Thank you goes to Josef Kohout for sharing us his experiences. This kind of perspective is completely new for most, but it really shouldn't be. Whenever fear surfaces as differentiating people by some quality they have, alarm bells should be ringing in the heads of each of us. A family member once asked (someone who seems to be doing that differentiating thing quite a lot) why I always keep reading about horrific stuff like this. Well, you don't have to surround yourself with this kind of material, but you can't grow up in a barrel full of cotton either. That's just plain ignorance. Besides, when you know what happens when fear takes control, you know that there's actually just the one side you can choose if you have enough sense of justice and respect towards another human being. An example: either you think homosexuals deserve equal rights, or you don't. If you think they don't, you can just take your head from your ass for a moment, and reflect with this book in hand.

By the way, double standard's a bitch.

Homosexual behavior between two 'normal' men is considered an emergency outlet, while the same thing between two gay men, who both feel deeply for one another, is something 'filthy' and repulsive.

3.5 stars. At times a bit disorganised, but mostly clear and approachable general overview, that speaks out strongly against double standards and feminists' point of views. I won't go into my personal opinions here, so I'm just going to say that I don't entirely understand renting your body to all kinds of creeps in these modern times, if there are other opportunities available. Roberts's convincing arguments and prostitutes' own comments however gave me a lot to think about, like whether it's fair to label prostitutes as criminals or not. So, I may not understand the modern sociological aspect yet, but historically this is an intriguing topic. Especially the case of courtesans, women who were able to be independent and stinking rich without having to marry some idiot who would treat you like a puppet.

The woman of the book cover is a Storyville prostitute, and can be seen in this wonderful set photographed by E. J. Bellocq.

A short and brilliant satirical essay, where Swift cuts into Ireland's financial situation and the treatment of poor by suggesting that babies should be the main source of food. As a side product you could get gloves for the ladies and boots for the gentlemen. So, by shocking the readers Swift had good chances to be heard. There's no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Swift argues that by doing this the population of Ireland would be reduced (especially Papists), the poor could get more assets when the babies are sold to the rich, and mothers would take better care of their babies when they'd be a source of income. The richer population is the best target for this delicacy, because those bastards have already sucked the parents dry so they would probably appreciate meat even more tender. Although, because babies are so tender, they are not suitable for exporting, because they wouldn't be preserved in salt for a very long time. Then again, there is a country (England) that would probably enjoy Irish meat even without salt.

Now, recipes anyone?

There's no narrative voice in Puig's novel, only dialogue. Despite this the novel is wonderfully multilayered, and Puig has subtly weaved the stories of the main characters among the recountings of the films Molina has seen. Loved the choice of films, Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943) among others. By recounting films the jail time of Molina and Valentín goes by faster, helping them to forget the harsh reality. However, reality seeps through the stories because you can't ever escape it completely. There are also interrogation documents and footnotes. The footnotes deal with psychoanalytic theories of homosexuality, but I didn't quite grasp their function. In my opinion they didn't add anything to the story. As a whole, though, they don't matter much. Puig's unusual novel is well worth the read. You should also check out the 1985 movie, William Hurt is amazing.

Oh, and you can interpret the ending in two ways. You can either consider it as sad, or if you know Molina, as an ultimate fulfillment and blending in with the movie heroines he so admires.

One of those books that remind me why it was a good decision to just not finish books if they fail to capture my attention. Especially in a case like this where the page count is more than 500. In theory this could have been a pretty good story, but in practice... Oh boy. The prose is quite good, but it just drowns under everything else so I can't enjoy it the same way I usually would. Styron tries to tackle with too many topics and themes all at once, none of which he can focus on completely, making the whole story confusing and meandering. It's like he had a bunch of good ideas and decided to stuff them all into one novel, even though he would have been better off just writing at least two different ones. So, instead of one epic ambitious novel, this consists of fragments of incomplete threads and only one vaguely interesting character, Nathan. And what's up with the horny musings of the self-absorbed narrator Stingo? Seriously, I couldn't care less!

BBC Radio 4 - Classic Serial

Read this for a book report in English and I would certainly not have picked it by myself.

Despite the extremely stereotypical characters I enjoyed this because I think children can really identify with Jess and Leslie. Most of us have had experiences with secret hiding places where we can escape the sometimes cruel world of adults. It was a way of survival. Dealing with a tragedy that is included in the book is something we should not underestimate children in.