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Finistere (1951)

by Fritz Peters

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1773152,859 (4.25)1
Mechanically, watching the land disappear into the sea, the word Finstère came to mind. Finis-terre. Land's End. From here it really looked it . . . it was the end of Brittany, the end of France. The end of the earth. . . . A lyrical gay coming-of-age story first published in 1951, acclaimed by many including Gore Vidal and The New York Times, about Matthew, a young American who moves to France with his mother following his parents' divorce. In boarding school and on trips with his mother into the countryside, Matthew navigates his budding sexuality and complicated new relationships with trepidation and hardship until he is forced to confront finistère--land's end--where the brutal truths of the world can be found. Finstère was a profound achievement in the early years of the 1950s, and sold over 350,000 copies. This new edition, which returns this beautiful book to print, includes an appendix of historical materials about the book and author, as well as an introduction by Michael Bronski, author of such books as Culture Clash, The Pleasure Principle, and Pulp Friction.… (more)
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5691. Finistere, by Fritz Peters (read 11 May 2020) This book was published in 1951, before the days of same-sex marriage. It tells of a 15-year old boy going to school in Europe who enters into a relationship with a teacher. The situation is well-drawn and ends in tragedy, rather than the boy returning to morality. ( )
  Schmerguls | Aug 17, 2020 |
When I read this around 1971, it moved me to tears. It was the first gay novel (or just about material of any kind) I had encountered that was anything but dispiriting. It came out at a time when everything a curious young person was likely to find was depressing and squalid. For instance, a censorious type some years later was horrified to find a book by Jean Genet in a high school library and demanded its removal. What are you worried about, I wanted to reply. If you want to send a typical kid running away screaming from the thought of being gay, you couldn't do better than have him read it. Although Finistere had the required unhappy ending, it is relatively celebratory and even lyrical.

Of course, nowadays the fact that the relationship portrayed was somewhat inter-generational would prompt gay activists to lead the way, if anything, in shunning it for another reason. Their expediency has deprived them of the guts of their predecessors such as Allen Ginsberg, Paul Goodman, and Fritz Peters himself. ( )
  Alogon | Jul 5, 2013 |
15-year-old Matthew falls in love with Michel, one of his teachers. ( )
  TonySandel | Sep 13, 2007 |
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Mechanically, watching the land disappear into the sea, the word Finstère came to mind. Finis-terre. Land's End. From here it really looked it . . . it was the end of Brittany, the end of France. The end of the earth. . . . A lyrical gay coming-of-age story first published in 1951, acclaimed by many including Gore Vidal and The New York Times, about Matthew, a young American who moves to France with his mother following his parents' divorce. In boarding school and on trips with his mother into the countryside, Matthew navigates his budding sexuality and complicated new relationships with trepidation and hardship until he is forced to confront finistère--land's end--where the brutal truths of the world can be found. Finstère was a profound achievement in the early years of the 1950s, and sold over 350,000 copies. This new edition, which returns this beautiful book to print, includes an appendix of historical materials about the book and author, as well as an introduction by Michael Bronski, author of such books as Culture Clash, The Pleasure Principle, and Pulp Friction.

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A lyrical gay coming-of-age story first published in 1951, acclaimed by Gore Vidal and The New York Times, about Matthew, a young American who moves to France with his mother following his parents’ divorce. As Matthew navigates his budding sexuality and complicated new relationships, he is forced to confront finistère—land’s end—where the brutal truths of the world can be found.
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