3.5

Originally i decided to read it because my also Oscar Wilde obsessed friend said he actually wrote a gay porn book. he has previously joked about the concept before and even ai generated fake covers for a fake Oscar Wilde book called something dumb like “the art of gay sex”. ‘Teleny’ was indeed mostly gay porn but there are definitely moments where it feels like more than that - its a story of two lovers in an unconventional and taboo situation, but they manage to fight through together. Until they don’t! The ending i felt was not necessarily, but i did realize it seems almost like a gay retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
It really made me think about my queerness at times.
There was a paragraph where Camille was discussing with whoever the other person he is chatting to through the story is of his acceptance of his nature liking other men. It really connected to me and reminded me of how i felt when I finally accepted i was trans and gay. That i was a man and loved other men. Queerness is beautiful and it is strange that a 19th century erotica made me realize that.


Also I predicted the part where teleny was sleeping with camille’s mother which was funny lol