Hello! I’m thinking about writing my bachelor thesis in literature studies about unreliable narrating and homosexuality. Now I’m trying to come up with novels that deal with homosexual unreliable narrators, preferably ones that are closeted and don’t explicitly talk about their sexuality. But other than Nabokovs Pale Fire I cant really think of anything. Do any of you know any more examples? Help would be very much appreciated!
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Do they have to be canonically homosexual? A lot of people read The Great Gatsby as Nick being homosexual, but again, not proven.
Am I the only fogey forced to read A Separate Peace?
The Immoralist by André Gide
Maybe also In Search of Lost Time by Proust? I haven’t read it but it seems to fit your description
Proust is probably too ambitious, I think writing about In Search of Lost Time would be more suitable for a dissertation since there’s so much to analyse. But I’ll look into The Immoralist, thank you!
Christopher Buehlmann’s Between Two Fires has a side-story about a priest tempted by his homosexuality who deludes himself for a while.
The great Gatsby might be interpreted this way
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess could fit. Not sure if he’s really an unreliable narrator though
The narrator in “American Psycho” seems an obivous choice. He violently reacts to any trace of homosexuality, real or perceived, and never seems to obtain any pleasure from his numerous straight thrists. They look a lot like posturing.
Also, I’ve read several times that critics consider Ripley (from “The talented Mr. Ripley” and book sequels) to be a closeted gay. It was made explicit in the Matt Damon film, but in the books it’s more subtle.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin comes to mind immediately.
Another good fit would be The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst.
Amazing novels, amazing writers, The Folding Star has clear allusions to Nabokov as well so could make for a fruitful comparison.
Try “Ravelstein” by Saul Bellow.
Louis from Interview with a Vampire? He’s certainly unreliable and the book famously skirts around the obvious homosexuality.