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nwhyte's review against another edition
5.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2644625.html
I thought it was excellent. It's been described as halfway between Death in Venice and À la recherche du temps perdu, but I think that's a bit unfair; yes, the central emotional relationship is the narrator's crush on a young boy, but there's a lot of well observed stuff about art, sex, youth, bars, education, the German occupation of Belgium in the second world war, annoying Spanish girls in the neighbouring flat who use up your hot water, and what it's like being an Englishman in his early thirties living in Belgium who has enough Dutch to get by. The narrator knows that his behaviour is foolish, but he is surrounded by other flawed people behaving equally foolishly, and there are dark secrets that he does not spot until he is led into them. An intense novel of both the soul and body. Recommended.
I thought it was excellent. It's been described as halfway between Death in Venice and À la recherche du temps perdu, but I think that's a bit unfair; yes, the central emotional relationship is the narrator's crush on a young boy, but there's a lot of well observed stuff about art, sex, youth, bars, education, the German occupation of Belgium in the second world war, annoying Spanish girls in the neighbouring flat who use up your hot water, and what it's like being an Englishman in his early thirties living in Belgium who has enough Dutch to get by. The narrator knows that his behaviour is foolish, but he is surrounded by other flawed people behaving equally foolishly, and there are dark secrets that he does not spot until he is led into them. An intense novel of both the soul and body. Recommended.
slamberts's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
karin_blissbohemian's review against another edition
3.0
19 eeuwse grandeur die bol staat van obsessie en mysterie.
België als melancholische achtergrond voor relationele tristesse.
België als melancholische achtergrond voor relationele tristesse.
clem's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
enoughgaiety's review against another edition
4.0
Yeah, it's official, Alan Hollinghurst is unbelievably good. (Also, at unexpected moments, quite funny--I hadn't noticed it so much until this book.)
cnyreader's review against another edition
3.0
Edward is in his early 30's, a writer newly come to Belgium to escape London and start fresh. He's a tutor and falls in love with Luc, one of his pupils, and distracts himself by exploring the gay scene of the city. His other pupil's father runs a museum of a deceased lesser-known artist and Edward takes on some side work helping him put together a catalog of the artist's work.
I'm not sure I appreciated this book the way it was intended. Sex scenes don't do much for me and there are lots of them. Edward seems both overly confident and completely insecure at the same time. The obsessing over a 17-year-old feels so... juvenile. At the same time, there are some big, deep themes- love, betrayal, WWII- and handled well.
Food: over dressed, wilted spinach salad. Too much vinegar in the dressing and the spinach is not so fresh. Several mouthfuls of tart and bitter aren't so tasty.
I'm not sure I appreciated this book the way it was intended. Sex scenes don't do much for me and there are lots of them. Edward seems both overly confident and completely insecure at the same time. The obsessing over a 17-year-old feels so... juvenile. At the same time, there are some big, deep themes- love, betrayal, WWII- and handled well.
Food: over dressed, wilted spinach salad. Too much vinegar in the dressing and the spinach is not so fresh. Several mouthfuls of tart and bitter aren't so tasty.
dreesreads's review
2.0
Ugh. A 33-year-old Englishman moves to a Flemish city to work as a tutor. He promptly "falls in love" with one of his 17-year-old students. And seduces him. In the end we find out maybe it was the student seducing the tutor, but who cares, the tutor is the adult. A 17-year-old is not (no matter what the age of consent might be, this 17-year-old was still a boy). Maybe I would have found this plot line less disturbing when I was 20, but as a middle aged mom with teenage sons, no. I have never read Lolita for a reason--grown men interested in children is just not OK.
So, the plot bad. The writing is dull. The Englishman is boring. The female characters (17-year-old's mom, his friend, and the tutor's co-worker) are extremely one-dimensional. I plodded through this because it's on the 1001 books list (why?!) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (how?!).
So, the plot bad. The writing is dull. The Englishman is boring. The female characters (17-year-old's mom, his friend, and the tutor's co-worker) are extremely one-dimensional. I plodded through this because it's on the 1001 books list (why?!) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (how?!).
lisa_setepenre's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
Moderate: Terminal illness
smartipants8's review against another edition
1.0
Well, I just wrote a scathing review of this book that was lost.
Summary:
HATED IT
Hated the narrator
Hated the sub plot about the Belgian artist
Hated the object of the narrator's affection
Hated that every man in the book, no matter how odd, turned out to be into having gay sex in the woods with anyone who walked by.
Hated that every woman in teh book was either in love with a gay man, stealing straight men from gay men or only around to nurse the gay men as they die from AIDS.
I loved Line of Beauty but hated Folding Star.
Summary:
HATED IT
Hated the narrator
Hated the sub plot about the Belgian artist
Hated the object of the narrator's affection
Hated that every man in the book, no matter how odd, turned out to be into having gay sex in the woods with anyone who walked by.
Hated that every woman in teh book was either in love with a gay man, stealing straight men from gay men or only around to nurse the gay men as they die from AIDS.
I loved Line of Beauty but hated Folding Star.