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mamasquirrel's review against another edition
2.0
A real slog; I finished simply to find out the end of the literary critic libel controversy. By the end I was ever-so-slightly impressed with the author's weaving together of characters through history. But I've seen it done better elsewhere. Also: this author really pushes the homosexuality issue--it's clear that it's his big cause.
chrishell's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
catfoy's review
3.0
It was interesting and I liked the story more or less... it just seemed like it was unnecessarily long
njensen's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
prof_shoff's review against another edition
2.0
I'm just not a fan of authors who are so obviously clever in their writing; good prose should pull me in, not make me start skimming halfway through. The characters weren't particularly likeable; the storyline wasn't particularly interesting; and, in the end, I just wanted to finish it.
bendalrymple's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jackieeh's review against another edition
5.0
Oh dear God.
It's like Alan Hollinghurst crawled inside my brain, extracted key elements from my What Jackie Looks For In Fiction And In Life file, mixed them up with his own special ingredients, ran it all through a food processor, and voila!
Seriously. There have been moments in my life when I've thought of writing a Bloomsbury pastiche because I love that whole World-War-One-is-looming-so-let's-have-tea era. But now I never will, because here it is, and it's so much more than that. This book is about interpretation and history and about how the importance of events shifts over time and the line between public and private and real and fictional and the strength and weakness of memory. And, of course, sexuality, alcohol, and deep feelings of being an outsider, because that's what Hollinghurst (and a ton of other people) loves.
I'm still working to shake this one. Hopefully I'll never really succeed.
It's like Alan Hollinghurst crawled inside my brain, extracted key elements from my What Jackie Looks For In Fiction And In Life file, mixed them up with his own special ingredients, ran it all through a food processor, and voila!
Seriously. There have been moments in my life when I've thought of writing a Bloomsbury pastiche because I love that whole World-War-One-is-looming-so-let's-have-tea era. But now I never will, because here it is, and it's so much more than that. This book is about interpretation and history and about how the importance of events shifts over time and the line between public and private and real and fictional and the strength and weakness of memory. And, of course, sexuality, alcohol, and deep feelings of being an outsider, because that's what Hollinghurst (and a ton of other people) loves.
I'm still working to shake this one. Hopefully I'll never really succeed.
auxane0902's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0