Shame

I am still fuming. I should have known better. I had read comments, gossips... Still, after starting to look for a book on the Pink Triangle and the deportation of homosexuals by the Nazis, I ended up buying Les oubliés de la mémoire (Hachette Littératures, ouvrage publié sous la direction de Jean-Claude Lescure, 2002, 294p), the most recent title on the topic, by... Jean Le Bitoux. A terrible choice.

Le Bitoux is a well known figure within the French gay movements. A journalist, he was one of the founders of Gai Pied, an influential gay magazine during the 80s. In 2002 he was appointed to head the creation of a Center for Homosexual Archives funded by the city of Paris. The project led nowhere and Le Bitoux was soon dismissed... It does not surprise me. I found in the first pages of Les oubliés de la mémoire so many errors(*) that I had to put the book away... How is it possible for a serious publisher like Hachette to market such a document? I am still fuming... and still looking for a good book on the topic.

While checking some of the facts in Le Bitoux's book, I came upon the mention of a play by Roger Martin du Gard, Un taciturne (Gallimard, 1932, 236p). Written in 1931 while Martin du Gard was finishing Les Thibault, it is a lovely miniature, a short play: the story of a mature businessman who discovers love when he hires a young man full of joy, light and energy. When confronted with his homosexual feelings, he cannot stand it and prefers to commit suicide... Un taciturne was performed under the direction of Louis Jouvet in 1931. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, it has not been translated into English.

2009.09.13

(*) A few examples: "Le médecin (sic) et journaliste hongrois Karoly Maria Kertberry (sic)", "Solidement ancré dans le Code pénal britannique depuis 1895 (sic), l'amendement dit 'La Bouchère' (sic)", etc.