Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #215754 in Books
• Published on: 1989-01-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

Confused lad overcomes condemnatory church teachings
Set somewhere on the coast of the Irish sea, Sucking Sherbet Lemons follows five troubled years of discovery in the life of Martin Benson. The story starts when Benson is thirteen years of age, in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Following what was school normal practice then, Benson and his peers are referred to by their surnames. Benson is the son of a policemen, a Catholic and a seemingly distant man; his mother is more doting but misguided. Benson himself is overweight, very religiously inclined, not a popular boy and the constant target of bullies at the St Bede's, a Catholic boys' grammar school which he attends.
He is constantly perturbed by the conflict of his religious beliefs and what he perceives as his unnatural liking for boys and enjoys fantasies involving other lads. He is also a founder member of the Rude Club, where he enjoys some intimate explorations, and is fascinated by the more adventurous Bruno.
Following a talk on vocation from a visiting Catholic Brother, Benson thinks he sees a way out of his problem and eventually goes away to St Finbar's for training to be a Brother. However his demons to not desert him, in fact he just encounters more problems
Sent back at his old school, St Bede's, things do not go well at first, but maybe there are brighter prospects ahead.
This is a very rewarding tale, and very encouraging as we witness the making of a fine young man out of the initially somewhat pathetic Benson. More importantly it is a real indictment of the Catholic faith. Whatever one's beliefs there can be no defence for promoting teachings, supposedly found in the Bible, which condemn sinners to eternal damnation, while at the same time so blatantly failing to provide any support or counsel for miscreants. It is not surprising that under such loveless direction that the young Martin Benson endured such a tragic state of confusion. I found this a very positive and enjoyable read.

NOTE: this book is also pubished under the title 'Brothers in Arms'.

Funny and thought-provoking!
I have very fond memories of this book and twenty years on from its original publication date I re-read it to see if it had stood the test of time. It has. "Wobbles" Benson begins the novel an overweight teen, racked by guilt, trying to come to terms with his unquestioning Catholic belief and blossoming sexuality. It is very funny and I laughed out loud in a number of places, particularly in the first section, with Benson's experiences at school - an Assembly where one boy is selected by the Head for humiliation is a superb piece of comic writing. I found the pace flags a little in the second section of the novel where Benson transforms into Brother Joachim, a novice in a seminary, where his beliefs are questioned in the face of religious extremism and temptation. During the third section Benson is back at school and sex begins to get the upper hand until it becomes less of an obsession and more of a part of his make-up as a person. For a book about adolescence, Catholic guilt and homosexuality it's hard to beat.

A triumph of commonsense over misguided religious teachings
Sucking Sherbet Lemons follows five troubled years of discovery in the life of Martin Benson. The story starts when Benson is thirteen years of age, in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Following what was school normal practice then, Benson and his peers are referred to by their surnames. Benson is the son of a policemen, a Catholic and a seemingly distant man; his mother is more doting but misguided. Benson himself is overweight, very religiously inclined, not a popular boy and the constant target of bullies at the St Bede's, a Catholic boys' grammar school which he attends.
He is constantly perturbed by the conflict of his religious beliefs and what he perceives as his unnatural sexual leanings; he likes boys and enjoys sexual fantasies involving his own sex. He is also a founder member of the Rude Club, where he enjoys some intimate explorations, and is fascinated by the more sexually precocious Bruno.
Following a talk on vocation from a visiting Catholic Brother, Benson thinks he sees a way out of his problem and eventually goes away to St Finbar's for training to be a Brother. However his demons to not desert him, nor his situation is not helped by the taunting and tempting of an elderly Brother, Michael. There occurs an incident in which a fellow initiate takes drastic action to control his own wrong inclinations, and in the ensuing investigations, although innocent, Benson, realising the futility of his pursuit to be a Brother, allows himself to be partly implicated, and so is sent back home.
Back at his old school, St Bede's, things do not go well at first. In the sixth form, but a now year behind his old class mates, he does not fit in, not helped by his extreme and overzealous Catholic beliefs, which he allows to dominate all his school work.
But things begin to change for Benson when he meets Andy, a fey young man in his twenties who introduces him to the joys of gay sex. Shortly after that an incident in class marks the beginnings of a further change. In class being taught by the belligerent Brother Wood, Benson is singled out by the Brother, but Benson calmly stands his ground, resulting in a violent slap from his teacher, but the instant respect and admiration of his peers. It also results in a new friendship with a very intelligent and previously aloof classmate, Clitherow. As a result of Citherow's encouragement Benson becomes a new person, seriously questioning his beliefs and accepting a totally new outlook on life. The two boys become best friends with new possibilities now opening up for them both.
This is a very rewarding tale, and very encouraging as we witness the making of a fine young man out of the initially somewhat pathetic Benson. More importantly it is a real indictment of the Catholic faith. Whatever one's beliefs there can be no defence for promoting teachings, supposedly found in the Bible, which condemn sinners to eternal damnation, while at the same time so blatantly failing to provide any support or counsel for miscreants. It is not surprising that under such loveless direction that the young Martin Benson endured such a tragic state of confusion. I found this a very positive and enjoyable read.