TW for use of the f-slur.
Last Wednesday, I arrived an hour early to my shift. Not wanting to spend any extra time in a building foggy with mold and dust particles, I loitered in the nearby Starbucks to read the entirety of McGlue, Ottessa Moshfegh's first novella.
I was with it for the first 50 pages, and then a switch flipped, and I promptly got tired of it. I enjoyed Eileen, and found Lapvona darkly amusing. However, something about Moshfegh's amateurish style did nothing to suspend my disbelief at the countless historical inaccuracies. Maybe it's my fault for diving so deep into queer history (I'm attempting to write a historical novel, so it's a necessary side effect, unfortunately) but when an author writes visceral and upsetting homophobia into their novella, is it too much to ask for it to be historically accurate?
Yes, I'm talking about F*g. And no, this isn't a hate crime. That's the character's name. Or, it's more like the narrator calls him that because of his internalized homophobia, since I doubt his mother saw F*g as a newborn and decided to name him F****t (F*g for short, or Sissy when you want to switch things up!). McGlue, the narrator, is both attracted to him and cruel to him because of it. Here's the thing, though: the f-slur as it's used repeatedly throughout this novella was not used in this way until the 1910s-1930s. Currently we are on a sailing vessel in 1851.
One thing I've learned is that words are always older than we think they are, but 70 years is a bit of a stretch. In my humble opinion, when writing sensitive topics, you always need to do extra research to be sure you portray it correctly. Another thing I've learned is that words have power. McGlue felt burdened by its lack of care.
So, Ottessa Moshfegh, next time try 'poof'. And if you're ever unsure, check out Jonathon Green's timelines of slang.