
Wings
1905
First Published
3.37
Average Rating
128
Number of Pages
A key text in the history of gay literature, Wings was published in 1906 to the scandalized reaction of contemporary society and the generations which followed. Its central theme of aestheticized sensuality has drawn comparisons with the work of contemporaries Oscar Wilde and André Gide. The young Vanya Smurov is deeply attached to his mentor, Dr. Larion Stroop, and to the world of Renaissance art which the latter reveals to him. Initially appalled by the sudden discovery of Stroop's homosexual leanings, Vanya abandons him to pursue a "normal" heterosexual existence. In turn disgusted by ensuing encounters, he returns to Dr. Stroop and accompanies him to Italy where he begins his real education—both in the world of art, and that of hedonism.
Avg Rating
3.37
Number of Ratings
593
5 STARS
17%
4 STARS
27%
3 STARS
37%
2 STARS
15%
1 STARS
4%
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Author

Mikhail Kuzmin
Author · 6 books
Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin (Russian: Михаил Алексеевич Кузмин) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry.