abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Another challenging read in translation, but this one more rewarding than yesterday’s review. The Love of Singular Men is a tragic story of two boys who enjoy two weeks of tenderness and newfound love, only to have their idyll shattered by a brutal act of violence. Now in his 50s, Camilo, the narrator looks back on those two weeks with Cosme, alternating these flashbacks with intense present-day sections which see him adjusting to an unexpected father role.
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I can see why James Young won a prize for this translation, as the book plays around a lot with things like tenses, surely making it a challenge to translate and put across the same intentions. With some passages it’s difficult to tell whether or not an event actually happened, or if the narrator’s imagination is running away. This book is short but a lot of themes are packed into it: queerness, sexual awakening, disability, racism, poverty, corrupt regimes… it’s a lot, and while I might have liked some expansion in parts, it also doesn’t feel like the author didn’t do these topics justice.
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While reading, I was already aware that the author had died by apparent suicide, not even 30. There’s a line in this book where someone claims they are ‘not long for this world anyway’ and that honestly broke my heart.
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Tragic thought the book and context may be, there is a lot of tenderness in this novel. Stolen moments between Camilo and Cosme, unexpected but welcome acceptance young boys intent on proving their masculinity, and a chaotic but amazing chapter where the author lists hundreds of real people’s first loves. He put out a call for people to tell him the names of the first person they fell in love with via an online survey, and then included them in this book. It was stunning!
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I’m sure a lot of this went over my head and would benefit from a rereading, but really a gorgeous and devastating book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, and Rape
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