The CharioteerAfter enduring an injury at Dunkirk during World War II, Laurie Odell is sent to a rural veterans' hospital in England to convalesce. There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance. Then one day, Ralph Lanyon, a mentor from Laurie's schoolboy days, suddenly reappears in Laurie's life, and draws him into a tight-knit social circle of world-weary gay men. Laurie is forced to choose between the sweet ideals of innocence and the distinct pleasures of experience. Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteer is a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar and Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories as a monumental work in gay literature. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... night . If he had been asleep and waked to hear the strokes , it would have been different , a small man- ageable fragment broken off the unknown hugeness of night , from somewhere in the middle . He would have been a little uneasy ...
... night . If he had been asleep and waked to hear the strokes , it would have been different , a small man- ageable fragment broken off the unknown hugeness of night , from somewhere in the middle . He would have been a little uneasy ...
Page 60
... night . He turned over . " Please , Nurse ... " His voice stopped . It was An- drew with the trolley . The forms , the shadows , the colors in the ward mag- ically regrouped and changed . The pool of light on the Sister's table had for ...
... night . He turned over . " Please , Nurse ... " His voice stopped . It was An- drew with the trolley . The forms , the shadows , the colors in the ward mag- ically regrouped and changed . The pool of light on the Sister's table had for ...
Page 301
... night's leave if he could catch the four - forty ; but if he missed it , it couldn't be helped . At ten o'clock , Aunt Olive remarked on the busy day they had had ; told Mrs. Odell that she must have an early night ; then blushed a ...
... night's leave if he could catch the four - forty ; but if he missed it , it couldn't be helped . At ten o'clock , Aunt Olive remarked on the busy day they had had ; told Mrs. Odell that she must have an early night ; then blushed a ...
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Common terms and phrases
Alec Alec's Andrew asked Aunt Olive better blackout Bridstow Bunny Charlot Childe Maurice cigarette cold course dark Dave dear divan door drink Dunkirk everything expect eyes face feel gave gone hair half hand happened heard Hello hospital Jeepers kind knee Lanyon laugh Laurie felt Laurie knew Laurie looked Laurie realized Laurie remembered Laurie saw Laurie thought Laurie's light mean mind minutes mother moved never nice night noticed Nurse Sims Odell once opened pause Phaedrus Ralph looked Reg's Reginald Barker Sandy Sandy's seemed shut silence sitting sleep smile someone sorry sound Spud Spuddy stared stood stopped Straike suddenly suppose talk tell thanks there's thing thought Laurie told tonight took trying turned voice waited walked ward watching wondered worry