Queereaders discussion

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I’ll kick off the discussion for Faun. Overall, I found this book a disappointment. The writing and editing were mediocre which made the reading cumbersome. However, for purposes of discussion, I’m curious as to what others thought of the ending. SPOILERS in the remainder of this post.

(view spoiler)[Gil understandably goes searching for other satyrs. The two options presented to him, living alone in the woods or living marginally on the streets of L.A., both seem depressing to him. He’s also leery of the playing of pipes which strikes him as an addictive drug, something that goes beyond pleasure to necessity. In the end, however, Gil seems to reconcile himself to a more or less solitary life in nature and to his need for the music from the pipes. The reconciliation lacked joy, however, and it seemed that this whole journey of his – all the adventures in the book – were for naught. Even his mother and father reverted back to the relationship they had prior to Gil coming in to their life.

What was the author’s message here? That the strange and abnormal are destined to remain invisible?

Perhaps I was looking for too many parallels in the story to the experience of being gay to fully appreciate what the story had to offer. With the physical challenges Gil faced – his body developing in ways that he deplored and which were unacceptable to society – there were even more potential parallels to the transsexual experience. However, it seemed that he and the other characters made no progress in the book in terms of self-acceptance, emotional/spiritual growth, finding community or creating new and better ways of life for themselves. They seemed as lost at the end of the story as they were in the beginning (hide spoiler)]

I loved the idea but also found the writing clunky and awkward. I kept wishing it was written better. I really thought the idea/story was a fairly unique one, but the writing style just kept distracting me from my enjoyment.

I'm about half way through and I don't notice any problem with the style. It fits well with the perspective of a 15 year old guy I think.

Finished now. I enjoyed this book a lot and I think it has an interesting a complex message.

In response to Dan's last spoiler paragraph, since Fauns are gods/demigods, I suppose anything is possible ;-)

I am reminded of a book I read long ago, '70s or '80s, a pornoid spoof of epic fantasy. All I remember is that the king had the Faun problem, but it was continuous causing environmental damage and the dwarve's penes were long and spring-shaped. They moved by bouncing along on their springs :-) I recall it being very funny and would love to find it again. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

"Just keep asking yourself the question, the question is what’s important, the answer not so much.”

It is like a Zen Koan.

I wonder if he is also talking about a distinction between biology and psychological identity. We might be gay, straight, bi, trans, a satyr.. things we can't change and so therefore should't worry about, but does that completely define who we are? Is there ever an answer to the question of who we are?