The God in Flight [Hardcover]

I'm going to start this by saying - if the idea of two men kissing, falling in love, and yes, having sex, in any way bothers you, just walk away from this book right now.

Still with me? Good. Because this book is just too good to be ignored.

The editorial review from Publishers Weekly up above there pretty much covers the storyline, so I'll make my description of it brief: young Simion Satterwhite is a precocious, brilliant, and stubborn student at Yale University in the 1880s, who meets and falls in the love with his professor Doriskos Klionarios, a shy, sheltered, almost ethereal man who has loved Simion (or rather, his image) from long before they even met.

Their love story plays out, much more believably than any 'typical' romance novel, throughout the course of the book. And for those who care about those things, sex is described in as much detail as anything else - but if you think sex is a focus of the book then you're missing the point.

The characters in this novel aren't your typical fare, either. Simion is stubborn almost to a fault, proud, self-reliant, and in nearly all ways the 'stronger' of the two men. (A previous review that described him as 'weepy' left me baffled; even when being beaten, Simion rarely ever cries. Righteous anger is much more like him.) Though he is, arguably, still young when he meets Doriskos at the age of sixteen, it should be noted that (the rest of this paragraph is a SPOILER) he and Doriskos do not fully consummate their relationship until after he turns eighteen.

Doriskos himself is a very different character from Simion; he is almost pathologically shy, having spent much of his life in the neglectful hands of a foster father who never could relate to him. Because of his isolated upbringing, Doriskos is innocent almost to the point of being simply dense, and his emotions, when finally roused, are as intense as Simion's but seem even more so from being much closer to his skin.

Side characters, from volatile, obsessive Peter to charming playboy Andy to Simion's wise, ailing tutor Simeon Lincoln, are just as fleshed out as the leads. Two such characters, Moses and Helmut, play a big role in the relationship burgeoning between Simion and Doriskos, and the beautiful interplay between the four very different men is truly a pleasure to read.

In fact, the entirety of this novel is a pleasure - reading it, I found myself thinking (when I was pulled away from it briefly, and thus able to think) that this was what all classics should be like: innovative, original, and so believable that when a character is huddled around himself, freezing, you feel like you should go grab a blanket.

It is truly sad that this is the only novel Miss Laura Argiri has ever written, because her writing truly is prose - her sentences are so lovely, and paint such vivid pictures in one's head, that after reading it I find I have to wait before reading anything else, because nothing else stands up to it.

Long after I finished reading this book for the first time, images and quotes from it remained lodged firmly in my head. And while in lesser hands some plots twists could have been rendered unbelievable, in the hands of this amazing author, it never once occurs to you to stop believing. She is just that good.

I've never before encountered a book that moved me so deeply, that inspired and comforted and pushed me like this one does. Reading a novel this jaw-droppingly compelling and flawlessly executed felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I picked this book up at a secondhand bookstore, and now, stumbling upon it feels like discovering a priceless treasure.

Which is basically what I did.

If you like to stretch, entertain, and pamper your mind, by all means, read this book. If you prefer to live a terribly deprived life, well, then, I can't stop you. ... Weirdo. ^_~

Eighteen years is a long time to labor on a novel. Possibly too long; by its completion, two different people will have worked on it. Which might explain some of the odd lapses in narrative, and emotional disconnects in Argiri's magnum opus.

Yet what a beautiful, beautiful book! Written in sumptuous Victorian style, reminiscent of Wharton or James, Argiri tells the tale of a 19th Century illicit love affair between Klionarios, an ascetic Yale art professor, and Simion Satterwhite, a precocious scholarship student who embodies Klionarios's artistic vision.

THE GOD IN FLIGHT is filled with lovely, long sensuous passages, such as when the traumatized Simion wakens in the professor's house: "The table by his bed held a tray, upon which there were an ice bucket filled with melting snow around a pitcher of what proved to be orange juice, a glass, a bell, and a silver plate of grapes. He took two grapes and savored their sweet-tart astringency. This room was like some chamber of temptation in a fairy tale, so apt it was, so suited; it was as if someone who knew everything about colors and fabrics and furniture had climbed inside his head and found out what he would like best, even before he knew himself."

No matter that the effects of Reconstruction and Emancipation are not addressed here. This is romance with a capital "R." A passionate and lyrical novel (though a bit silly), every winter I turn to its comforting literary conventions, just as surely as I return to flannel sheets and schnapps in my cocoa. But it is a strange novel, brushing over what should surely have been pivotal moments in the developing relationship of its protagonists, yet lingering lovingly on the thoughts of side characters. For me, there is really not enough plot, and the novel fails to adequately explore the central characters--and Argiri's characters are most definitely book people and not real people--but they are appealing and memorable nevertheless.

The most dismaying aspect of THE GOD IN FLIGHT is the realization that if it took Argiri nearly twenty years to write this, how long will it take for her next novel?

I live in Australia and purchased this book in a hurry at a secondhand bookstore store on my way to the beach early one morning, because it looked different, and I thought the cover was nice. I dont read books much so didn't no anything about the story or the author. I went for a swim had a surf and started reading it and the next thing it was late afternoon nearly dark, I couldn't put it down, it is the best book I have ever read, it is a type of book that comes around only 1 or 2 a life time. It also is so real, so well written it is if you are in the midst of the drama. It is so true to life an incredible masterpiece I feel they should make a movie from it. I found it original and very interesting, it reflects keen insight into how much dark and dangerous psychic terrain two complex individuals and gay people must traverse to become truly one....An elegant paean to idealized love. The whole world the author creates seems absolutely real, it is a page-turning gay romance, a masterpiece....THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. One that I will remember for the rest of my life.