Spring is progressing.

[ameliaingarden]

I know, I haven't posted in ages. I get all these new LJ friends and then I don't post anything for them to read. I've tried to start writing a post a couple of times, and have thought about it several more times, but I've just been so exhausted, either exhausted or too busy. I mostly blame work. There's a long stressful period going on, and my

Comments

[safranfoer]

your description of the weather & nature around you was beautiful :)) <3

[ameliaingarden]

Thank you! It's very beautiful here now, and I'm glad if I managed to transfer some of that to others. :-)

[suomiaboo]

[ameliaingarden]

I know what you mean. I don't mind all the tragedy, because sometimes tragic stories can be beautiful and impressive regardless of what is the sexuality of the characters or whether that's a topic of the story at all; but I do mind it when it seems to be a constant feature. It feels a bit like one gets either silly fluff or tragedy, not well-written stories that end well and give you a sense that being gay/lesbian/whatever can lead to happiness rather than automatically being a tragedy. It's too common a trope to always have these things end badly.

I've read some good ones which aren't tragedies, though. E.M. Forster's Maurice delighted me particularly because it was written at a time which people are especially likely to think of as being bad for gays, when in fact people did have happy gay relationships in that time, too

[suomiaboo]

[ameliaingarden]

I'll write a proper reply in the weekend when my brain cells aren't crying out for sleep, but meanwhile I just wanted to link to this as I came across it this week and was reminded of this conversation: http://the-toast.net/2015/05/18/sad-queer-novels-fixed/ :D The comments are also worth reading. (And Maurice seems to be making many people in the discussion happy!)

[wanderipity]

I want to read more books pertaining to LGBT.

Anyway, nice to here from you :)

[ameliaingarden]

Thanks! Maybe I can put together a list of book recommendations some time. :-)

[decemberthirty]

This post is really interesting. I love hearing about what other people are reading!

I read lots of queer literature and often I don't mind the preponderance of tragedy (I like sad stories!), but sometimes it does get to be too much. I wrote about this topic in a post of my own not too long ago. You might be interested, and you can read it here if you are. Also, if you're looking for something a little happier, my favorite non-tragic LGBT novel is Maurice by E.M. Forster.

[ameliaingarden]

I also sometimes enjoy tragedy and I don't mind it all the time in LGBT stories. At the moment I just feel like finding stories where I can feel that this is okay and can be happy, I guess. It does indeed get a bit too much. Also, I dislike it when it feels like it's written as a tragedy because tragedy is deeper, not because the story demanded that. Le bleu est une couleur chaude did make it clear from the start it's going to be a tragedy, but I still found some of the plot elements that made it a tragedy to be a bit far-fetched, made that way because tragedy is cooler and not because it really made sense. At least that's how it felt to me.

But thanks for linking to the post, I went and commented there because I ended up having a lot to say. :-) And thanks for the recommendation - I've read Maurice, actually, and I even own it, but it's been a long time - should read it again.

[speaksoftlylove]

I keep meaning to get around to Dykes to Watch Out For! How did you like it? Also, I've had Blue is the Warmest Color on my laptop for like... a year. I tend to just veg out and it takes me forever to watch a real movie. Do you recommend them?

[ameliaingarden]

I really enjoyed Dykes to Watch Out For! It's funny, unashamedly radical, down-to-earth and thoughtful. In the strips written in the George W. Bush years the political angst can get a bit too heavy, but it's still good, and I enjoy it's just about lives of feminist lesbians (and occasional bisexuals, trans women etc.), with its good and bad things.

I haven't watched Blue is the Warmest Colour as a film. I did enjoy the graphic novel, though indeed I found it too tragic, or at least the tragedy felt a bit contrived to me. But it was also beautiful with lots of feeling. I would be interested to watch the film, but I'm really bad at getting myself to watch films, too...