Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel reads more like a memoir although the personal situation of the protagonist, David Win, is clearly distinct from that of the author. Indeed, there is a coalescing of fact and fiction towards the end of the novel when David suggests that he might name the memoir he is writing ‘Our Evenings’. Yet, in choosing to relate the life of a bi-racial man with a Burmese father and white, English, mother, Hollinghurst attempts to say something about the complexities of racism in England. David encounters more prejudice and discrimination from his racial distinctiveness than from his homosexuality. This is most evident in the return visit to Friscombe Sands with his black lover Hector, where they are refused hospitality at a guest house:
“ ..the woman looked back and blinked very fast while the rest of her face adjusted itself, as if to an insult, as if seeing her own goodness abused. ‘Let me just ask my husband,’ she said quietly, and as she went through the door marked Private she glanced back, unsure now about leaving us there unwatched. Hector stood expressionless, staring over my head. In a minute the husband came through, cardiganed, comb-over, round-faced, with the twinkle of a good host, the wife behind him, nodding, knowing she had done the right thing. Where she was brittle, he was smooth, and implacable. ‘I’m very sorry, lads,’ he said, ‘there’s been an aweful cock-up, double booking.’ He looked from one to the other of us, he had his own ingenuity, he took the blame. ‘All my fault, I should have told my wife, the whole place is booked up for the next week.’
By contrast, homosexuality in the environment in which David lives, that of an actor, is almost the norm. Even his mother has a long and happy relationship with another woman. The most agonizing moments are when David is first realizing his desires as at the initial holiday when he is fourteen at Friscombe Beach, and in Oxford when he falls for another student, Nick, who turns out to be straight.
Contemporary events, such as the Brexit referendum and the start of the Covid pandemic, situate the novel. A key figure is Giles Hadlow, who originally bullied David at school, and who recurs intermittently before a final flourish as Brexit minister. He is counterposed to his cultured philanthropic father, Mark, provider of the scholarship which enabled David to attend the private public school and whose death brackets the main story of the novel.
As in previous books, Hollinghurst’s writing is magic and keeps one entranced until the jarring end to David’s life. Rather than recall that sad event I’d rather keep in mind this view: “ Below us the moonlight coaxed the fields and silent treetops out of blackness to the edge of colour, mixed in a misty glimmer over Oxford with the city’s mild sodium glare.”
This does feel rather British, mostly avoiding vulgar portrayals of racism and homophobia.
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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:
Yes
Beautifully written. I felt slightly “tricked” by the publisher’s synopsis, which suggests that the diverging life trajectories of David, the narrator, and Giles, the son of his benefactors, are a main theme of the book. This turned out to be a relatively small side-story and, in fact, after the beginning of the book it’s not before about three quarters in until this emerges again a bit more strongly. However, this was just a wrong set of expectations and it did ultimately not take away from what is a masterfully constructed, sensitive and engaging novel that is broadly scoped social commentary and intensely personal at the same time.
emotional
reflective
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated