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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Lovely
A meander through David's life
Beautiful prose, expansive, just go along for the journey
A meander through David's life
Beautiful prose, expansive, just go along for the journey
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A very British and very beautiful book. Entirely character driven (no plot - instead following the flows of what one would call life) telling tracing the life of a gay mixed-race actor. Beautiful writing even if I never felt immersed in the book/or longing to pick it up again — I still enjoyed it and, furthermore, I respect it
reflective
medium-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
Beautiful writing. Interesting story. Coming of age and life story of a gay, half-Burmese actor. Good portrayal of the evolution of attitudes towards LGBTQ and racism in England over the years.
I found the book dragged a bit in the middle but picked up again towards the end.
I found the book dragged a bit in the middle but picked up again towards the end.
I don't read very much queer 'literary fiction'. Those I have, I've mostly enjoyed. This, though, was different.
Alan Hollinghurst is a Booker Prize-winning author who's lauded and lionised. A new novel from him is something of an event. I read the description, ummed and aahed, then finally bit the bullet. It's a long read - 16 and a half hours - and for that, I want to feel engaged. Was I? No.
Hollinghurst's writing style borders on perfect: word choice, story flow, descriptions all rise up off the page to paint their pictures. That was probably what kept me going. The narrative content didn't.
Really, I should've read the blurb more carefully. I'm not a fan of slow, decades-spanning tales, so I guess I started on the wrong foot. The novel follows the life of Dave Win, who's half-Burmese, as he navigates school, college, discovering himself, and carving out a career in the theatre. Maybe it's because I haven't followed anything like the same path, but I didn't really relate. The amount of time spent while Win was at school in the 1960s and early 70s bored me rigid. Part of the problem was a lack of variety in tone. Every incident and thought and reflection hovered around the same pitch. There were no real highs or lows; no joy or hot, vivid anger.
In the end, I 'flicked' through the last 3 hours or so, desperate to finish but also not to waste that amount of time on reading something unrewarding. Oh well, not one for the reread pile.
Beautiful and meandering, I laughed out loud and I cried.
This story is an incredibly moving character driven tale. Told as if a memoir, you’re taken through David Win’s life, through his telling of events and his internal observations, with special attention paid to the small intimate moments.
I now need to read everything else Hollinghirst has written.
This story is an incredibly moving character driven tale. Told as if a memoir, you’re taken through David Win’s life, through his telling of events and his internal observations, with special attention paid to the small intimate moments.
I now need to read everything else Hollinghirst has written.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.6 stars. I couldn’t put it down. It’s a big novel telling the life story of the protagonist, but for me there is a sense of an underlying sadness for all the people David loves and is loved by. Very sophisticated and clever writing.