The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Rating:
Summary: There's a reason why this is an "underground text"
Review: In France, parents inexplicably leave their 16-year old son to spend the summer with a young priest. The somewhat mystical priest who believes in horoscopes and other occult rituals seduces the boy. The boy in turn seduces a 12-year old who goes from village to village selling loaves of bread. The affair is found out; authorities make inquiries. The priest spirits his 16-year old lover away until everything blows over.

There is mysticism thrown in. The 16-year old teases about whether he is a man, a woman, or a nymph; there is even the suggestion that he has been reincarnated several lifetimes and has always engaged in the same love affair with his little bread-selling boy toy over the centuries. Pretty pastoral scenes abound, and, truly, where would the reader be without the evil, menacing thunderstorms that break out over the pastures every few pages?

There is a reason why this is an "underground text", a phrase that the publisher uses to elevate this minor work. It is "underground" precisely because it does nothing; it just sits there. One almost wonders whether it was a self-indulgent exercise on the part of the now deceased author. The reader is subjected to sadomasochism, self-flagellation, etc., and at times it feels that the author is merely giving reign to his own fantasies.

Not once, however, is there anything transcendent in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Instead it consists of some bizarre sex scenes dressed up in a nice French country setting complete with sheep and flowers and some occultish devilry thrown in.

These are not ingredients for a good novel let alone a good piece of erotica.

Rating:
Summary: There's a reason why this is an "underground text"
Review: In France, parents inexplicably leave their 16-year old son to spend the summer with a young priest. The somewhat mystical priest who believes in horoscopes and other occult rituals seduces the boy. The boy in turn seduces a 12-year old who goes from village to village selling loaves of bread. The affair is found out; authorities make inquiries. The priest spirits his 16-year old lover away until everything blows over.

There is mysticism thrown in. The 16-year old teases about whether he is a man, a woman, or a nymph; there is even the suggestion that he has been reincarnated several lifetimes and has always engaged in the same love affair with his little bread-selling boy toy over the centuries. Pretty pastoral scenes abound, and, truly, where would the reader be without the evil, menacing thunderstorms that break out over the pastures every few pages?

There is a reason why this is an "underground text", a phrase that the publisher uses to elevate this minor work. It is "underground" precisely because it does nothing; it just sits there. One almost wonders whether it was a self-indulgent exercise on the part of the now deceased author. The reader is subjected to sadomasochism, self-flagellation, etc., and at times it feels that the author is merely giving reign to his own fantasies.

Not once, however, is there anything transcendent in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Instead it consists of some bizarre sex scenes dressed up in a nice French country setting complete with sheep and flowers and some occultish devilry thrown in.

These are not ingredients for a good novel let alone a good piece of erotica.

Rating:
Summary: a cultic favorite ... I hope not
Review: What this book needs most is a continuity editor to keep the physical descriptions compatible. It would help if the characters had plausible motivations for their actions. It would help if the basics of every day life - the manditory duties of the priest, the caring for the sheep - were in the general vicinity of accurate. It would help if the book had a cohesive view of the magic, ritual, hallucinagenic substances, reincarnation etc. that make up the core of the plot.

It should be obvious that I don't care for this coming-of-age, gay masochist novel. What makes it most frustrating is that here and there one reads flashes of excellent writing - enough so that this book may have an historical place in gay erotica. But for general reading, save your "to read stack" for better materials.

Rating:
Summary: a cultic favorite ... I hope not
Review: What this book needs most is a continuity editor to keep the physical descriptions compatible. It would help if the characters had plausible motivations for their actions. It would help if the basics of every day life - the manditory duties of the priest, the caring for the sheep - were in the general vicinity of accurate. It would help if the book had a cohesive view of the magic, ritual, hallucinagenic substances, reincarnation etc. that make up the core of the plot.

It should be obvious that I don't care for this coming-of-age, gay masochist novel. What makes it most frustrating is that here and there one reads flashes of excellent writing - enough so that this book may have an historical place in gay erotica. But for general reading, save your "to read stack" for better materials.