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A review by andrew61
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
4.0
William Beckwith is the grandson of a peer living in a London flat purchased for him by his grandfather but uncertain of his role in life until one day he intervenes to provide cpr to an elderly man who collapses in front of him. When he then meets the same man, Lord Nantwich, in the sports club where he exercises he strikes up a relationship with him and finds himself becoming his potential biographer with access to diaries and an archive which tells of an interesting life lived in post ww1 private school, university and then in Egypt , with the journals documenting Nantwich's sexual preferences and experiences. These mirror Will's own desires and we follow , sometimes graphically, Will's own sexual encounters.
Written in 1988 the portrayal of gay sexuality feels to me ahead of it's time as it expresses voyeuristically the beauty of the male form and how the body stimulates those attracted by those images and snatched glimpses in the sport club's showers. This is also emphasised by observations about art such a St Sebastian portrayed photographically with handsome young men as well as pornography both historic and in a dramatis scene created before Will's very eyes. Certainly the sexual imagery is graphic and may not be for every reader however I felt that this would create an interesting discussion about how sex is treated in literature and whether attitudes to the treatment of the male gaze differ subject to sexuality and the reader who observes the image.
It also still seems unimaginable that an individuals sexuality pre 1968 was subject to state criminalisation and in a final third the author references such events and their impact on Nantwich as well as Will also experiencing a violent homophobic attack in a shocking scene.
Some aspects felt dated particularly around race both in Nantwich's colonial attitudes and Will's obsessive preoccupation with physical form, and having read and enjoyed some of the author's later books he does seem to like a lost and tormented rich posh boy.
Overall this is a book that I was glad read as Alan Hollinghurst is a master of style with the creation of brilliantly crafted characters. His world, on the page, is one I enjoy whenever I pick up his books. Definitely an interesting and thought provoking writer.
Written in 1988 the portrayal of gay sexuality feels to me ahead of it's time as it expresses voyeuristically the beauty of the male form and how the body stimulates those attracted by those images and snatched glimpses in the sport club's showers. This is also emphasised by observations about art such a St Sebastian portrayed photographically with handsome young men as well as pornography both historic and in a dramatis scene created before Will's very eyes. Certainly the sexual imagery is graphic and may not be for every reader however I felt that this would create an interesting discussion about how sex is treated in literature and whether attitudes to the treatment of the male gaze differ subject to sexuality and the reader who observes the image.
It also still seems unimaginable that an individuals sexuality pre 1968 was subject to state criminalisation and in a final third the author references such events and their impact on Nantwich as well as Will also experiencing a violent homophobic attack in a shocking scene.
Some aspects felt dated particularly around race both in Nantwich's colonial attitudes and Will's obsessive preoccupation with physical form, and having read and enjoyed some of the author's later books he does seem to like a lost and tormented rich posh boy.
Overall this is a book that I was glad read as Alan Hollinghurst is a master of style with the creation of brilliantly crafted characters. His world, on the page, is one I enjoy whenever I pick up his books. Definitely an interesting and thought provoking writer.