγελιστών, που βλέπουν παντού κομμουνιστές εχθρούς στην υπηρεσία μιας υποτιθέμενης ανατροπής της αμερικάνικης κυβέρνησης, των αμερικάνικων αξιών και τρόπου ζωής.
Το πραγματικό θέμα με το οποίο ασχολείται το βιβλίο είναι η ελευθερία. Η έννοια που παραβιάζεται συνεχώς στην αμερικάνικη κοινωνία της βίας, μα πιο πολύ με τους ήρωες του βιβλίου να συζητούν για την «Πανούκλα» του Καμύ, για την προσωπική ελευθερία απο τις απόψεις και τις απαιτήσεις των άλλων, αλλά και την ηρωική στάση του αληθινά ελεύθερου να μείνει πίσω να βοηθήσει τους άλλους . Αυτή η αυτοθυσία είναι μια ηθική στάση που οδηγεί στην τραγωδία κατα τις απόψεις του χριστιανού φιλόσοφου Μπερντιάεφ και είναι αυτή η τραγωδία που απ��τελεί και τον σκελετό του βιβλίου, καθώς σταδιακά η ιστορία εξελίσσεται με έναν σπαραξικάρδιο τρόπο.
Παράλληλα το βιβλίο εκφράζει άψογα εκείνη την εποχή στην ζωή των ανθρώπων όπου η φιλία είναι το παν. Εκεί, δηλαδή, που «οι φίλοι είναι αυτό για το οποίο ζείς» και πάλι σε συμφωνία με τον Μπερντιάεφ που πίστευε οτι: «Μόνο η αγάπη και η φιλία φέρνουν στον άνθρωπο τη μεγάλη υπόσχεση ότι η μοναξιά είναι δυνατόν να ξεπεραστεί. Η αγάπη είναι αυτό ακριβώς που καταργεί τη μοναξιά, αυτό που φέρνει το εγώ στον άλλο,…αφού η αγάπη είναι αυτό που κάνει το εγώ να γίνεται πρόσωπο. Μόνο η αγάπη κάνει τον ένα να λιώνει εντελώς μέσα στον άλλο και φέρνει το ξεπέρασμα της μοναξιάς» (Πέντε στοχασμοί περί υπάρξεως, μετ. Βάσω & Σωτήρης Γουνελάς, εκδ. Παρουσία).
Τα μόνα μειονεκτήματα του βιβλίου είναι ακριβώς οτι ο συγγραφέας spoilαρει τον εαυτό του και η μετάβαση των μελοδραματικών γεγονότων προς το τέλος δεν αφήνει λογοτεχνικό χρόνο να αφομειωθεί απο τον αναγνώστη καλά. Παρα ταύτα, κάθε επεισόδιο στην εξέλιξη της ιστορίας έχει καλή ανάπτυξη χαρακτήρων και ατμόσφαιρας, χωρίς να περισσεύει λέξη, με στιγμές βαθια γοητευτικές και τρυφερές και έπειτα ερχεται το σοκαριστικό.
Πιστεύω πως δύσκολα αφήνει κάποιον χωρίς δάκρυα το χρονικό των ανθρώπων που γνώρισε και των οικογενειακών στιγμών που έζησε ο ήρωας στα 17 του. Υπάρχει αυτό το έντονο στοιχείο της δικαιοσύνης που λείπει και ενός πεπρωμένου σκληρού στην πολιτεία που οι άνθρωποι της είναι κουμπωμένοι με αδιάφροχα της Παρασκευής.
Μένει μια διάχυτη αθωότητα, ώστόσο, κάπως σαν την απορία του ήρωα: γιατί να ρίχνουν λεφτά στον ηλίθιο σιδηρόδρομο ενώ θα μπορούσαν να έχουν Roller coaster;
Κριτική του Νικόλα Κουτσοδόντη στο περιοδικό Grande
https://www.grandemagazine.gr/%cf%80%...
Αιωνίως το «καινούριο παιδί» ο Steven Trottingham Taylor, για τους δικους του «Τρότσκι», ξεκινά στο νεο του σχολείο, αυτό του συνεχώς βροχερού Little Rock στο Αρκάνσας. Ένα βλέμμα και ένα πολιτικό σχόλιο του ,που κανείς δεν περίμενε, στο μάθημα για τον Ψυχρό Πόλεμο κάνει το όμορφο αγόρι της τάξης να τον προσέξει. Ο συγγραφέας αφηγείται λιτά και με ένταση την γνωριμία και φιλία των δυο αγοριών, την σχέση με τον μικρότερο αδερφό του Freddy και τη μητέρα του, μια συνεχώς διωκόμενη απο την εργασία της , λόγω των σοσιαλιστικών της απόψεων ,καθηγήτρια οικονομικών, αλλά και τους καινούριους του φίλους, την εκκεντρική Sarah, τον ομοφυλόφιλο Christian, τον μακρυμάλλη μουσικό Flipping και τον όμορφο φίλο του αδερφού του, τον Mark.
Όπως ξεδιπλώνεται η ιστορία πολλά φωνάζουν αλήθεια, πολλά είναι ομορφιά. Ένα ρεαλιστικό απόγευμα στην εργασία στο βενζινάδικο για το εφηβικό χαρτζιλίκι, ενα πάρτυ «λείπουν οι γονείς απο το σπίτι, ελάτε», οι διάλογοι που γίνονται αφορμή να αναπτύξει ο Keith Hale όλη του τη δυνότητα να πιάνει την εφηβική οξύνοια, το δεικτικό χιούμορ του να λες για έναν φίλο σου οτι είναι τοσο «προβλέψιμος, όσο ενας bisexual στρόβιλος».
Υπάρχει πολύ χρώμα. Εκείνο που βάζουμε εμείς σκεφτόμενοι τη σκοτεινή γωνία του μπαρ που τους συναντάμε στη ζούλα να πίνουν, εκείνο που δίνει ο συγγραφέας με τον ουρανό που έχει ένα απο γαλάζιο πισίνας χρώμα ή τα μαλλιά, ξανθά με κάτι απο νερό πλυσίματος πιάτων. Υπάρχει το λευκό, οι λευκές κάλτσες και τα κουρελιασμένα σνικεράκια του αγοριού που κάνουν ελκυστική τη φτώχεια του.
Κύρια όμως είναι τα χρώματα που ο συγγραφέας βάζει στα συναισθήματα των χαρακτήρων του. Στην ιστορία που μας χαρίζει ο Hale υπάρχει έρωτας, υπάρχει μύηση στον έρωτα. Και αυτό δίνεται σε μια έκταση δωματίου, που πάλλεται απο την ανάσα του πλαγιασμένου δίπλα σώματος και το πρωί βρίσκει τον λαιμό του πρωταγωνιστή. Υπάρχει το κάλεσμα, η μεταμεσονύχτια παραχώρηση στο σαλόνι με τις καφέ και μπεζ αποχρώσεις και το λίγο φως ή ακόμα μια ματιά στο δωμάτιο του μικρού αδερφού και μια εξολολόγηση για την αίσθηση του φόβου.
Τί είναι, όμως, αυτός ο φόβος, αυτό που κυνηγά τον πρωταγωνιστή με ενα «Ρυθμικό κλίκ στο χείλος του τίποτα», όπως μεταφράζεται ο τίτλος; Οικείες σκέψεις για τον θάνατο, που όλοι σκεφτήκαμε στην πρώτη νεότητα, σκέψεις απόδρασης απο μια κοινωνία που δεν τον χωράει, μια πόλη που συζητά για κυνήγι, όπλα, π��υ γελά με ρατσιστικές προσβολές, μια πόλη φτωχών θρησκόληπτων, Ευαγγελιστών, που βλέπουν παντού κομμουνιστές εχθρούς στην υπηρεσία μιας υποτιθέμενης ανατροπής της αμερικάνικης κυβέρνησης, των αμερικάνικων αξιών και τρόπου ζωής.
Το πραγματικό θέμα με το οποίο ασχολείται το βιβλίο είναι η ελευθερία. Η έννοια που παραβιάζεται συνεχώς στην αμερικάνικη κοινωνία της βίας, μα πιο πολύ με τους ήρωες του βιβλίου να συζητούν για την «Πανούκλα» του Καμύ, για την προσωπική ελευθερία απο τις απόψεις και τις απαιτήσεις των άλλων, αλλά και την ηρωική στάση του αληθινά ελεύθερου να μείνει πίσω να βοηθήσει τους άλλους . Αυτή η αυτοθυσία είναι μια ηθική στάση που οδηγεί στην τραγωδία κατα τις απόψεις του χριστιανού φιλόσοφου Μπερντιάεφ και είναι αυτή η τραγωδία που απ��τελεί και τον σκελετό του βιβλίου, καθώς σταδιακά η ιστορία εξελίσσεται με έναν σπαραξικάρδιο τρόπο.
Παράλληλα το βιβλίο εκφράζει άψογα εκείνη την εποχή στην ζωή των ανθρώπων όπου η φιλία είναι το παν. Εκεί, δηλαδή, που «οι φίλοι είναι αυτό για το οποίο ζείς» και πάλι σε συμφωνία με τον Μπερντιάεφ που πίστευε οτι: «Μόνο η αγάπη και η φιλία φέρνουν στον άνθρωπο τη μεγάλη υπόσχεση ότι η μοναξιά είναι δυνατόν να ξεπεραστεί. Η αγάπη είναι αυτό ακριβώς που καταργεί τη μοναξιά, αυτό που φέρνει το εγώ στον άλλο,…αφού η αγάπη είναι αυτό που κάνει το εγώ να γίνεται πρόσωπο. Μόνο η αγάπη κάνει τον ένα να λιώνει εντελώς μέσα στον άλλο και φέρνει το ξεπέρασμα της μοναξιάς» (Πέντε στοχασμοί περί υπάρξεως, μετ. Βάσω & Σωτήρης Γουνελάς, εκδ. Παρουσία).
Τα μόνα μειονεκτήματα του βιβλίου είναι ακριβώς οτι ο συγγραφέας spoilαρει τον εαυτό του και η μετάβαση των μελοδραματικών γεγονότων προς το τέλος δεν αφήνει λογοτεχνικό χρόνο να αφομειωθεί απο τον αναγνώστη καλά. Παρα ταύτα, κάθε επεισόδιο στην εξέλιξη της ιστορίας έχει καλή ανάπτυξη χαρακτήρων και ατμόσφαιρας, χωρίς να περισσεύει λέξη, με στιγμές βαθια γοητευτικές και τρυφερές και έπειτα ερχεται το σοκαριστικό.
Πιστεύω πως δύσκολα αφήνει κάποιον χωρίς δάκρυα το χρονικό των ανθρώπων που γνώρισε και των οικογενειακών στιγμών που έζησε ο ήρωας στα 17 του. Υπάρχει αυτό το έντονο στοιχείο της δικαιοσύνης που λείπει και ενός πεπρωμένου σκληρού στην πολιτεία που οι άνθρωποι της είναι κουμπωμένοι με αδιάφροχα της Παρασκευής.
Μένει μια διάχυτη αθωότητα, ώστόσο, κάπως σαν την απορία του ήρωα: γιατί να ρίχνουν λεφτά στον ηλίθιο σιδηρόδρομο ενώ θα μπορούσαν να έχουν Roller coaster;
Κριτική του Νικόλα Κουτσοδόντη στο περιοδικό Grande
https://www.grandemagazine.gr/%cf%80%...
August 21, 2025
Really glad to have finally found and read this one. The sense of time and place really resonated with me, not to mention the joys and fears of adolescence. Sure, it has some quirks and flaws, but these added to its authenticity.
January 31, 2012
This book was definitely not what I expected!
It was a thoughtful and thought provoking novel about a young man who happens to be gay. His life is explained in a mixture of socio-political experiences that were part of what all of his friends and family seemed to be about. The book takes place in Arkansas, but was first published in the Netherlands and I wonder if the Netherlands might be more into teens with very strident political views. . The political views of these teens are communistic or at least socialistic and because of the views which are also taught by the mother in her college classes, the plot thickens.
I had a hard time with 17 year olds who were quoting Sartre and reading authors that I still don't dare to read (that's my bad, not theirs) but I still don't see this happening in Arkansas or any other US city.
There is a nice story of Trotsky's friendship and love of his friend, Cody, but it was treated as a minor story although the reader knew that it was a major part of what was going on for young Trotsky.
I could only recommend this book to someone that I knew had similar or opposing views to the overall story. But it's definitely not the story that I thought I was going to read.
It was a thoughtful and thought provoking novel about a young man who happens to be gay. His life is explained in a mixture of socio-political experiences that were part of what all of his friends and family seemed to be about. The book takes place in Arkansas, but was first published in the Netherlands and I wonder if the Netherlands might be more into teens with very strident political views. . The political views of these teens are communistic or at least socialistic and because of the views which are also taught by the mother in her college classes, the plot thickens.
I had a hard time with 17 year olds who were quoting Sartre and reading authors that I still don't dare to read (that's my bad, not theirs) but I still don't see this happening in Arkansas or any other US city.
There is a nice story of Trotsky's friendship and love of his friend, Cody, but it was treated as a minor story although the reader knew that it was a major part of what was going on for young Trotsky.
I could only recommend this book to someone that I knew had similar or opposing views to the overall story. But it's definitely not the story that I thought I was going to read.
February 1, 2014
So, this is a gay coming-of-age story about high schoolers who quote Sartre and discuss politics all day long. I'm relatively young and thought that was ludicrous, but a lot of the other reviewers say that kids during that time -- the early 80s, I guess? -- were a lot better educated than my generation, so whatever. It still felt weird. Also, there's great humor in this book, the dialogue is really fun, and the main character's love interest is so dreamy he's unbelievable... but the ending! The fucking ending! A lot of the reviewers said that this is semi-autobiographical, which makes sense, because shit happens in this book for no reason and then there's no follow up to it, just like real life... but it's advertised as a novel, and even if it's based in truth, the real-life events should be worked into something that matters. AND THE FUCKING ENDING! I have never felt so depressed and cheated and pointless as I did when I finished this book... and yes, I've read the last book of the fucking Hunger Games trilogy, too.
December 12, 2025
Such a beautiful book. It feels like one of those old songs that thrills you and carries you along with the music until the end when the sadness hits. I was in love with both of the high school senior protagonists, and I cheered them on even though I knew what was coming. Their story is laced with deep discussions of religious, political, and economic philosophy. [They are brilliant, well-read, young men!] I think this is the fifth time I have read this and it won’t be my last.
August 16, 2015
My favorite book. Period. I love the characters. The story tears my heart out, but in a good way. I've read it over and over and over and was so happy to see a revised edition come out. It's even better than ever now. Anyone who read Perks of Being a Wallflower and liked it should read this book.
April 2, 2018
This book hit all the right notes for me. It is profound, yet funny; elegiac (at points downright tragic, in fact), yet delectably romantic. The story effortlessly blends the political with the personal. A little (unexpected) masterpiece.
September 23, 2012
deep depths to soak my brain
November 25, 2012
Fatally honest
February 21, 2013
Really good book, some very sad parts.
November 29, 2015
Sensitive tale of a boy coming of age dealing with rural culture and tragedy. Well written prose.
April 28, 2014
beautiful, heart-breaking, clever.
February 1, 2015
Interesting reading with a good mix of feeling, joy, sadness, funny, intense, and all in all a great story of love and friendship.
March 11, 2020
Notes for myself
( No time to write a proper review.Plus I owe the book another read through to be fair )
-Could relate to the character on a spiritual, moral and intellectual level. Once again, the sexual elements of the story ( like other books ) just didn't click for me.I'm not sure why.
-Finished with the sense that the MC wasn't as immersed in his life ( or at least didn't reveal enough of it, of those matters I care for. )( I wish the finale could have been more drawn out, I felt like I was being kicked out of the MC's inner world )
-Quite disappointed that the other characters weren't given as much screen time for me to actually get to know them ( without having to overcompensate /imagine/assume ) or grow fond of them.
-Even though know it's been retitled, "Cody" would not have been fitting, especially with how the story ended. I can't come up with something fitting just from the material ( or the faded memory of it ) alone without imagining elements that are more from my self projections than actual facts.
-The parts where the MC TELLS us that everyone wants to be around Cody just made the background people flat and the story less believable. I'd rather have been shown or impressed with Cody myself rather than being told to be. Instead I had to weave his legend outside of his conversations with the MC.
SPOILER-ish:
Fascinated by/ Relate to
-Trotsky reflecting on philosophy.
-The MC's lack of entitlement which is most salient in his lack of victimhood for not being able to get his own way. He acknowledges his feelings but doesn't feel the need to be tragic about it.
-The conversation about Cody being straight but being willing to tolerate a sexual relationship.He ultimately decides not to because he wouldn't be able to give as much love back.
- The consideration and respect several characters have for each other. ( Trotsky being careful to not make Cody uncomfortable , Cody concerned that he might have been leading Trotsky on, etc )
- (Quite odd for me) the conversation about Cody having developed his personality way before realizing he was good looking and being kind enough to responsible for his words.
-His aversion to commit / confidence to not align himself with beliefs he does not possess.
-His preference for kindness vs trying to claim the his own way is inherently correct.
-The mom's argument for socialism
-etc/will add more when I think of something else.
( No time to write a proper review.Plus I owe the book another read through to be fair )
-Could relate to the character on a spiritual, moral and intellectual level. Once again, the sexual elements of the story ( like other books ) just didn't click for me.I'm not sure why.
-Finished with the sense that the MC wasn't as immersed in his life ( or at least didn't reveal enough of it, of those matters I care for. )( I wish the finale could have been more drawn out, I felt like I was being kicked out of the MC's inner world )
-Quite disappointed that the other characters weren't given as much screen time for me to actually get to know them ( without having to overcompensate /imagine/assume ) or grow fond of them.
-Even though know it's been retitled, "Cody" would not have been fitting, especially with how the story ended. I can't come up with something fitting just from the material ( or the faded memory of it ) alone without imagining elements that are more from my self projections than actual facts.
-The parts where the MC TELLS us that everyone wants to be around Cody just made the background people flat and the story less believable. I'd rather have been shown or impressed with Cody myself rather than being told to be. Instead I had to weave his legend outside of his conversations with the MC.
SPOILER-ish:
Fascinated by/ Relate to
-Trotsky reflecting on philosophy.
-The MC's lack of entitlement which is most salient in his lack of victimhood for not being able to get his own way. He acknowledges his feelings but doesn't feel the need to be tragic about it.
-The conversation about Cody being straight but being willing to tolerate a sexual relationship.He ultimately decides not to because he wouldn't be able to give as much love back.
- The consideration and respect several characters have for each other. ( Trotsky being careful to not make Cody uncomfortable , Cody concerned that he might have been leading Trotsky on, etc )
- (Quite odd for me) the conversation about Cody having developed his personality way before realizing he was good looking and being kind enough to responsible for his words.
-His aversion to commit / confidence to not align himself with beliefs he does not possess.
-His preference for kindness vs trying to claim the his own way is inherently correct.
-The mom's argument for socialism
-etc/will add more when I think of something else.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2017
Potential readers would do themselves a disservice to pass on this novel as just a coming-of-age LGBT YA novel. The voice of the protagonist seems much older and mature than a seventeen-year-old young man; however, his upbringing seems to make this plausible. In many ways, it resonates with our times because of the political conflict within the story. The intense relationship between Trotsky and Cody borders on the metaphysical, and the philosophical discussions are food for thought. The number of gay characters and tragedies might seem a bit unbelievable when considered outside of the story; however, if the reader allows himself to allow the story to unfold, it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. Cody certainly seems to have a healthy and atypical perspective on sexuality, that is intriguing and refreshing. The author includes poetry written by the two main characters at the end of the book, which is an interesting touch. This would be an interesting read to discuss in context with the time it was published.
November 24, 2019
This is the only book that I've read in a single day. I could not put this book down. I read this book back in the late 80s early 90s. Probably read it about 5 times in the first couple years of having it. Been more than 15 years since I last read Cody but I can still resight the I remember friends poem in the back of the book. Cody is an amazing love story that's a different kind of love story.
October 3, 2020
A bit all over the place in its writing. As a brief example there was an incredibly detailed foray into a horseback riding scene while visiting Flipping's family that brought little to advance the plot, but then (in my opinion) an underwhelming ending where lingering on the emotions and pain of the characters would have been welcomed. However considering the age of the author when he began writing it, I appreciate it's overall maturity.
June 17, 2019
I picked this book up because it is set in my homestate. It was sad, but I've read much sadder books before. I think it was written very well. I would recommend this book to any Arkansan.
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