A review by rebeccark
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst

2.0

Honestly, a good bit boring and I should have given up on it and not pushed through to the end. The writing was well done but I couldn't get behind the plot - Will is a boring character who is petulant and childish and somehow only surrounds himself with gay men. You get tired of reading of the constant sex Will has, some only being described in a sentence or two as this happens often enough the author doesn't feel the need to elaborate on every single encounter. I am not prudish, but I also prefer the sex to be more of a plot point than something the character seems to do every day to function. His relationships with other characters are self-centered and a bit stunted. Normally a character I dislike can be endured through a good plot, but the plot felt meandering and only within the last chapter did things get clarified. It felt like there was no foreshadowing to what was supposed to be the major plot twist, and even the plot twist fell flat. I wouldn't run out and read another of this author's books without a strong recommendation from a trusted friend, which is disappointing considering his writing style is really quite good.