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I first read Just Hit Send when I Was 14 or so. (I'm nearly seventeen) but I read it again yesterday. I'm starting to see it in a new light, Grasshopper is SO talented, but I think the sexual side of JHS, far outweighs the LOVE and EMOTIONAL sides, I'm trying really hard not to look at the story like this. Afterall, it was the story that made me realise who I was, and what I really wanted. I just wondered what you guys thought? :-/
"Some people look with their eyes... Myles, to find me you just after to look with your heart."
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I think that one of the reasons that I consider Grasshopper a really talented writer is that different people, at different times in their lives, get very different things out of his writings.
I first read "just hit send" about 15 months ago, at a *really* difficult time in my life. I was getting to grips with the fact that I am now too disabled to work, and learning to live with physical pain as a constant companion.
I was also trying to come to terms with a bunch of bad stuff from my early teens, including facing up to the fact that my first emotional and physical love affair was in fact abuse (my earliest posts in Feb 2005 on this forum dealt with that - thanks again for helping me, everyone!), and with realising that the emotional and physical abuse I'd had from my father as a young child has left me both scarred and scared!
On top of that, a long-term relationship had ended a couple of years earlier, which I hadn't really faced up to until my ex. got married (to a woman).
So, for me, "Just Hit Send" (or as much of it had been written when I read it) touched all kinds of chords with things I was wrestling with. And what I got from it was very simple - it was encouragement not to give up, at a time when I *really* needed that message.
A year later, I'm still crippled, still single, and now into my 50's! But life is so much better than it was - I've resolved most of my "issues", am enjoying life, have made a couple of really good (realworld) gay friends over the past year, and am socialising enough to stand some chance of eventually meeting somoeone special.
I haven't re-read "Just Hit Send", or even read the later parts of it as they've come out. I'm sure that I will, eventually ... but reading it when I did was an immensely emotional experience for me, which at the moment I don't think I should dilute by revisiting it.
Not sure if this really answers your question or not, DK, but anyway, a belated welcome to the board!
cheers
NW
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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In a way I agree with you about the sex part. Altho Grasshopper has the ability to squeeze your heart and make you cry. what is important is the love. Love being separate from sex. Love stands on its own, it is strong in the way it can never fail. Its really not a physical thing. Its the caring, the tenderness, the striength to protect, the want to cherish and hold, the need to be with someone forever. Sex is a secondary thing. When its done right it is the physical expression of love.
I dont know if everypone agrees with that or not. Some will and im sure some wont. I know when I read a lot of the stories, the sex was secondary and didnt have a lot of bearing on the story. For me it was the depth of feelings the charactures had for each other . the need to belong to each other.
Im sure that Deeeej and Cossie are gonna have something to say, but I just grin and bear it. After all us colonials are brats.
I believe in Karma....what you give is what you get returned........
Affirmation........Savage Garden
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I'd have to disagree with you about the sex. It's a long time since I read Just Hit Send, I'm afraid, but what I liked about it was that the sex was secondary; that love and friendship and acceptance were far more important to a relationship. In fact, I very much prefer stories of romance without any sex at all to romance with sex or just sex, but maybe that's just me.
When I was younger I found it difficult to reconcile the fact that I was attracted to other boys -- seeing them as people to cherish and love foremost as friends -- with the somewhat sordid details of sex (as related to me by other people). For a long time I was frightened to admit I was gay, I think because I was under the impression that sexual intercourse defines sexuality (and I have certain hang-ups over sex). Sites like this, where romance and friendship and love were given priority, helped to change that perception.
Deeej
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... how different people draw different things from the story? For myself, I've never been too keen on sex (in stories, that is!) because very few writers have the talent to integrate sex scenes into the natural flow of the narrative. All too often, the sex simply interrupts the tempo; it's as if the writer periodically feels the urge to demonstrate his knowledge of functional anatomy. I already passed that exam with honours, thanks!
I think GH has been pretty successful as regards integration; when I look again at some of the chapters I see that there is a fair amount of sexual activity, but on first reading the story didn't strike me as being about sex at all. It's very much about love. One the one hand, viewed objectively it's set in a pretty idealised world (in the same way as Charlie's 'Finding Tim', currently running on the site) but even though we KNOW that it's idealised, it's still pretty life-affirming. GH certainly knows how to stimulate the tear-ducts!
We shouldn't forget that Jamie isn't too much older than you are, DK, and over the period he has been writing JHS there have been some pretty major changes in his life - so we avid readers have the added bonus of enjoying the work of a talented writer who is changing and maturing as we read his work.
By the way, don't pay any attention to Brian! I'm not at all insular about my use of the term 'brat'; I regard it as equally validly applicable to anyone born South of Yorkshire in the UK. On second thoughts, there are loads of brats in Yorkshire, too!
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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I didn't find the sex scenes so striking in JHS. For me, it is a story that lightens my mood, my heart, and sucks you in. Best stories for me are always those where you find yourself in another world, and upon stopping reading suddenly feel sadness upon once again being on this earth.
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...and that maybe it depends on how each individual looks at the story. I'm not saying that Grasshopper as made the sexual side of ‘JHS’ the main epicenter of the story, and nor do I even want to appear that I am signifying that this ruins the story. I think that it is all part of how Jordan, Daniel and indeed Grasshopper himself have grown both emotionally and physically throughout the 'JHS Years'
I think perhaps, because I was so captivated by the magic that lays within the words of JHS I didn't notice the sexual parts.
I guess I just observed the story more this time… and I am definitely not going to negatively criticise Grasshopper’s wonderful and heart wrenching work.
"Some people look with their eyes... Myles, to find me you just after to look with your heart."
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DK, I really don't agree with you. I think that in all the scenes that my ancient memeory can recall the sex was hinted at rather than described. At any rate, I cannot recall one single instance of a "blow-by-blow" account of a sexual encounter in JHS (or in any of Grasshopper's stories, for that matter.) Grasshopper seems to suggest scenes to our imaginations. I agree with Cossie that we really don't need all these detailed descriptions of anatomical acrobatics. Most of us know what goes where and don't need to be told every third page how it's done.
Don't get me wrong: there are other authors who seem to delight in giving detailed descriptions of sexual encounters and these descriptions do not detract from a very good story well written. (Mike Arram immediately springs to mind: Henry and Ed are at it in glorious technicolour in almost every espisode, but the story is a damned good story.)
I agree with those who have written that the essence of a Grasshopper tale is love, not sex. And I truly believe that if you tell Grasshopper that one of the stories has made a difference to you in some way or other that will be a most precious compliment.
(In fact, don't forget to send a note of appreciation to our story-tellers. Everyone likes to know that others have enjoyed what they created and it takes very little time to send a short email. Recently I sent one to Mike Arram about his stories and he was gracious enough to respond.)
I have rambled on long enough, DK. Even though I don't agree with your thesis, thank you very much for raising the topic for discussion.
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Actually I saw the same thing as you....
But when I said so I got into deeeeeeeeeep shit....
Never criticizing is best....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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Actually it is that we try very hard not to be a "story critique" forum. A few years ago we had some critiques. All they did was created heat and rancour. Far better to read selectively what you enjoy most. It never does any harm to say "I enjoyed this", but negative comments are better sent to authors quietly.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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I never offered any critique.....
I did however state my opinion of the work.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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I was making a general reply. I just mis-positioned it
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I believe everyone gets something marginally different out of J.H.S. I know I do; I even get more than just the story.
In fact when you stand back and look at it, how many other stories can you say have invited such comment fron so many people? From an author of such age, it is a phenominal success.
I don't feel competent to stand and criticise any particular part of it frankly; not that I'd want to, because I prefer to consider it in its entirety. What do I get from it? A kind of glow. A buzz all of its own. In a way it's as good as this board - 'A Place of Safety' - because that's how it can make you feel. Let's indulge ourselves a little magical fantasy.
Despite all the bad things that can happen to you, you begin to see that good things can happen too. It's a kind of 'what if?' or 'could that happen for me?' and 'am I really like him too?' type of medicine. Why shouldn't a story get you like that? It's a story after all.
It's 'fly-on-the-wall' style writing, too.
When characters become so believeable and seem so real that you'd never bat an eyelid if JD came banging his way into your room, dragging Bug, well, I'd say that's a good story from an incredible author. Don't knock it, just enjoy it.
Hugz to the author! 
CW
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Just Hit Send 
I guess, Cossie is right. 
