The power of fiction to illuminate

Yesterday, I picked up Stone Butch Blues.

 I have only read the first chapter.

 I think I’m going to like it.

From memory, I would say I have never read any work of fiction that deals with transgender topics.

 I wonder why?

Can’t say I have read much about bisexuality either.

Maybe one of the reasons I have sidestepped Stone Butch Blues all these years,

 is because I hate to read about suffering and abuse.

I’m a bit of a wimp that way.

I have always had trouble dealing with novels whose main theme is abuse.

 I  know it exists, I hate that it exists.

Child abuse, incest, all are topics that disgust me.

I realise that most people feel that way, maybe it’s my inner ostrich coming through.

A friend of mine asked me  to read Bastard Out Of Carolina, she told me it was very important to her

 and that she kept coming back to it.

So, I read it.

I hated it and loved it, at the same time.

The voice was so true and it was so painful to read.

When I finished it, I felt physically sick, like I might vomit.

I’m glad I read it and I will never read it again, no need, it is imprinted on my brain.

I would encourage people to read it, it is strong and powerful.

I know, Stone  Butch Blues,  is not about that kind of abuse.

 It is about ignorance and abuse of power.

I also think, based on what I have read about it, that it is about being who you are.

Not an easy task in a world that doesn’t accept you.

I’ll let you all know what I think of it.

Fiction has the power to illuminate.

I’m hoping that Stone Butch Blues, will help me to understand transgender issues. 

Not to accept, I accept, who am I not to accept?

Understanding is something else.

Bisexuality also leaves me a little perplexed.

I get fluidity,

I get being attracted to both sexes,

I get evolution in one’s life and being different people at different times.

Maybe, I get bisexuality and don’t realise it.

I must try and find a novel that deals in a truthful manner with bisexuality.

Any suggestions?

Later girls

BB

 

Author: Bookish Butch

I am a bookish butch in my mid early fifties. I live in Montréal and always have. I used to run a small used bookstore. Reading keeps me sane. My latest jiggie is photography, book project in the works, living the dream

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