Two boys Kissing by David Levithan

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.




Review : Some times "Gods of reading"  bless you by making you curious enough to read them. I thank my book angel for bringing this book into my world. I expected the story about the two boys who set out to make a new record for the longest kiss. To be about their feelings and their story till that moment. But this book is about a lot of other gay people - a couple's first few dates and their journey of knowing each other , a boy's rage and pain as he deals with his own sexuality , the love and the process of growth of a stable couple and reactions from family or society to each of these people. 

What is most beautiful about is the voice of narration of the book. Its the voice of generations of gays who are gone from the world and yet linger on to look over the love , breakups , pain , anger and the baby steps the society takes in accepting these people. The voice is like an old man so full of stories , nostalgia , warmth , hope and mostly wisdom. And that wisdom reflects in every page of the book. 

When I was reading this book , I might have shared hell lot of quotes with friends and saved as many.  I would like to close this post with these quotes from the book - 

Some of us loved. Some of us couldn’t. Some of us were loved. Some of us weren’t. Some of us never understood what the fuss was about. Some of us wanted it so badly that we died trying. Some of us swear we died of heartbreak, not AIDS.

 -------

Neil has assumed that love was like a liquid pouring into a vessel, and that the longer you loved, the more full the vessel became, until it was entirely full. The truth is that over time, the vessel expands as well. You grow. Your life widens. And you can’t expect your partner’s love alone to fill you. There will always be space for other things. And that space isn’t empty as much as it’s filled by another element. Even though the liquid is easier to see, you have to learn to appreciate the air.