Obsession

by George Hayim, B.S. Biro (Design)

The masochism and the total abnegation of self which are possible in any love relationship have never been more fully and sensitively explored than in this claustrophobic tale that grips the reader by the throat. It is in fact the story of an older man's love for a younger, but it might equally well be about his love for a Grecian urn or a rusty nail---any object, indeed, for Edouard is no more than an object of a man's obsession, in the pursuit of which all else is excluded.As the narrator, a wealthy Parisian of forty years, describes the pursuit of the young Edouard, who plays with him as a cat with a mouse, the reader shares the anguish, the short-lived happiness, the suicidal depression of an obsessive, all-consuming love that seeks total possession of the loved one or, failing that, his destruction. This is a very remarkable novel indeed.

Genres: Gay

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Born in Shanghai in 1920 to millionaire parents - a Russian mother and Iraqi-Jewish father - Hayim enjoyed an opulent and privileged upbringing. He studied at English private boys school Harrow before serving in the navy during World War II. Mr Hayim never worked a day in his life but instead travelled the world, pursuing his love of the arts. He was fluent in seven languages and could sing along with operas. He would often wander the streets of Mosman in his pyjamas or underpants.

Mr Hayim published two books - Obsession (1970), about his passionate love-affair with a young Arab living in France, and Thou Shalt Not Uncover Thy Mother’s Nakedness (1988), an autobiography.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obsession is a relentless, deeply psychological and honestly self-critical story of an older man's extreme obsession with a 21 year-old beautiful straight Arab boy he meets in Paris. They spend only six months together but it is nothing but stress and torment for both, physically violent at times, and unrequited for the older man. Yet the boy can't let go either: he receives emotional support, room and board, and money, and feels anger and guilt accepting it. Even after he moves in with a female prostitute, suggestive that he is unable or unwilling to form a normal relationship with women (is he really gay? the question is left satisfyingly open), he can't release the older man.

George Hayim is writing of his own experience in this book and it shows in his truthfulness and the insights he shares. The same sequences of cause and effect, always with the same dreadful outcome, occur again and again, painfully demonstrating the irrationality of sexual attraction and the insanity of expecting different effects from the same causes.

At the end, we are left wondering if these two people will ever disconnect and be able to return to a sane emotional state -- but that's the point of the story, love is painful and can be an incurable disease, with you for life.

What a shame this book isn't more widely available; there's joy in finding these forgotten gems. (Used copies can be found on abebooks.com.)