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Sep. 4th, 2024 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsOn Saturday genarti and I went for a moderately challenging mountain hike. Knowing that I would want frequent short rests but would not want to haul a book of any weight with me, I went looking for something pleasantly distracting that I could put immediately on my phone and ended up with D.K. Broster's The Wounded Name.
genarti may have had cause to regret this, as it meant that every time we started walking again she was favored with non-consensual Wounded Name updates. The first half of this book is, without exaggeration, perhaps the gayest and most dramatic thing I have ever read. (The second half is somewhat less dramatic but no less gay.)
The year is 1815; we are at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and we are VERY Pro Bourbon; our plucky young protagonist, Laurent has a brief meet cute with Aymar, the hottest and bravest and noblest young war hero that France has to offer, and has developed the world's biggest crush in consequence. In a breathtaking stroke of luck for our young fanboy, Laurent is captured on a routine mission and finds Aymar was captured before him! and is gravely wounded! and the doctor wants Laurent to help him tenderly nurse Aymar back to health, because Aymar has no will to live, BECAUSE! he's been credibly accused of betraying his own side for personal gain and leading his own men into certain death!
Aymar, of course, absolutely refuses to explain himself or say anything other than telling Laurent that he should leave him alone to die. The evidence against him, of course, is absolutely overwhelming. But Laurent, of course, refuses to believe that the hottest and handsomest and noblest young war hero that France has to offer could ever have done a single inappropriate thing in his hot and brave and noble life, and he is going to Save Aymar, yea, even unto the point of collapsing from exhaustion at his bedside, no matter the risk and no matter how many people tell him that Aymar Is Not Worthy Of His Deathless Devotion And Sacrifice. And though Aymar spends many, many chapters grimly resentful of said unwanted Deathless Devotion from this near rando who is always there staring at him with enormous shining eyes, he does eventually, inevitably, rebuild his will to live using Laurent's ardent trust and affection as his single emotional mainstay, without which he will simply walk into the sea.
I will note at this point that the enemy soldiers call Aymar Saint Sebastian while Laurent is compared to Patrocles and Pylades rolled into one, which really tells you that Ms. Broster, gleefully writing her little Napoleonic war angst fictions in 1922, absolutely knew one hundred percent what she was doing.
The drama escalates! there are daring escapes and near-death experiences and fraught hand and forehead kisses! Aymar allows himself to be tortured to save Laurent just at the moment that Laurent is finally experiencing agonizing doubt! This leads to perhaps the most interesting moment in the book, when Laurent contemplates the awful possibility that Aymar could perhaps have done something without honor in the past and still love Laurent (who, again, at this point, has spent several months as Aymar's single physical and emotional prop) enough to suffer heroically for him, and that Laurent has accidentally entered into inescapable romantic codependence with a Bad Person ... obviously this is not the kind of book in which there is much nuance between Honorable Good People and Dishonorable Bad People but it's a fun little glimpse at the Debrief version of this plot that could have been.
Anyway, Aymar finally consents to tell the truth, though not before begging Laurent to share his bed with him for one more night before learning the whole truth in case he hates him in the morning. The Awful Truth: Aymar DID send vital war information to the enemy, BUT he did it to save the life of the beautiful cousin he loves who was about to be murdered by firing squad, AND he was doing it as part of a Military Scheme in which another regiment was going to come riding up in time to save the day!
...except he did not check it with the other regiment first before embarking on this scheme, and also it turns out the beautiful cousin he loves was never actually in any danger at all, and it was all a misunderstanding and miscalculation that got hundreds of people killed and made the surviving ones [fairly justifiably I M H O] furious. le grand whoops...
Obviously Laurent immediately determines that this was not his fault and he should not in any way be blamed for it, and the back half of the book is mostly Aymar suffering nobly as people who Believe the Rumors are moderately rude to him while Laurent stands next to him vibrating with rage at the mere thought that anybody might dare to suspect France's hottest and bravest and noblest war hero of being capable of doing a bad thing ever. We are definitely more upset about Aymar's Wounded Name than we are about the hundreds of people who died because he fucked up; we eventually clear his name via military trial and there is much rejoicing! everyone finds out how much Aymar suffered and feels just so bad about it! he's gonna marry his beautiful cousin but don't worry, the book ends on both Aymar and the beautiful cousin turning to Laurent and assuring him that he will continue to be the most important person in Aymar's life! FANBOY ASCENDANT.
(n.b.: we are told that the beautiful cousin has done some cool spying stuff in the past, which is why she was at risk of being murdered by firing squad, but we get no details of it; all this poor woman gets to do on page is Dare to Doubt Aymar After He Flat Out Lies To Her and then Feel Bad About It when a jealous and indignant Laurent explains to her in detail how much Aymar has suffered.)
genarti and I went for a moderately challenging mountain hike. Knowing that I would want frequent short rests but would not want to haul a book of any weight with me, I went looking for something pleasantly distracting that I could put immediately on my phone and ended up with D.K. Broster's The Wounded Name. genarti may have had cause to regret this, as it meant that every time we started walking again she was favored with non-consensual Wounded Name updates. The first half of this book is, without exaggeration, perhaps the gayest and most dramatic thing I have ever read. (The second half is somewhat less dramatic but no less gay.)The year is 1815; we are at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and we are VERY Pro Bourbon; our plucky young protagonist, Laurent has a brief meet cute with Aymar, the hottest and bravest and noblest young war hero that France has to offer, and has developed the world's biggest crush in consequence. In a breathtaking stroke of luck for our young fanboy, Laurent is captured on a routine mission and finds Aymar was captured before him! and is gravely wounded! and the doctor wants Laurent to help him tenderly nurse Aymar back to health, because Aymar has no will to live, BECAUSE! he's been credibly accused of betraying his own side for personal gain and leading his own men into certain death!
Aymar, of course, absolutely refuses to explain himself or say anything other than telling Laurent that he should leave him alone to die. The evidence against him, of course, is absolutely overwhelming. But Laurent, of course, refuses to believe that the hottest and handsomest and noblest young war hero that France has to offer could ever have done a single inappropriate thing in his hot and brave and noble life, and he is going to Save Aymar, yea, even unto the point of collapsing from exhaustion at his bedside, no matter the risk and no matter how many people tell him that Aymar Is Not Worthy Of His Deathless Devotion And Sacrifice. And though Aymar spends many, many chapters grimly resentful of said unwanted Deathless Devotion from this near rando who is always there staring at him with enormous shining eyes, he does eventually, inevitably, rebuild his will to live using Laurent's ardent trust and affection as his single emotional mainstay, without which he will simply walk into the sea.
I will note at this point that the enemy soldiers call Aymar Saint Sebastian while Laurent is compared to Patrocles and Pylades rolled into one, which really tells you that Ms. Broster, gleefully writing her little Napoleonic war angst fictions in 1922, absolutely knew one hundred percent what she was doing.
The drama escalates! there are daring escapes and near-death experiences and fraught hand and forehead kisses! Aymar allows himself to be tortured to save Laurent just at the moment that Laurent is finally experiencing agonizing doubt! This leads to perhaps the most interesting moment in the book, when Laurent contemplates the awful possibility that Aymar could perhaps have done something without honor in the past and still love Laurent (who, again, at this point, has spent several months as Aymar's single physical and emotional prop) enough to suffer heroically for him, and that Laurent has accidentally entered into inescapable romantic codependence with a Bad Person ... obviously this is not the kind of book in which there is much nuance between Honorable Good People and Dishonorable Bad People but it's a fun little glimpse at the Debrief version of this plot that could have been.
Anyway, Aymar finally consents to tell the truth, though not before begging Laurent to share his bed with him for one more night before learning the whole truth in case he hates him in the morning. The Awful Truth: Aymar DID send vital war information to the enemy, BUT he did it to save the life of the beautiful cousin he loves who was about to be murdered by firing squad, AND he was doing it as part of a Military Scheme in which another regiment was going to come riding up in time to save the day!
...except he did not check it with the other regiment first before embarking on this scheme, and also it turns out the beautiful cousin he loves was never actually in any danger at all, and it was all a misunderstanding and miscalculation that got hundreds of people killed and made the surviving ones [fairly justifiably I M H O] furious. le grand whoops...
Obviously Laurent immediately determines that this was not his fault and he should not in any way be blamed for it, and the back half of the book is mostly Aymar suffering nobly as people who Believe the Rumors are moderately rude to him while Laurent stands next to him vibrating with rage at the mere thought that anybody might dare to suspect France's hottest and bravest and noblest war hero of being capable of doing a bad thing ever. We are definitely more upset about Aymar's Wounded Name than we are about the hundreds of people who died because he fucked up; we eventually clear his name via military trial and there is much rejoicing! everyone finds out how much Aymar suffered and feels just so bad about it! he's gonna marry his beautiful cousin but don't worry, the book ends on both Aymar and the beautiful cousin turning to Laurent and assuring him that he will continue to be the most important person in Aymar's life! FANBOY ASCENDANT.
(n.b.: we are told that the beautiful cousin has done some cool spying stuff in the past, which is why she was at risk of being murdered by firing squad, but we get no details of it; all this poor woman gets to do on page is Dare to Doubt Aymar After He Flat Out Lies To Her and then Feel Bad About It when a jealous and indignant Laurent explains to her in detail how much Aymar has suffered.)
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Date: 2024-09-05 03:21 am (UTC)OH MAN THIS MAKES ME WANT TO READ IT ALL OVER AGAIN. Aymar is THE bravest and noblest and hottest and Laurent is THE best fanboy, and this is why every time a St. Sebastian painting crosses my dash I WILL reblog it and tag it "aymar de la rocheterie" and then LAUGH FOREVER (while looking nervously over my shoulder for Laurent to come lunging out of the shadows to challenge me to a duel)
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Date: 2024-09-05 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 04:31 am (UTC)(Icon used however because I simply had to.)
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Date: 2024-09-05 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2024-09-05 12:09 pm (UTC)I truly don't believe that this book could be gayer if they actually made out on page. Aymar probably too wounded/despairing for that for 95% of the book, anyway. But I really do think the second to last chapter, the one that ends with Aymar and Laurent in Aymar's darkened bedroom and Aymar tells Laurent that he is the best and most wonderful friend in the history of the world, fades to black right before they fall into each other's arms. (Do I think that Broster perhaps wrote that scene and shared it with only selected friends. Maybe. Would I give a large amount of money to read it. My GOD I would sell my soul.)
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Date: 2024-09-05 12:41 pm (UTC)They really are too much!!!!
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Date: 2024-09-07 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-07 01:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-07 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 08:55 pm (UTC)As a Broster fan, I would give quite a large amount. By the way,
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Date: 2024-09-07 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-07 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2024-09-05 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 03:26 am (UTC)Does the book know. Like. Does the book *disavow* it? Or is that not even on the table?
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Date: 2024-09-06 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-07 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 06:17 pm (UTC)But I love the twist that that rot13 gurl znlor qvq n jbefr guvat, be n guvat gung jnf whfg nf onq ohg nethnoyl zhpu yrff qrsrafvoyr, be pregnvayl yrff pbby. Terng gjvfg.
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Date: 2024-09-05 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-05 09:09 pm (UTC)Also, may I bring attention to
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Date: 2024-09-05 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 08:30 pm (UTC)Hello! Hope you don't mind my popping up out of nowhere in your journal, but I have to say how hard your post made me laugh! Also, yes, I thought it would be a great Loss to Humanity if this very extra book was not preserved for eternity :D
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Date: 2024-09-06 08:31 pm (UTC)Oh, wow! I knew you owned a first edition, but not that it was an autographed one *jaw-dropped*
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Date: 2024-09-06 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-06 11:05 pm (UTC)