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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read for BookTube Prize. Rating to follow later
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A smattering of life experiences of David Win, a gay, half-Burmese man, as he ages from a boy through his teen years, adulthood until becoming an old man. The vignettes led me through his life, though not always the most important moments, but all still ones that had an impact. While reading, I wished his life was a little more flushed out as I wanted to know more, but was only given a hint at times. At the end, the reason for this made sense and wrapped up the story well, though tragically. I thought the Hadlows would have more of a presence in the novel too, based on how it started, and I do wish we got to see a bit more of them. It was hard to picture their friendship with Dave when they were barely in the novel. The lead up, the sudden violence at the end really brought the book back to reality, to this day and age, as most of it takes place in the later half of the 20th century. It shows the very real consequences of right wing politicians and this recent increase in their power and impact. The book made me want to see David act as well, the descriptions of his work were very interesting. I am glad he found love, and spent his life doing what made him happy, even though what gave him that opportunity, in a way, also crushed it in the end.
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
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:
No
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The kind of novel that earns your affection with every quiet, perfect line.
David Win, what a beautiful soul. Our Evenings is a quietly stunning portrait of a life shaped by art, memory, and quiet defiance.
Rarely do characters come truly alive, but in this quietly absorbing novel from Alan Hollinghurst, David Win may as well have stepped off the page, fully formed, complex, and utterly magnetic. I could practically feel him taking my hand, kissing both cheeks, calling me “darling,” then grabbing a drink and rattling off a line of Shakespeare without missing a beat. But that’s not to paint him as a caricature. David is the son of a single mother, half-Burmese, raised on a scholarship among boys who come from far more privileged worlds. He can be selfish, even petulant, but he never feels abstract. He charmed me — flaws and all — and I believed in him completely. He’s someone I want to know.
Our Evenings traces David’s life from his schoolboy days in the 1960s through to the present. We first meet him as a 13 year old boy attending an elite English boarding school courtesy of a charitable scholarship funded by Mark and Cara Hadlow, whose son, Giles, is a classmate. Though the Hadlows' direct role in David’s life is relatively brief, the time he spends with their family proves deeply formative. As David, a queer, half-Burmese boy becoming a man, then an actor, comes of age, the Hadlows' influence lingers, quietly shaping the way he moves through an England that changes around him...sometimes in spite of him.
Throughout my read, I appreciated Hollinghurst's elegant embrace of "show don't tell" storytelling. While this stylistic choice ultimately serves a deeper purpose, what struck me most was the intimacy it created. It felt less like I was following David’s life in a linear sense and more that I was simply walking alongside him as he took on a new role, a new relationship, or wanted to share some subtle shift in his perspective. In this way, while the plot (such as it is) grounds the novel, it relies more on David's experiences and observations than on specific plot mechanics to move us along. Rather than loud, dramatic turns, it's the slow accumulation and subtle rearrangements of time that carry the novel forward.
Finally, although I’m aching to name the characters I fell in love with, I won’t; not because they don’t deserve the spotlight, but because I wouldn’t want to rob anyone of the joy of discovering them for themselves. So, with GREAT restraint, I’ll refrain. But I will say this: if beautiful writing counts as a character (and really, it should), then the prose itself is right up there with David in my affections. There are so many novels with writing I might call lovely but...try-hard? It's like they reach for lyricism but land somewhere just shy of sincere. Hollinghurst, somehow, escapes that trap entirely with passages that are elegant, profound, even (at times) haunting. It's writing that doesn’t shout its brilliance; it just keeps showing up with the perfect line when you least expect it.
David Win, what a beautiful soul. Our Evenings is a quietly stunning portrait of a life shaped by art, memory, and quiet defiance.
Rarely do characters come truly alive, but in this quietly absorbing novel from Alan Hollinghurst, David Win may as well have stepped off the page, fully formed, complex, and utterly magnetic. I could practically feel him taking my hand, kissing both cheeks, calling me “darling,” then grabbing a drink and rattling off a line of Shakespeare without missing a beat. But that’s not to paint him as a caricature. David is the son of a single mother, half-Burmese, raised on a scholarship among boys who come from far more privileged worlds. He can be selfish, even petulant, but he never feels abstract. He charmed me — flaws and all — and I believed in him completely. He’s someone I want to know.
Our Evenings traces David’s life from his schoolboy days in the 1960s through to the present. We first meet him as a 13 year old boy attending an elite English boarding school courtesy of a charitable scholarship funded by Mark and Cara Hadlow, whose son, Giles, is a classmate. Though the Hadlows' direct role in David’s life is relatively brief, the time he spends with their family proves deeply formative. As David, a queer, half-Burmese boy becoming a man, then an actor, comes of age, the Hadlows' influence lingers, quietly shaping the way he moves through an England that changes around him...sometimes in spite of him.
Throughout my read, I appreciated Hollinghurst's elegant embrace of "show don't tell" storytelling. While this stylistic choice ultimately serves a deeper purpose, what struck me most was the intimacy it created. It felt less like I was following David’s life in a linear sense and more that I was simply walking alongside him as he took on a new role, a new relationship, or wanted to share some subtle shift in his perspective. In this way, while the plot (such as it is) grounds the novel, it relies more on David's experiences and observations than on specific plot mechanics to move us along. Rather than loud, dramatic turns, it's the slow accumulation and subtle rearrangements of time that carry the novel forward.
Finally, although I’m aching to name the characters I fell in love with, I won’t; not because they don’t deserve the spotlight, but because I wouldn’t want to rob anyone of the joy of discovering them for themselves. So, with GREAT restraint, I’ll refrain. But I will say this: if beautiful writing counts as a character (and really, it should), then the prose itself is right up there with David in my affections. There are so many novels with writing I might call lovely but...try-hard? It's like they reach for lyricism but land somewhere just shy of sincere. Hollinghurst, somehow, escapes that trap entirely with passages that are elegant, profound, even (at times) haunting. It's writing that doesn’t shout its brilliance; it just keeps showing up with the perfect line when you least expect it.
emotional
reflective
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The school years dragged and felt like material I’ve read before but everything else about this was brilliant