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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Thick prose that makes me think of the classic British writers from the beginning of the last century. Very British, at least in my non-British mind (full of expressions like "rather well", "I think I might, actually", "oh dear" and so on).
The book is a story of the entire life of David, a mixed-race gay British man born in the 1940s. We get to see him experiencing all the "joys" of racism and bewilderment of his small town neighbors and schoolmates. Added to this is the fact that his mother herself wasn't straight and lived with another woman, so they were the talk of the town. The book isn't a total downer, though. David got a chance to go to the prestigious school thanks to the charity efforts of a rich but nice family (more on them later), and he got to do what he wanted in life, which is being an actor. He never had much money and got only somewhat famous, but he had the chance of living his life on his own terms.
The rich family in question had a son, David's sometime-tormentor Giles, whose career growth we see as a parallel of David's. Giles is an unintelligent man with no talents, and, of course, in the story he becomes the force of evil - a politician who very much helped to lead the country to Brexit.
It needs to be said that white authors writing about people of color can be very clumsy sometimes, and it's not for me to decide if Hollinghurst totally succeeded here, but I thought the theme was, at the very least, handled with care and never felt icky.
The book left me with the satisfying feeling of having experienced something substantial. "I just read a Book" sort of thing. There were good lines, interesting observations and delicacy in handling characters. A very good book.
The book is a story of the entire life of David, a mixed-race gay British man born in the 1940s. We get to see him experiencing all the "joys" of racism and bewilderment of his small town neighbors and schoolmates. Added to this is the fact that his mother herself wasn't straight and lived with another woman, so they were the talk of the town. The book isn't a total downer, though. David got a chance to go to the prestigious school thanks to the charity efforts of a rich but nice family (more on them later), and he got to do what he wanted in life, which is being an actor. He never had much money and got only somewhat famous, but he had the chance of living his life on his own terms.
The rich family in question had a son, David's sometime-tormentor Giles, whose career growth we see as a parallel of David's. Giles is an unintelligent man with no talents, and, of course, in the story he becomes the force of evil - a politician who very much helped to lead the country to Brexit.
It needs to be said that white authors writing about people of color can be very clumsy sometimes, and it's not for me to decide if Hollinghurst totally succeeded here, but I thought the theme was, at the very least, handled with care and never felt icky.
The book left me with the satisfying feeling of having experienced something substantial. "I just read a Book" sort of thing. There were good lines, interesting observations and delicacy in handling characters. A very good book.
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:
No
This book is about David Win's life following him from when he is a teen at a boarding school in England to when he is in his 70s. This book was highly rated by someone that I like, but I've discovered that we do not have similar tastes in books. This book is a very literary book and sometimes those just don't work for me because I find myself getting bored and my mind wandering. I wasn't invested in David's life and I really just wanted the book to end. I contemplating DNFing the book, but I have such a hard time doing that. The book is very well written, but it just wasn't for me. I did think that it picked up towards the end
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
Wanted to continue another series. Will come back
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
How many more stories do we need about the life and times of public schoolboys? The MC might have been gay and half Burmese but I felt this story had been told many times before. For the most part, I was just bored.
reflective
medium-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
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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:
No
emotional
reflective
medium-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:
No
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
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:
Yes