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Tony Heyes
Our regular reviewer and social
commentator presents a life, with Richard Chamberlains philosophical
autobiography and Kit Fisher's suspense thriller, Paper Flowers.
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 Shattered Love
by Richard Chamberlain Published by Regan Books ISBN 0-06-008743-9 I confess! Forty years ago I was a “Dr. Kildare” fan. I didn’t care that Dr. Gillespie, played by Raymond Massey, was a sententious old pain in the fundamentals, nor that the programme was horribly manipulative with its emotive sound-track shoring up the acting, nor that the moral of each episode had to be spelt out for us half-witted viewers. No. I wanted to see Richard Chamberlain’s Dr. Kildare, so clean-cut, as one critic said, that he might have been carved out of toilet soap. Later I thrilled to his Ralph Touchett (if you’ll pardon the expression) opposite Suzanne Neve’s Isabel Archer in the BBC’s adaptation of Henry James’s “Portrait of a Lady”. I remained loyal until “The Thornbirds” which, with its three tame kangaroos and the smallest flock of sheep I’ve ever seen, not to mention its Baptist take on Catholic ceremonial and appalling make up, was risible in the extreme and destroyed forever my already shaky faith in Hollywood. Thereafter I was a semi-detached fan, viewing his various swashbuckling films when they were shown on the box but avoiding the commitment of time that the many episodes of “Shogun” required. Even so, I always retained a soft spot for the idol of my adolescence and eagerly fell upon his recently published memoir. Wisely, Mr. Chamberlain has not called his book an autobiography for it presents only brief aspects of his life. He tells us that he approached his publisher intending to write a book of “philosophical essays” (somewhat different from those of traditional philosophers, it has to be said) but the publisher said there was no market for those: an autobiography would sell much better. However, what we have here is a number of what Mr. Chamberlain regards as philosophical essays padded out with salient episodes from his life. We are nudged into reading them by their being sugared with tantalisingly brief selections from what must have been a life crowded with incident. Mr. Chamberlain’s philosophy, it must be said, obviously works for him but it is too personal and woolly to engage the reader at any meaningful level. Navel-gazing is essentially a private occupation. This is a pity. When the facts of Mr. Chamberlain’s early life are retold he describes situations and emotions to which, as Dr. Johnson says, “every bosom returns an echo”. Growing up at a time when to admit to being gay was to court personal ruin and maybe even imprisonment, it was small wonder that he was deeply closeted and bewildered. Constantly to be told that one is an unnatural abomination does nothing for one’s self-esteem. To have a domineering alcoholic for a father, as he did, adds to the feelings of worthlessness. It is strange that children grow up craving the approval of those whose opinions they will later come to see as not worth having. By then the damage is done. Clearly it is no coincidence that so many gay people seek refuge in the performing arts or in other professions in which they are able to adopt personae different from their own and behind which they can hide. Mr. Chamberlain for many years hid behind his public image. His journey to personal acceptance and inner tranquillity was long and painful. The scars remain. This is apparent from his memoirs. All autobiographies can’t help but be selective but he is puzzlingly discriminative in what he chooses to relate. Writing as an Englishman, I’m puzzled as to why the possibility of an invitation from Princess Margaret which never materialised is given so much space while other aspects of his four years in this country go unrecorded. Who were his friends? What did he do? Is he being reticent for reasons of tact? The same applies to his life in the States. We are told very little of how his life has been spent, other than in acting and therapy. Even his partner, Martin, remains a shadowy figure. What attracted him? What keeps them together? I suppose it is apparent by now that “Shattered Love” left me feeling unsatisfied – not because it is bad but because it is tantalising in its omissions. The author has a better story to tell and has led a much richer life than he has described here. He is an engagingly modest person and does not do himself justice. Were he to write a full autobiography rather than a vehicle for his philosophical essays, I’m sure I’d be his number one fan once again. |
Paper Flowers
by Kit Fisher Published by Wayward Books (www.waywardbooks.com) ISBN 1-903531-01-2  This book is
a real page-turner. Within a few pages the plot begins to unfold and
from then on the reader is hooked. It’s difficult to put the book down.
As the complications and misunderstandings multiply you want to know
what happens next.Set in London in 1981, “Paper Flowers” begins as the tale of a rent boy, Peter Duncan, and his client, Andrew Byrne. Theirs is ostensibly a commercial relationship, a purely sexual transaction. However, not all is as it seems. For a start, Duncan, a young man with a very troubled past, has fallen in love with Byrne, who is his only client! Gradually Byrne comes to return his affections but at first neither is prepared to admit his feelings to the other or to himself. Matters are complicated by their both having other agendas outside the relationship that appear to put them on a collision course. Byrne is a special policeman involved in undercover anti-corruption measures. Duncan is an ex-policeman who was framed by the very people whom Byrne is investigating and is engaged in his own clandestine investigations. He is out for justice, not revenge. As neither is aware of the other’s background or life outside the bedroom, their fragile and tentative relationship shatters when their paths cross in the criminal underworld and both their lives are endangered. Will they be able to rebuild what little they had and go on from there? As the narrative progresses the tension is ratcheted up a notch at a time to the book’s cliff-hanging climax. It would not be fair to give the impression that this novel is no more than a rattling good yarn. Mr. Fisher handles the developing relationship between the two main characters with great psychological insight. Duncan’s conflicting emotions and, at times, lacerating anger and despair are deftly described and totally believable. Byrne’s growing realisation that Duncan is the most important person in his life is also economically but truthfully presented. In addition to the tension of the novel itself, a tension within the reader is also generated – whether to race through the book to get to the denouement or linger over the touching scenes as the relationship builds, shatters, and builds again. The secondary characters, Byrne’s non-judgemental superior, his colleagues and the villains are also totally believable. To anyone who wants a thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable read I would say get this book. It can be obtained via the net at the address given above. Enjoy!
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