No Thomas Mann

As a queer alumnus, I was utterly appalled and dismayed to read Professor Dewey Ganzel's review of Paul Russell's latest work of fiction, The Coming Storm Although Professor Ganzel did have some good things to say about Russell's writing, the review was essentially grounded in a certain disguised homophobia, which to queer readers is not disguised at all.

Professor Ganzel seems to have a deep need to compare Russell's work with Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice,citing its presence in The Coming Storm as his reason for doing so. The fact is, however, Death in Venice pertains particularly to Louis Tremper, not to either Tracy Parker or Noah Lathrop, except, perhaps, as they are seen in Louis' eyes. Professor Ganzel draws particular attention to the fact that the relationship between Aschenbach and Tadzio is never consummated, and implies that this is somehow the far better thing than the consummation, in its "sometimes fulsome detail" between Tracy Parker and Noah Lathrop. Professor Ganzel even goes so far as to say that Tracy Parker chooses "an act of Dionysian self-indulgence that Mann would have condemned." Indeed, Mann would have condemned it, having lived in an entirely different historical and social-sexual context. The consummation of the relationship was not Tracy Parker's self-indulgence, but rather a consensual act between two men, albeit with a ten-year age difference. Noah knew what he wanted and whom he loved, and acted on that powerful human feeling as much as did Tracy Parker.

My gut feeling is that this was very disturbing, indeed, to Professor Ganzel. Pederasty brings up strong taboos. Noah was, however, mature enough to decide for himself what he wanted and needed in order to feel like a whole human being. As readers we witness the powerful and terribly upsetting struggle within Noah, the 15-year-old boy-child with all his needs, and Noah the full sexual being that he is. It seems that Professor Ganzel would have had it otherwise, somehow more proper.

Professor Ganzel's review reminds me of the reviews done by the late Claudia Cassidy, the Chicago arts critic. She, too, could not review anything artistic on its own merits, but rather, always had to compare it to something older and, in her perception, more grand. Like Cassidy's reviews, Professor Ganzel is saying, "Well, Paul Russell is certainly a worthy author, but he is no Thomas Mann." Indeed, he is not, nor is he trying to be, and such a comparison belittles the greatness of Paul Russell's writing, his imagination, sentence structure, exquisite turns of phrase, his clear delight in the written word.

I was deeply offended by the homophobic content of Professor Ganzel's review, especially as the first gay man to come out on campus in the history of Oberlin, and one who watches closely, participates in, and is thrilled with what the queer student community and queer and queer-friendly faculty and administration have achieved over the three decades since my own outrageous act of what Professor Ganzel would no doubt call my own act of self-indulgence.

As a queer alumnus and a member of the Oberlin Lambda Alumni Steering Committee, I believe an apology is in order from OAM for such an error in judgment.

Many a Worthy Game

It was moving to read your brief summary of the remarkable life of Richard Weekes '49 (Winter). Three years with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, World War II. Master's degree from Columbia in Middle Eastern Affairs. Writer for the U.S. Information Agency in Pakistan, the London correspondent for TIME, the director of CARE in Turkey, the executive director of the Iran Foundation in New York, head of the Ford Foundation in Brazil. A real credit to our nation, to himself, to his family, and to Oberlin.