A famous American novelist is David Leavitt, most of his books are gay/lesbian-themed. So far I read two of his novels (and I liked them both):
1.
The lost language of Cranes (1986)
In New York, Philip has a rather shallow relationship Eliot. At the same time he realizes he wants to come out to his parents. But his parents are having problems of their own, since the father has been secretly visiting gay porn cinemas for years. The whole family is heading for some drama, although the novel in part also has a happy ending (read it yourself!). A subplot is about Eliot's lesbian roommate Jerene who has a happy relationship, but is, because of that, ignored by her parents who are no longer regarding her as a daughter.
From this novel a motion picture was made (I haven't seen that so far).
2.
While England sleeps (1993)
This is quite a different novel: In England in the 1930's, an upperclass writer (Brian) and a self-educated worker and member of the communist party (Edward) are having a relationship. Edward sees no problem in this, but upperclass Brian lets himself be engaged with a "suitable girl" to keep up appearences. Brian ends up in crisis and decides to join the left forces in the Spanish civil war to fight against fascism. After he has disappeared, Brian to starts to look for him in Spain...
The only German gay-themed novel I read so far was funny in way, but sometimes I found the style slightly annoying/ boring:
Clemens Ismann,
Das Landei 1998
Steffen bewegt sich in unterschiedlichen Teilen der Ost- & West-Berliner Gay-Szene, kurz nach der Wende. Er hat dort einige komplizierte Verhältnisse. Früher hatte er eine Art Verhältnis mit einem Schulfreund in einem kleinen Dorf in Mecklenburg. Weil er vom Lande kommt, nennen die Berliner ihn "Landei".
I read a several Dutch/Flemish books that I do not all remember (obviously they didn't impress me all). I must say I have a strong dislike against books that tend to be (slightly) pornographic.
I agree to the above messages about the Flemish author Tom Lanoye, i.e. I like his books (they are not all about gay subjects). He has written some more books than
Kartonnen Dozen, e.g.
Alles moet weg and
Spek en Bonen.
An interesting and controversial Dutch author is Maarten 't Hart. The atmosphere in his books is slightly depressing. He comes from a rather strict (Dutch) protestant background, some of his novels are about his escape from that. I read one gay themed book:
Ik had een wapenbroeder (1973)
De hoofdpersoon is in dienst en krijgt een relatie met een andere dienstplichtige in zijn eenheid. Bij een oefening schiet hij hem per ongeluk dood, en komt vervolgens voor het krijgsgerecht. Het is al een paar jaar geleden dat ik dit heb gelezen, dus ik weet eigenlijk zelf niet meer hoe het eindigde (Hmm).
A Dutch youth book:
Edward van der Vendel,
De dagen van de blugrassliefde (1999)
Een jongen gaat voor een internationaal kamp een paar weken naar de Verenigde Staten. Aldaar krijgt hij een relatie met een Noorse jongen, en samen spijbelen ze bij een aantal activiteiten. Dat was niet helemaal de bedoeling, dus ze worden weer naar huis gestuurd. De ouders zijn op vakantie, dus besluit hij kortstondig om z'n "vriend" in Noorwegen op te gaan zoeken...
A French poet that should be named is Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891). He wrote poems until he was 21 (!), while having an affair with in elder author. They lived a kind of bohemian life in London. After that he went to Africa and Yemen, and, interestingly, learned quite a number of languages. He appears to be a rather mysterious person in French literature. Most of his work was publishe post-humously (I think).
Malheureusement, je n'ai rien lu de lui jusqu'à maintenant. J'ai trouvé deux sources sur le www (en "googlant"):
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rimbaud.htm
http://www.6bears.com/rimbaudverlaine.html
En 1996, on a fait un film au sujet de la vie d'Arthur Rimbaud, joué par Leonardo di Caprio himself. Peut-être un de ses films inconnus!? Je l'ai vue sur la télé Belge une fois.
Alors, this what I can remember right now. Maybe more some other time.