The Italian Invert: A Gay Man's Intimate Confessions to Émile Zola

I will be reading this.

Mama Mia!

Cool. Thanks for posting this.

Lorenzo Richelmy for the movie adaptation, please.

Zola also had a very intense friendship with Cezanne when they were young, which ended in a very abrupt and surprising way that has mystified people for nearly a hundred years. There was speculation that the break could well have been due to something sexual. This sort of supports the likelihood of that. Cezanne was emotionally cold and withdrawn for the rest of his life.

R5, there's also his novel La Débâcle (1892), where two soldiers -- Jean and Maurice -- seem to fall in love during the course of the Franco-Prussian War, culminating in this passage:

In the wood, in the great stillness of the trees, when they could not hear a sound and nothing stirred and they thought they were secure, an extraordinary emotion made them fall into each other’s arms. Maurice was crying like a child, and tears rolled slowly down Jean’s cheeks. It was the reaction after their long torment, the joy of telling themselves that suffering might perhaps take pity on them at last. They hugged each other in a passionate embrace, made brothers by all they had gone through together, and the kiss they exchanged seemed the gentlest yet the strongest in their lives, a kiss the like of which they would never have from a woman, undying friendship and absolute certainty that their two hearts were henceforth one for ever.

^And THEN?

"My dear boy," Jean said in a shaky voice when they had let each other go, "it's already a great deal to be here, but we're not through yet.... We ought to take our bearings."

I want to think a bit of time has passed between the kiss and 'letting each other go', time enough for them to make love, but which Zola couldn't explicitly detail.

And there's this fun bit in L'Argent (aka Money; 1891):

Then Saccard teased Sabatani about Germaine Coeur, with whom he had seen him the day before, and made a crude allusion to the rumors about his being prodigiously well endowed with something exceptionally gigantic, which set the girls in the world of the Bourse dreaming and tormented them with curiosity. Sabatani didn't deny it, but just laughed noncommittally on this unseemly subject: oh, yes! the ladies were very amusing, the way the chased after him, they all wanted to see for themselves.

Zola was kinda cute as a husky young bear.

I love to read about gay stories like this. It's something that has been missing for a while now. Gay stories of the past are not being told anymore. It's like gay men have been brainwashed into thinking there are no stories about them worth telling.

Can't wait for the book.

He just never met the right girl

Will Mario Cantone play the Italian Invert?

[quote]Mama Mia!

Oh, dear!

Bump

R5: A young Paul Cezanne. I could imagine the doughy Zola lusting after him, even if he were a 1 on the Kinsey Scale.

^I think the general sense is that it was likely Cezanne who was the one who was rebuffed, but I haven't looked into this in quite a few years. It was something that happened on a visit to Zola's parents' house, and Cezanne departed abruptly, and either never spoke to Zola again, or maybe they had some kind of stilted, embarrassed meeting in public, many years later when both were famous, where both men tried to get away from each other as quickly as possible. -R5.

I see that there’s a new miniseries adaptation of Germinal for French tv; have any DLers in France had a chance to see it?

Damn this is an interesting story, thanks OP

R5 they were both married to female women of the opposite sex, not that that necessarily means much especially back then when being out was pretty much a social and career death sentence R17 could well be right, hard to say

The book is now scheduled for release in May. On a whim, I emailed the editor to ask him if my interpretation of the relationship between Jean and Maurice, particularly the passage quoted at r6, in The Debacle was a) meant to be interpreted as homoerotic and b) if so, was it possibly informed by his correspondence with this Italian gay man. Just received his response:

"I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis, similar to a theory I have developed: Jean and Maurice have a homoerotic liaison, and Zola was very much inspired by the letters the Italian sent him in 1889.

I develop this in more detail in the introduction to The Italian Invert, where I quote the fragment you also cited.

Enjoy the book and don't hesitate to give me your impressions, the Italian's text is really an amazing testimony to queer life at the end of the 19th century."

Now I can't wait to read this book!

J'adore Zola, as well as the term "invert". I've used the term to describe myself cheekily during some awkward moments. Most never got it, or perhaps they later looked it up. I don't know how this book has escaped my radar.

Unlike many, I'm a firm believer that all the works of the Nineteenth Century French Realists are true classics, and ought to be required reading: Zola especially.

I just ordered this, but it's not available until 22 May... Cannot wait! Cheers OP, a most excellent thread.

[quote] I love to read about gay stories like this. It's something that has been missing for a while now. Gay stories of the past are not being told anymore. It's like gay men have been brainwashed into thinking there are no stories about them worth telling.

Are you a frau? No gay person wants to look at the past when we were being treated like shit. Grow up and move forward. No one cares anymore about these boring stories full of suffering and misery. The world changed, granny.

[quote] they were both married to female women of the opposite sex,

There are redundant words in that quote, I'm just not sure which ones.

R23 Oh fuck off. Yes, we need to know our real history. If we don't know it, then you have a situation like where now everyone thinks Stonewall was a revolt led by trans women of color. And, even in times of oppression you can still find wonderful stories of love and perseverance.

I'm assuming r23 is a troll.

R25 It is difficult to tell anymore.

Sadly, r23 is typical of today’s gaylings.

Do you think they made catty remarks about other gay French men at Le Data Salon?

r21, what are your favorite Zola novels?

I read Thérèse Raquin a few decades ago and quite liked it. About 8 years ago, I read La Terre on a whim and adored it; since main character Jean Macquart was also the focus of La Débâcle, I read it next and adored it even more. I then decided to read more of the Rougon-Macquart series, in no particular order (though I am saving Doctor Pascal for the last, since it's said to be an epilogue for the series); I enjoyed Son Excellence Eugène Rougon, L'Argent, L'Assommoir, and Nana, but if I had to pick one to hand to somebody as an example of Zola's towering achievement, I'd go with Germinal -- my god, I couldn't put it down, it was breathtaking. Of his other famous novels, I still need to read Au Bonheur des Dames, L'Œuvre, and La Bête humaine (I have seen Jean Renoir's 1938 film version).

I agree that Zola should be more read by modern audiences, as well as other Realist/Naturalist writers of the late 19th century (another fave is American writer William Dean Howells -- A Hazard of New Fortunes is, imho, the most underrated American masterpiece); I love these books not only for their literary qualities but also because many of these writers, like Zola and Howells, were former journalists who attempted to portray the world as it really is, and thus provide a unique portrayal of the past.

R27 can't recognize a troll when he sees one

R29 That's a rather hard call to pick just one favourite, but Thèrése Raquin has left a ladting impression on me some thirty years on. I had to think on it awhile, as no one had ever asked me before.

I'll say I've rather enjoyed them all, however [italic] Germinál [/italic] would be my runner-up. It's funny what the mind does to our recollections of what we've read, and loved so long ago... I'm only fifty-two years-old, yet it feels like a lifetime ago when I was devouring Zola, de Maupassant, and Balzac. The last of Zola for me was finished in probably '96/'97. I was very saddened when there was no more for me to read!

Some of these titles I've read in both French snd English. I seem to remember these better. [italic] Thérèse Raquin [italic] and [italic] Germinal [/italic] may stand out more clearly in my mind's eye because of this.

Cheers for the film tip, as I had no clue it even was made. I'd very much like to see the 1938 film of [italic] Bête Humaine [/italic] , it was excellent, and a "must read". It's interesting how many well read English speaking people do not know The Realists, or Naturalists, as Americans usually call them. They're usually a bit older, yet not necessarily an entire generation older.

I'm not at all familiar with the American Howells, but shall look into him!

^a thousand apologies for my formatting.

Yesterday I received my second delay notice from Amazon, with no ETA. I've tried two small local booksellers as well; this must be quite popular.

I've ordered from my local bookseller. He says it's scheduled for a July delivery.

Cheers R34

I am not a big Howell's fan, but A Hazzard of New Fortunes is really amazing.

Anyone who ever has been apartment hunting in NYC, will love the chapters about that. The characters start out with a clear idea of what they want and what would be a deal breaker. As they look at places, their vision erodes and they settle for an apartment they would never have considered at the start of their search.

It's already available on Kindle now. Downloaded it yesterday.

I'm about halfway through the book; there's much to comment on, but had to share this tidbit - the Italian has a way with words, and here's his description of his first enjoyable experience as the receptive partner in anal sex:

"The fact is that little by little the path was opened up and the conqueror entered the castle so long under siege but now captured, if not entirely, at least a good part of the way."

Trust me, the Italian is a proto DLer.

[quote]I think the general sense is that it was likely Cezanne who was the one who was rebuffed, but I haven't looked into this in quite a few years. It was something that happened on a visit to Zola's parents' house, and Cezanne departed abruptly, and either never spoke to Zola again, or maybe they had some kind of stilted, embarrassed meeting in public, many years later when both were famous, where both men tried to get away from each other as quickly as possible.

I remember reading in a biography on Zola years ago that Cezanne was a virulent homophobe who had been molested by a man when he was growing up and had allowed the experience to influence his views on gay men. However, I've since googled it and I can't find anything to back this up.

Can anybody shed some light on the subject?

My copy finally arrived, and I cannot wait. Thanks again OP for your thread.

R40, I am really enjoying it, it's an entertaining and fascinating read so far. It's also surprisingly relevant to certain issues today. It could, genuinely, make for an interesting movie; is there a handsome, slender, blond European actor who can pass as 23 and 30?

I thought the thread title read 'An Italian Introvert," and thought, damn, that does sound like a tough situation.

[quote] is there a handsome, slender, blond European actor who can pass as 23 and 30?

Actually, now that I think about it, any actor playing this role would need to successfully portray teenager to 30 years old; the Italian is writing his first letter at age 23, recounting not only his family background and childhood but also his initial sexual experiences starting in his mid-late teens up to his early 20s, then writes a second letter at age 30.

I started reading this book yesterday, it's extremely interesting, even though the guy is clearly a huge narcissist lol

Reading it also. He's certainly a DLer, but interesting self awareness, no pity, proud of his inclinations, loves men's bodies, also "born this way"