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meyshka's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Self harm
connortravels's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“The deep connection between them was so secret that at times it was hard to believe it existed.”
― Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
Alan Hollinghurst has written a novel which, after spending hours reading, I have little clue how I feel about. The premise hooked me from the start, however the "story" isn't really there for me. Not until the final chapter and a bit at least.
The novel itself seems to create this idea that being gay in the 80's meant constant hook-ups, coke use, and being horny 24/7. However, at the same time, I believe it navigates the subject of the AIDS crisis is handled extremely well; the sudden tragedy it brings, and the ability for those around it to reject it as a possibility.
Again, on one hand we are given descriptive imagery of beauty itself, of the money fuelled life Nick finds himself wrapped up in, and of how that makes him feel disconnected with his past, his parents, and his home town. Amazingly written. But on the other, where is the actual story? Why am I reading this? After the first chapter, nothing of substance really happens until the very end of the book, where we are rushed through a finale.
Do I recommend reading this book? I genuinely have no idea.
― Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
Alan Hollinghurst has written a novel which, after spending hours reading, I have little clue how I feel about. The premise hooked me from the start, however the "story" isn't really there for me. Not until the final chapter and a bit at least.
The novel itself seems to create this idea that being gay in the 80's meant constant hook-ups, coke use, and being horny 24/7. However, at the same time, I believe it navigates the subject of the AIDS crisis is handled extremely well; the sudden tragedy it brings, and the ability for those around it to reject it as a possibility.
Again, on one hand we are given descriptive imagery of beauty itself, of the money fuelled life Nick finds himself wrapped up in, and of how that makes him feel disconnected with his past, his parents, and his home town. Amazingly written. But on the other, where is the actual story? Why am I reading this? After the first chapter, nothing of substance really happens until the very end of the book, where we are rushed through a finale.
Do I recommend reading this book? I genuinely have no idea.
micahhortonhallett's review against another edition
4.0
Wryly funny. Beautiful, simple, complex and terrible. The Line of Beauty got the Man Booker a decade ago for reasons. Lots of reasons. Set between Margaret Thatchers second election victory and her third, The Line of Beauty follows its remarkably un-self aware protagonist through the halls of reflected power and unearned excess- through the heart of the decade that defined the word excess.
This is a very good book. It works as satire, passion play and love letter all at once. It is genuinely erotic at times, and then undercuts its own eroticism; a book that holds the minds and the bodies of its characters and presents oven the most stereotyped of these as fully realised humans.
This is a very good book. It works as satire, passion play and love letter all at once. It is genuinely erotic at times, and then undercuts its own eroticism; a book that holds the minds and the bodies of its characters and presents oven the most stereotyped of these as fully realised humans.
gigua's review against another edition
DNF at about pg 228.
[b:The Line of Beauty|139087|The Line of Beauty|Alan Hollinghurst|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172099924s/139087.jpg|918312] is actually the first book I don't finish. It is a bittersweet feeling, but I am quite happy with my decision and I feel absolutely relieved.
I always pressure myself to finish the book even if I don't like it and such. However, I don't think that is the best approach to reading. We should be able to do what we want to do. We don't like a book and don't want to reach the end? Fine. Do we want to push ourselves till the last page? Do it.
There are so many books and so little time, right? Let's not waste time on books that are not worth our time. For different and subjective reasons, obviously. This is coming from me, who never managed to stop herself from finish a book.
This book, at the beginning, really took my interest. I was interested in the characters' background and the story was not something I had read before. I liked it and I was eager to continue.
Then, I paused my reading because of uni exams.
A few weeks later I dread re-opening the book. I started and finished other ones, I even called my library to postpone the date where I should have brought it back. I felt guilty. And, in some
way, I still feel guilty. I feel like I should apologize to the author, to the characters, to the story and to the physical book itself. But, then, I think about all the readers and all the books out there and I realize how small of a difference I make. Yes, I personally would have liked to finish it but I couldn't bring myself to do it. No one will notice, only me, myself and I. I am the only one who is judging my DNF. I am the only one who reads my books, no one else does it for me.
I should (and have to) do what it feels right to do for myself at the moment. And do not finish this book this time, maybe it'll be for another time. I just didn't feel a connection right now.
If you read my long rant, thank you and I am wondering if you have ever felt the same pressure over yourself too. Is it difficult for you to DNF or not?
[b:The Line of Beauty|139087|The Line of Beauty|Alan Hollinghurst|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172099924s/139087.jpg|918312] is actually the first book I don't finish. It is a bittersweet feeling, but I am quite happy with my decision and I feel absolutely relieved.
I always pressure myself to finish the book even if I don't like it and such. However, I don't think that is the best approach to reading. We should be able to do what we want to do. We don't like a book and don't want to reach the end? Fine. Do we want to push ourselves till the last page? Do it.
There are so many books and so little time, right? Let's not waste time on books that are not worth our time. For different and subjective reasons, obviously. This is coming from me, who never managed to stop herself from finish a book.
This book, at the beginning, really took my interest. I was interested in the characters' background and the story was not something I had read before. I liked it and I was eager to continue.
Then, I paused my reading because of uni exams.
A few weeks later I dread re-opening the book. I started and finished other ones, I even called my library to postpone the date where I should have brought it back. I felt guilty. And, in some
way, I still feel guilty. I feel like I should apologize to the author, to the characters, to the story and to the physical book itself. But, then, I think about all the readers and all the books out there and I realize how small of a difference I make. Yes, I personally would have liked to finish it but I couldn't bring myself to do it. No one will notice, only me, myself and I. I am the only one who is judging my DNF. I am the only one who reads my books, no one else does it for me.
I should (and have to) do what it feels right to do for myself at the moment. And do not finish this book this time, maybe it'll be for another time. I just didn't feel a connection right now.
If you read my long rant, thank you and I am wondering if you have ever felt the same pressure over yourself too. Is it difficult for you to DNF or not?
samantha_shain's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up from a Little Free Library and I am so glad I did. While some of the parties were a little repetitive and some of the characters a little flat, I think that those elements created an appropriate foundation for the social satire that Hollinghurst was going for. Some of the writing was dripping with the self reflection and social awareness of Tolstoy at his best. I think readers will enjoy (or be perplexed by) British politics, abbreviations, etc that are not explained for an American reader. Bonus points for queerness and mental health. Lost points on Bechdel test.
daraiscutexoxo's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
jenn756's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this, its tone captures perfectly the blowsy bumptious 1980s. The hero, Nick Guest is seduced by beauty – beauty in objects and more dangerously the superficial beauty of people. One of the characters, Catherine, challenges him to look beyond physical beauty into the beauty of the character within, but Nick to his downfall doesn’t – or can’t.
After his graduation from Oxford he moves to London and begins mixing in society circles – its like the darker companion to `Four Weddings and a Funeral’. He moves into the house of the rising Conservative Minister Gerald Fedden as a sort of companion to his adult children. It was a time when Conservatives revelled in their excess wealth and aristocratic connections (now they cover them up!) Hollinghurst describes perfectly the exclusive town house of the Feddens which backs onto beautiful London locked gardens, and the French chateau they have as a holiday home and all the glittering parties (Margaret Thatcher even makes a cameo appearance).
Nick is gay, at a time when gay people were just gaining a toehold in popular acceptance. He begins a relationship with the wildly beautiful and amoral Wani, heir to a supermarket fortune. You despair really that someone as intelligent as Nick could fall for someone as vapid as Wani. The gay sex scenes are, as my Mum might have said, `a bit ripe’… The spectre of AIDS is just round the corner and the second half of the book deals the devastating fallout.
I’m not convinced in real life the Feddens would have tolerated Nick living with them as long as he did, but I suppose Hollinghurst had to play it that way for dramatic effect. Its interesting that as long as life is on the up Nick’s gayness is tolerated but as soon as trouble strikes the old prejudices return. Nick realises the people he thought were friends were never truly friends at all.
Worth reading alone for the beautiful language and lingering descriptions of 1980s London.
After his graduation from Oxford he moves to London and begins mixing in society circles – its like the darker companion to `Four Weddings and a Funeral’. He moves into the house of the rising Conservative Minister Gerald Fedden as a sort of companion to his adult children. It was a time when Conservatives revelled in their excess wealth and aristocratic connections (now they cover them up!) Hollinghurst describes perfectly the exclusive town house of the Feddens which backs onto beautiful London locked gardens, and the French chateau they have as a holiday home and all the glittering parties (Margaret Thatcher even makes a cameo appearance).
Nick is gay, at a time when gay people were just gaining a toehold in popular acceptance. He begins a relationship with the wildly beautiful and amoral Wani, heir to a supermarket fortune. You despair really that someone as intelligent as Nick could fall for someone as vapid as Wani. The gay sex scenes are, as my Mum might have said, `a bit ripe’… The spectre of AIDS is just round the corner and the second half of the book deals the devastating fallout.
I’m not convinced in real life the Feddens would have tolerated Nick living with them as long as he did, but I suppose Hollinghurst had to play it that way for dramatic effect. Its interesting that as long as life is on the up Nick’s gayness is tolerated but as soon as trouble strikes the old prejudices return. Nick realises the people he thought were friends were never truly friends at all.
Worth reading alone for the beautiful language and lingering descriptions of 1980s London.
t_m41's review against another edition
5.0
Painful and beautiful in content and writing. Be patient and enjoy
marie_gg's review against another edition
2.0
Beautiful writing but very disappointing novel overall--depressing, billed as a satire but I didn't find it very funny at all..."