The Thief's Journal
by Jean Genet

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Book Reviews of The Thief's Journal

Book Review: Don't trust it if you're studying it in french
Summary: 4 Stars

For those of you who have no idea about Genet, he was a homosexual writer who counted Cocteau and Sarte among his friends and supporters and wrote The Thief's Journal in the late forties. It is based on his experiences of being a thief and homosexual travelling around Europe and his encounters with various men, most notably Stilitano who he almost worships. It had to be published anonymously in Switzerland to prevent an enormous outcry - as it was, Genet was banned from entering the US for years on the grounds of being a deviant. He demands a degree of complicity from the reader, but at the same time keeps us at a distance, manipulating us to his will in order to convey his rejection of society and simultaneous need to be condemned by the same. It's a disturbing read at times - his subjection is deliberately humiliating - but fascinating in terms of how the author can hijack language for his own gains. Genet takes a fairly colourful attitude to factual biography so don't trust his word completely, but as an exploration of submissiveness, love, prison and beauty, you won't find a much more interesting read than this.

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