- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (Dec 2 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400030374
- ISBN-13: 978-1400030378
- Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 1.7 x 20.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#46,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #65 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
- #65 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian > Gay
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“An artistic achievement.” —The Washington Post
“One of the best novels of its kind. . . . It isn’t sentimental, and it is frank without trying to be sensational and shocking.” —Christopher Isherwood
“A brilliant exposé of subterranean life.” —The Atlantic Monthly
“Frank, shocking . . . extremely sympathetic, penetrating and exhortive.” —New York Herald Tribune
“One of the best novels of its kind. . . . It isn’t sentimental, and it is frank without trying to be sensational and shocking.” —Christopher Isherwood
“A brilliant exposé of subterranean life.” —The Atlantic Monthly
“Frank, shocking . . . extremely sympathetic, penetrating and exhortive.” —New York Herald Tribune
Book Description
A literary cause célèbre when first published more than fifty years ago, Gore Vidal’s now-classic The City and the Pillar stands as a landmark novel of the gay experience.
Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.
Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excelent novel!,
Ce commentaire est de: The City and the Pillar: A Novel (Paperback)
I had never read any books by Gore Vidal, but I was totally enthralled by The City and the Pillar, both by the quality of the style and by the story itself. I am amazed how bold and courageous authors such as Gore Vidal and Christopher Isherwood were, in times where it was socially unthinkable to discuss homosexuality or to be of that inclination. Gore wrote this book in 1948!! His main character is a handsome and masculine athlete who assumes who he his, withtout shame or guilt and who lives his sexuality freely. Very inspiring read!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Historically Significant; Literarily Weak,
By
Ce commentaire est de: The City and the Pillar: A Novel (Paperback)
Originally published in 1948, THE CITY AND THE PILLAR is generally considered the first mainstream American novel to place gay men and their lives and loves at dead center of the story. As such, it receives a tremendous amount of attention from critics and historians. Still, for all the stir it caused at the time (most newspapers wouldn't review or advertise it and many bookstores refused to carry it), it is more interesting for its history than for itself.The story concerns Jim, an all-American boy from Virginia, who has a sexual encounter with classmate Bob just before Bob graduates from highschool and leaves town "to go to sea." This is Jim's first same-sex encounter, and with classic adolescent innocence he concludes that he and Bob are spiritual "twins." As soon as he graduates, Jim goes in search of Bob on the assumption that Bob feels the same--and driven by this obsession he too "goes to sea," and moves from port to port and eventually from relationship to relationship in search of his ever-elusive lost love. In a sense, THE CITY AND THE PILLAR gives us a window on what it must have been like to have been a young gay man in this era; at first Jim has absolutely no frame of reference for his sexuality, and when he begins to discover that men who have sex with men are not uncommon he resists thinking of himself as "one of those." But the overwhelming problem with the novel is that Jim is not a greatly interesting person, nor is Bob, nor are any of the people that Jim encounters while he looks for Bob. It soon becomes difficult to care about Jim, much less about whether or not he will ever find Bob and what will happen if he does. Vidal himself was not greatly happy with the novel as it was published in 1948, and he rewrote it for a 1960s reprint. (The original 1948 version, which has a very different ending and slightly different tone, is no longer widely available.) But in rewriting the novel, Vidal did not go far enough: the characters are just as tedious in the second version as they were in the first. While I applaud Vidal for taking on such then-hot subject matter, I can't really praise what he did with it either originally or in the rewrite. Fortunately, if you feel you must read the novel due to its historical significance, it is fairly short--and that, really, is the best thing I can say for it. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
a tribute to Jimmie Trimble,
By wesley neal (Nitro, WV United States) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: City and the Pillar (Mass Market Paperback)
The first time I read "The City And The Pillar" I was less than blown away. Vidal presents us with a story of first love and passion, but he tells it somewhat dispassionately. The ending in particular did not jive with the nature of the characters. Time passed without me thinking much of this novel until I read "Palimpsest" (Vidal's Memoirs). Palimsest introduces us to the real characters behind TC&TP. I gained a whole new angle to view Maria Verlain with the revelation that she was/is Anias Nin. Likewise, I was introduced to Jimmie Trimble, Vidal's best friend (in Plato's sense of the word) and first love. Jimmie is much more real in "Palimpsest" and I found it difficult not fall in love with him myself, a feeling the characters in TC&TP never inspired. I don't want this to sound like I'm putting down TC&TP, I'm not. I just want to convey that the story was exponentially more powerful and moving after I read "Palimpsest." I do recomend this book, but only after reading Vidal's memoirs. The real Jimmie is infinitely more beautiful than the Jimmie Vidal morphed into fiction.
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