#ensan

[nxght-shxft]

coughs flails on the ground like a fish and drops this here and then runs into the woods

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

More Penguin Classics covers for old gay novels.

(Part 1)

[zaccariacombat]

World War II is the most personally fascinating period in all of history for me. Nothing intrigues me like it does. I do have World War II buff tendencies at heart, but I tend to keep it under wraps most of the time. While that is considered a stereotypically straight male interest, it is not exclusively so by any means.

Why do I bring up sexuality? Well, I immediately gravitate towards any book that features a gay male relationship in the time of World War II, particularly between military men, because it satisfies two of my deep interests at once. Two of my favorite novels are Look Down in Mercy by Walter Baxter and Wingmen by Ensan Case. To me, these both exemplify the kind of book I want to read, but they execute them in different ways; Look Down in Mercy is much more literary in style compared to the midcentury popular war fiction style of Wingmen. Nevertheless, these books reach something deep in me that almost no other book I have ever read featuring gay men and World War II ever has before, and I think I figured out why: the vast majority of modern fiction involving a gay relationship in World War II falls into the category of traditional M/M romance fiction, and I prefer a gay male relationship in World War II that is not bound by the conventions of romance fiction, as well as has engaging historical details beyond set dressing.

I will be clear that I don't look down on romance fiction at all. It simply is usually not for me. I have given romance novels a good shot because I was looking for more gay World War II content to satisfy this niche interest of mine. A lot of them I even enjoyed, but it was almost always at a rather surface level. They didn't stick with me like Wingmen or Look Down in Mercy, with one exception, which I will get into later. At fist, I wondered why. I have since realized that pure, traditional romance novels are not for me because there is a fundamental mismatch between how I enjoy relationships in fiction and the inherent structure of a romance novel: I don't like a guaranteed happily ever after or happy for now ending. I want there to be at least some doubt that the ending will be positive, so if it is happy, it feels much more valuable. I can really enjoy an unhappy ending if it tells a compelling story, and the lack of that possibility makes the HEA or HFN endings in a romance novel feel so cheap to me. I understand that the reassurance of a positive ending is a driver for many people's interest in romance, so I know this is just a personal thing.

There is one book that falls into the M/M romance umbrella that did resonate with me, though, that did stick with me. That is this very obscure, Kindle-only book called Box 1663 by Alex Sorel. It involves an army photographer falling in love with a scientist at Los Alamos. What made it work for me, despite it being marketed as a romance novel, is that it didn't feel like one. Instead, it was a historical thriller, involving some of the greatest secrets of the war, that also involved a gay romance. It is not marketed as such at all, however. It also involved all these historical details around Los Alamos that made me really excited.

I think another flaw common in gay romance fiction taking place in World War II is that the setting feels like a total backdrop to the gay romance. I'm a World War II buff! I want to enjoy the setting, too! Reading about all the planes in Wingmen is so exciting to me. Look Down in Mercy has extremely vivid descriptions of the war that could range from beautiful to absolutely disgusting. Honestly, I like the scene descriptions as much as the actual plot in that book. That's how good they are. Box 1663 lets the reader know all about the Los Alamos laboratory and the dry landscapes of New Mexico. It was not just set dressing. The laboratory actually meant something; it was related to the thriller plot.

The thriller plot and historical details kept me so engaged in Box 1663, despite it being marketed as M/M romance and thus being guaranteed to not have a doomed relationship. This is what keeps me from totally avoiding all modern M/M romance during World War II. I can look past the guaranteed positive ending if I could end up with another Box 1663. It hasn't happened, but I don't want my enjoyment of this particular niche to be totally stuck in the 20th century. I want to give modern works a shot, too.

It feels so hard for me to find the kind of book I want to read that I started writing one myself. Back in 2020, I started writing a novel surrounding an American bomber crew in World War II. Two of the guys in the crew do end up falling in love. I think I will go back to it eventually and rewrite much of it. My writing has improved since then and I see where I wrote myself into a corner.

Basically, it feels so hard for me to find the kind of book that perfectly engages two separate interests like this. The World War II fiction authors generally don't care all that much about gay relationships, and the authors who want to write gay relationships are generally not especially fascinated by World War II. The kind of book I want to read is in an absolutely minuscule niche. I hope I can find more, but for now, at least it has motivated me to start writing my own novel.

If you have any recommendations, let me know! Please don't recommend The Charioteer, though. I already know about it, I tried reading it, and it didn't work for me at the time. I keep meaning to go back to it, though. But, if you have any other books that I may like, I would love to hear about them. This niche is so small that I probably already know about it, but possibly not!

[davilasinfiltro]

It’s been over 3 years but I still think about how Skeppy wanted Bad to send him a lock of his hair so he could frame it

If Skep brushed Bad’s hair he would keep the strands that fell out methinks

[neptunes-blue]

It’s 3am but I drew my first full body since march 2023, are you proud of me guys guys guys are youproudof me guysguysfuys

[renaultphile]

There is something about the way Ensan Case writes awkward male banter that I love so much! I don't know why 😊

Beach Head, Ensan Case

[shadows-on-the-sky]

Beach Head by Ensan Case

Beach Head is Ensan Case's (author of Wingmen) second novel. It was published in 1983 and has been out of print ever since, so I decided to digitize it to share with my fellow Wingmen fans.

There are some notable similarities between Beach Head and Wingmen, like their structure, the World War II setting and the realistic and slow burn style. However, the (mostly investigative) latter half of Beach Head takes place in the 1960s, and the story has American and Japanese characters. The plot is also much more complex, and there's also much more explicit violence. And while it doesn’t center its narrative around a gay romance like Wingmen, Beach Head has LGBT characters as well.

You can download Beach Head here.

If the link isn't working, or if you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to contact me!

For those who want to know a little more about the novel's plot, here's the (spoiler-ish!) back cover synopsis:

The sand and water were stained red, the beach littered with the bodies of young Marines he had just met. The screams of the wounded and dying rose above the sound of the gunfire.

It wasn't what Carl Randall expected when he left his job on the society pages to become the war correspondent for his father's San Francisco newspaper. When he left the smouldering ruins of Pearl Harbor, he still expected his role to be drinking and storytelling. Randall never imagined that the end of the war would find him stranded on a deserted Pacific island… or the key to a secret the government would never want revealed!

The nightmare of the war stayed with Randall. A generation after the Japanese surrender, it was about to become reality… again!

[bi4bihankking]

Wingmen Summary:

Jack Hardigan's Hellcat fighter squadron blew the Japanese Zekes out of the blazing Pacific skies. But a more subtle kind of hell was brewing in his feelings for rookie pilot Fred Trusteau. While a beautiful widow pursues Jack, and another pilot becomes suspicious of Jack and Fred's close friendship, the two heroes cut a fiery swath through the skies from Wake Island to Tarawa to Truk, there to keep a fateful rendezvous with love and death in the blood-clouded waters of the Pacific.

The Song of Achilles Summary:

Retelling of the Illiad, focusing on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus

[berrymeter]

i am such a respectable person for not insulting my mother :3 i am so reasonable & kind & lenient :33c I Hope She Suffers Tho

[shamemp3]

feel sick when i dont eat feel sick when i eat. does it end?

[nxght-shxft]

unsencored below the cut!!

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

I just wanted to say thank you so, so much for the Wingmen recommendation 💖 I doubt if I would have found this book by accident and I loved it so much!! I have just finished the book and I am struggling to string a sentence together right now, still processing. So I thought I would ask you your thoughts on the book and why you like it so much!

Oh, I'm so glad you liked it!

While The Charioteer is probably my favorite novel ever, Wingmen is not far off from the top spot. As a historian, I always say good historical fiction can teach you a lot, and I did learn by reading Wingmen. The author clearly knew the stuff he was writing about: the aircraft, the dates, the battles, the Navy lifestyle, the whole war effort... It's all detailed and realistic, a really immersive experience. Even if the romance is the main draw, this is a true military fiction work.

And the romance. I love Fred and Jack. Case wanted to raise the bar for gay characters in the genre, and he achieved this. Notice that in spite of the period and the prejudices, this isn't a story about homophobia — it's a war story with a love affair. Yeah, Fred and Jack eventually suffer from prejudice, but the main point is that they are warriors. A warrior couple, as Eric Patterson described them, willing to sacrifice themselves for each other, and whose love was built around a strong sense of mutual respect.

Despite the realism, the plot isn't just a bunch of events following each other. It works in a carefully crafted crescendo, it has rhythm, and it's very satisfying to follow. The battle scenes are incredible; I remember being so tense when I was reading them for the first time! The author is also never dismissive towards women or Japanese people (despite some characters presenting period-typical takes), which is refreshing for a 1970s book of this kind. He was cautious when it comes to love scenes between the main characters, but that can be excused (particularly if you’re used to Mary Renault).

And I have to say I find Duane Higgins a fascinating character. Unlike Fred and Jack, you never really know what is going on inside his head (but I have some theories!).

[zaccariacombat]

Beach Head has arrived! I am excited to read Ensan Case’s other work!

@alovelywaytospendanevening

[douglasmacdonalds]

I‘m amazed that Beach Head is still cheap while Wingmen is nonexistent. Here’s to hoping Case will republish? 😢

[renaultphile]

Wingmen Ensan Case

Fred Trusteau quietly seething when the new guy takes over his beloved war diary and messes it up is the sweetest thing ever. Don't worry he's back writing the diary again in the next chapter.