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A review by wizard_of_uhhh
The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst
3.0
Okay, so. As I've said before, I absolutely love Alan Hollinghurst's evocative, atmospheric writing. I find him psychologically astute and often much funnier than he is generally given credit for. [b:The Line of Beauty|139087|The Line of Beauty|Alan Hollinghurst|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172099924s/139087.jpg|918312] is, in my opinion, not only enjoyable, but a truly brilliant novel.
So you can imagine that when I started on this, my second Hollinghurst, I had pretty high expectations. Sadly, this book didn't quite live up to them.
Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of things I liked. I enjoyed the sub-plot about the Flemish artist Orst, and I loved Edward's interactions with Paul, the father of one of his students and curator of the Orst museum. The underlying theme of obsession, is a gripping one, and it is handled particularly well in the final third of the book.
The fact remains, however, that the first part of the novel - which is divided into three - was, at least to me, tedious and rather unpleasant. As a reader, I felt no emotional connection to Edward at all, and as a result of this had no empathy whatsoever with him. Because of this, his sexual fixation with his 17-year-old pupil comes off as unilaterally disturbing, and doesn't bring across the moral ambiguity that I presume the author intended.
It also doesn't help that Edward falls in with some really unsavoury and genuinely unpleasant characters, like Matt, for example, whose shady dealings involve porn, a sex phone line, and - most disturbingly of all - a business selling used underwear. As far as we can tell as a reader, Matt has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. By association, Edward comes across as someone equally unpleasant. His frequent sexual encounters are described in much greater detail than necessary, giving the whole segment a seedy, sordid feel to it. And as someone who is not sexually attracted to men, I must say that the various descriptions of penises that are included here are quite unappealing to me. But that's just me.
In fact, I spent the first third of the book wondering when I was going to start caring what happened to Edward at all. It wasn't until the second section, where he returns to England and we are treated to some flashbacks, that he becomes a more three-dimensional character.
I have to say, though, that I thought the ending was handled magnificently.
So you can imagine that when I started on this, my second Hollinghurst, I had pretty high expectations. Sadly, this book didn't quite live up to them.
Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of things I liked. I enjoyed the sub-plot about the Flemish artist Orst, and I loved Edward's interactions with Paul, the father of one of his students and curator of the Orst museum. The underlying theme of obsession, is a gripping one, and it is handled particularly well in the final third of the book.
The fact remains, however, that the first part of the novel - which is divided into three - was, at least to me, tedious and rather unpleasant. As a reader, I felt no emotional connection to Edward at all, and as a result of this had no empathy whatsoever with him. Because of this, his sexual fixation with his 17-year-old pupil comes off as unilaterally disturbing, and doesn't bring across the moral ambiguity that I presume the author intended.
It also doesn't help that Edward falls in with some really unsavoury and genuinely unpleasant characters, like Matt, for example, whose shady dealings involve porn, a sex phone line, and - most disturbingly of all - a business selling used underwear. As far as we can tell as a reader, Matt has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. By association, Edward comes across as someone equally unpleasant. His frequent sexual encounters are described in much greater detail than necessary, giving the whole segment a seedy, sordid feel to it. And as someone who is not sexually attracted to men, I must say that the various descriptions of penises that are included here are quite unappealing to me. But that's just me.
In fact, I spent the first third of the book wondering when I was going to start caring what happened to Edward at all. It wasn't until the second section, where he returns to England and we are treated to some flashbacks, that he becomes a more three-dimensional character.
I have to say, though, that I thought the ending was handled magnificently.