Крылья

Wings (Russian: Крылья) was the first Russian novel centred on homosexuality. Written by Mikhail Kuzmin, it was printed in 1906 to the consternation of a conservative literary establishment. The novel deals with teenager Vanya Smurov's attachment to his older, urbane mentor, Larion Stroop, a pederast who initiates him into the world of early Renaissance, Classical and Romantic art. At the close of the first part, Vanya is shocked to learn that the object of his admiration frequents a gay bathhouse. In order to sort out his feelings, Vanya withdraws into the Volga countryside, but his…