theciz 's review for:

Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

4.0

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One of those novels that are all character work and not (explicitly) about anything, which can be pretty dicey propositions. Luckily, the quality of Hollinghurst’s writing swept me away with it all, and none of the usual frustrations seem to apply. In many ways it’s standard Hollinghurst: public schools, aristocracy, the London gay scene of the 70s. But it feels more like a master at work than a retread - the shear realism of the characters and the preciseness of the images and moods evoked strike you at every turn. And always lurking in the background like an unpleasant smell, the worst character Giles, David’s thematic opposite - a Frankenstein’s monster of Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and all their ilk, and the moral stain they represent.