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joewilkinson's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Interesting and engaging read. I was put off at first by the big jump between sections but I think in retrospect it worked well to help develop the characters. I did feel for the characters by the end of it but I wasn't incredibly emotionally attached to them. I neither laughed nor cried but I did feel something.
nichecase's review
5.0
this is a novel that takes the intersection of historical and biographical detail seriously - it's a sweeping drama of the 1980s while simultaneously maintaining an intimate focus on nick. this also means that the novel functions along the lines of inevitability, with nick often admitting that he feels he "must" do something without really having a reason to. chief among these moments is nick's dance with thatcher:
"It was the simplest thing to do - Nick came forward and sat, half-kneeling, on the sofa's edge, like someone proposing in a play. ... [H]e grinned and said, 'Prime Minister, would you like to dance?'"
there is no sense of agency here - nick dances with thatcher only because it is "simple", not because he takes any particular pleasure in it. in the culminated force of these moments, the novel is almost faustian: nick sacrifices his personal agency and his integrity for access to the pleasures of the feddens and wani, but is lowered to a much worse position than he was at the start of the novel.
"It was the simplest thing to do - Nick came forward and sat, half-kneeling, on the sofa's edge, like someone proposing in a play. ... [H]e grinned and said, 'Prime Minister, would you like to dance?'"
there is no sense of agency here - nick dances with thatcher only because it is "simple", not because he takes any particular pleasure in it. in the culminated force of these moments, the novel is almost faustian: nick sacrifices his personal agency and his integrity for access to the pleasures of the feddens and wani, but is lowered to a much worse position than he was at the start of the novel.
emendelowitz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
leilaamy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-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
4.75
literarycrushes's review against another edition
5.0
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst absolutely WRECKED me and is easily one of my top books of the year. The novel consists of three separate parts describing life in London in the mid-80s. Margaret Thatcher is PM, AIDs is at its height, and cocaine – and everything else- is everywhere.
We enter this world through the eyes of Nick Guest. Nick, a recent Oxford grad, has been invited to move into the spare room of a university friend’s chic, Notting Hill family home. Nick quickly becomes infatuated and entangled with The Fedden’s, a glamorous, upper-class family whose patriarch has recently been elected to parliament. His new life develops a sheen of unreality to it, as though he can’t believe his luck, but doesn’t quite trust it either, which lends a fantastic suspense to the novel.
The subject and style reminded me of another one of my favorites novels, Patrick Melrose, as they were both a kind of satirical commentary on the lives of upper-class British families given from within. Whereas Patrick is born into that life, Nick maintains a constant degree of remove knowing it could all be taken away from him in a moment.
Though it’s the 80s, and it’s London, Nick sort of tiptoes around his gayness. He never hides it, but the Fedden’s, and everyone in their rarified world, becomes uncomfortable whenever it is explicitly referenced (which is of course another form of homophobia). We learn that Nick has only recently come out and has yet to have any reciprocated romantic or sexual relationships. He quickly rectifies this situation by answering a letter in the Gay Times that leads him to Leo, a black clerk whom he falls instantly and desperate in love with. Without spoiling the plot, I will say this novel is decidedly not a traditional love story in any way but maintains the power to absolutely destroy. Highly recommend!
We enter this world through the eyes of Nick Guest. Nick, a recent Oxford grad, has been invited to move into the spare room of a university friend’s chic, Notting Hill family home. Nick quickly becomes infatuated and entangled with The Fedden’s, a glamorous, upper-class family whose patriarch has recently been elected to parliament. His new life develops a sheen of unreality to it, as though he can’t believe his luck, but doesn’t quite trust it either, which lends a fantastic suspense to the novel.
The subject and style reminded me of another one of my favorites novels, Patrick Melrose, as they were both a kind of satirical commentary on the lives of upper-class British families given from within. Whereas Patrick is born into that life, Nick maintains a constant degree of remove knowing it could all be taken away from him in a moment.
Though it’s the 80s, and it’s London, Nick sort of tiptoes around his gayness. He never hides it, but the Fedden’s, and everyone in their rarified world, becomes uncomfortable whenever it is explicitly referenced (which is of course another form of homophobia). We learn that Nick has only recently come out and has yet to have any reciprocated romantic or sexual relationships. He quickly rectifies this situation by answering a letter in the Gay Times that leads him to Leo, a black clerk whom he falls instantly and desperate in love with. Without spoiling the plot, I will say this novel is decidedly not a traditional love story in any way but maintains the power to absolutely destroy. Highly recommend!
elisefarmer's review against another edition
4.5
Enjoyed this immensely, and am ashamed at how long I've had it languishing on my bookshelf. I should've realised it was a modern classic for good reason. The crumpling of all the friendships at the end of the book is very moving, if inevitable.
lucyatoz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.0
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst is in many ways a quintessentially English novel about Nick Guest, middle class and a graduate from an Oxford College with a First in English, who ends up living with his best mate, Toby Fedden, along with his sister Catherine and their parents, in the spare room of their Notting Hill home.
The story is in 3 parts spanning 1983 to 1987 , the years of Margaret Thatcher's and the Conservative Party's second term of government. Gerald Fedden is a just elected MP having been a successful business man. However, over the 4 years, Nick, who is gay, loses one lover and another becomes infected as HIV/AIDS becomes prevalent and Gerald becomes embroiled in a financial and sexual scandal that threatens this career and his long marriage to Rachel.
It is a powerful story of the relationships between friends, family and lovers and the experiences of Nick has as he lives across two different parts of society.
I own a copy of this book and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for prompt 17, nominated for the Booker Prize, and was the winner in 2004, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
The story is in 3 parts spanning 1983 to 1987 , the years of Margaret Thatcher's and the Conservative Party's second term of government. Gerald Fedden is a just elected MP having been a successful business man. However, over the 4 years, Nick, who is gay, loses one lover and another becomes infected as HIV/AIDS becomes prevalent and Gerald becomes embroiled in a financial and sexual scandal that threatens this career and his long marriage to Rachel.
It is a powerful story of the relationships between friends, family and lovers and the experiences of Nick has as he lives across two different parts of society.
I own a copy of this book and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for prompt 17, nominated for the Booker Prize, and was the winner in 2004, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Death, Sexual content, Homophobia, Drug use, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Infidelity
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Vomit
celianeale's review against another edition
5.0
I don't think I can find anything to read next that could possibly live up to this masterpiece.
grayjay's review against another edition
5.0
Hollinghurst's other novel The Stranger's Child is one of my favourite books, so I was excited to try another.
This novel was very English, in it's style—class and manners, try to overshadow sexuality and politics in the Thatcher era—but in theme, it is about chosen family, trust, and closeness. How far can we trust others and how much can we really know them or fool ourselves into thinking we know them.
The novel is very sexy but furtive. Nick, the middle class student living with an upper class political family is openly gay with them, but keeps all details of his relationships and sexual life secret. He lives in a strange tension of partial closeting. This novel becomes very sad as the 80s roll on and the AIDS crisis takes its toll. The characters are beautifully flawed, and even when they falter, you feel for them.
This novel was very English, in it's style—class and manners, try to overshadow sexuality and politics in the Thatcher era—but in theme, it is about chosen family, trust, and closeness. How far can we trust others and how much can we really know them or fool ourselves into thinking we know them.
The novel is very sexy but furtive. Nick, the middle class student living with an upper class political family is openly gay with them, but keeps all details of his relationships and sexual life secret. He lives in a strange tension of partial closeting. This novel becomes very sad as the 80s roll on and the AIDS crisis takes its toll. The characters are beautifully flawed, and even when they falter, you feel for them.