A gust of wind blew the tent flap open, blew rain inside.
'It's going to be bloody wet and bloody cold,' Hilliard said looking down at his groundsheet. They ought to finish their sleep, though he had no idea of the time.
Barton let his arm drop, and moved a pace away. He said, 'I love you, John.'
Hilliard looked at him. 'Yes.' He was amazed at himself. That it was so easy.
'Yes.'
'It's the other which is the real luck- what we have. Thats another matter altogether. Things don't happen like this often in a lifetime.'
'Have you- do you have other friends who- is it the same with anyone else?'
'No.'
Hilliard felt a rush of joy and his mouth was filled up with the words he wanted to say, his head rang with them and he could say nothing.
'You've been here before then?'
'No.' But then he thought that that was not true. he had been here, he had spent hours here with Barton, as they had talked in the apple loft and the tents and dugouts and billets, he could walk down the lane and paths for miles around. He knew it.
Susan Hill- Strange Meeting
By far the best war novel I have read so far. The simplicity of love between Barton and Hilliard is enough to make me choke up just thinking about it. Real human love.
I miss my friends.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I remember, when I read it a couple of years ago, how absent the war is in it - there's no conflict until the final chapter, if I remember right. Thinking back on it, it's even stranger that a straight woman would be able to write such a perceptive book about gay love, and what was a very male-centric conflict. I keep thinking back to Derek Jarman's film version of 'War Requiem' - it centres around the relationship between the character meant to be Wilfred Owen and another soldier. Its slant on the war theme is about the tragedy of the loss of young men ("Half the seed of Europe, one by one"), the terrible destruction of bodies that should be loved, and the beauty of men's love for men; in that respect, it's as much about the AIDS crisis as WWI. It's referred to as the 'Requiem of the 3 queers': Jarman, who was the foremost gay rights activist of the age; Benjamin Britten, who composed the original score; and Owen, who is widely believed to have been gay. I recommend everyone see it - much of it is absolutely devastating; Dominic Hibberd's bio of Owen is also v. much worth reading.
ReplyDelete