In this issue, our man from England, Tony
Heyes, reviews Jay Mandal's Loss of Innocence
The Loss of Innocence by Jay Mandal
BeWrite Books UK 2003
Paper, 256 pages $15.33
ISBN: 1-904492-49-5
Regular readers of IGW will be familiar with some of Jay Mandal’s short stories. His latest collection, “The Loss of Innocence” maintains his previous, quirkily humorous, high standard. Not that all the stories are humorous. Some are poignant or even tragic, whilst others are heart-warming and touching. As always, his ability to convey what is lost between the interstices of idle chatter is to the fore.
The tale from which the book derives its title is a sad one. An inexperienced young man, Michael, has his illusions shattered, losing his innocence, when he discovers the sordid reality of the life of Max, the man towards whom he is attracted and with whom he has been trying to pluck up courage to form a relationship. Max, for his part, loses the innocent Michael because of his own sexual incontinence. Both are left sadder and not necessarily wiser men, pondering on what could have been. Similarly, in “Epiphany” another potential relationship fails because of a too long delayed decision to commit. “When Love Wears Thin”, on the other hand, is the story of a relationship maintained only by one partner turning a blind eye to the other’s infidelity because of the need to stay together for financial reasons – the story of many a marriage! “A Quiet Life” is a tale of making use of someone.
One of Mr. Mandal’s strengths is his ability to depict crippling self-doubt and lack of self-esteem. Too often people fail to seize the moment because of their inability to see themselves as people of worth. Amongst gay people this diffidence is doubly cruel since their opportunities are statistically narrower than those afforded to straight people and their negative attitudes have been reinforced by a lifetime of societal disapproval. It is all the more pleasing, therefore, to see that a story from his previous book, “A Different Kind of Love” (reviewed in April) called “Of Cabbages and Kings” is taken up again and resolved in “Many Truths”. The self-deprecation of both the protagonists, Matthew and Jan, persists and almost wrecks their relationship. Unfounded doubts, deriving from low self-esteem, are allowed to grow and fester out of all proportion. In the nick of time they speak and act truthfully and their relationship is strengthened and moves on to firmer ground.
Not all of the stories in this volume are heavy. Some are quite whimsical. “The Triumph of Hope” and “Neither Hide nor Hair” are stories of relationships beginning by chance whilst “A Lucky Escape” and “Business is Business” tell of victory in love snatched from the jaws of defeat. “All Beautiful Things” is a touching tale of love across the generations.
There are a couple of stories of love that is stillborn or of hopes destroyed, whilst “A Clean Break” and “In the Eye of the Beholder”, seem a bit too contrived.
As should be apparent by now, Mr. Mandal ranges widely over the gay human condition in this collection of stories, sufficiently wide to please most readers who are more concerned with the marvel of relationships, despite or because of their fragility, rather than with bedroom athletics. Whilst not writing a Comedie Humaine, Mr. Mandal has nonetheless covered the waterfront and has produced a very satisfying volume ideal for reading in short bursts. I look forward to his next offering and can recommend this one “for your edification and delight” (as used to be said in the music halls) unreservedly.
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