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A review by eliemoon
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
2.0
I really don't understand all the hype.
The Swimming-Pool Library is problematic on so many levels. If at any point the story would've at least made clear to the reader that fancying underage boys and fucking them IS NOT OK, that the obvious racial, predominantly afro-fetishism IS NOT OK, well at least then it might've read well. Or perhaps not. Going to prison for PAEDOPHILIA seems to be put off rather quickly and nobody seems to get the point. Everybody was doing it apparently? So what's the matter right? No!
I understand that it is a book from the 80s depicting gay life in a time before the AIDS crisis really hit etc. etc. And I appreciate that in a way it is really rather open about gay sex, gay life in general. But to me all this book was really was tasteless. This book reads as if it tried to be both the being-gay-is-forbidden book and the one in which everyone is gay and it's no big deal at all. It makes sense that as human beings some didn't have any issues with it, but others did. What doesn't make sense though is how during the 80s these gay men seemed to just be so open about it and find "a good fuck" around every corner. Is this what London in the 80s was? With how open some of the characters showed their lust I am surprised to only have seen one violent scene in the entire novel. It seems quite unrealistic. Very idealistic. And isn't that the opposite of what this book is supposed to be? I am confused.
I also do seem to find a lot of positive reviews by straight people and quite a few queer people absolutely hating this book. Make of that what you will, but even beside all the sex (of which there was so much I might say at least three quarters of the "plot" revolved around it) there just wasn't a catching storyline. I was bored and frankly disgusted and almost put it away completely numerous times, but since I'm not the type of person to ever really DNF a book ...
The turn of events at the end of The Swimming-Pool Library was admittedly the only interesting part, but even that could not save it. I am disappointed and honestly curious why on Earth so many people seem to love this book so much. I do enjoy a good multi-faceted book with some letters in it, so I was quite interested and excited at first. Unfortunately the parts of Beckwith and Nantwitch read the same, so there wasn't much character to it either. With their age difference and so much time and history of the UK and the world between them and them obviously, logically having to lead different lives, it doesn't make sense for Beckwith to be so much like Nantwitch.
I would love to give this book at least a three-star review, especially since there seems to be something big I am missing, but I just can't. I didn't like it. It's problematic and doesn't even address it and I would never recommend it to anyone, unless of course I'd want to hate-rant with somebody else. It's a great book to hate, that's for sure!
The Swimming-Pool Library is problematic on so many levels. If at any point the story would've at least made clear to the reader that fancying underage boys and fucking them IS NOT OK, that the obvious racial, predominantly afro-fetishism IS NOT OK, well at least then it might've read well. Or perhaps not. Going to prison for PAEDOPHILIA seems to be put off rather quickly and nobody seems to get the point. Everybody was doing it apparently? So what's the matter right? No!
I understand that it is a book from the 80s depicting gay life in a time before the AIDS crisis really hit etc. etc. And I appreciate that in a way it is really rather open about gay sex, gay life in general. But to me all this book was really was tasteless. This book reads as if it tried to be both the being-gay-is-forbidden book and the one in which everyone is gay and it's no big deal at all. It makes sense that as human beings some didn't have any issues with it, but others did. What doesn't make sense though is how during the 80s these gay men seemed to just be so open about it and find "a good fuck" around every corner. Is this what London in the 80s was? With how open some of the characters showed their lust I am surprised to only have seen one violent scene in the entire novel. It seems quite unrealistic. Very idealistic. And isn't that the opposite of what this book is supposed to be? I am confused.
I also do seem to find a lot of positive reviews by straight people and quite a few queer people absolutely hating this book. Make of that what you will, but even beside all the sex (of which there was so much I might say at least three quarters of the "plot" revolved around it) there just wasn't a catching storyline. I was bored and frankly disgusted and almost put it away completely numerous times, but since I'm not the type of person to ever really DNF a book ...
The turn of events at the end of The Swimming-Pool Library was admittedly the only interesting part, but even that could not save it. I am disappointed and honestly curious why on Earth so many people seem to love this book so much. I do enjoy a good multi-faceted book with some letters in it, so I was quite interested and excited at first. Unfortunately the parts of Beckwith and Nantwitch read the same, so there wasn't much character to it either. With their age difference and so much time and history of the UK and the world between them and them obviously, logically having to lead different lives, it doesn't make sense for Beckwith to be so much like Nantwitch.
I would love to give this book at least a three-star review, especially since there seems to be something big I am missing, but I just can't. I didn't like it. It's problematic and doesn't even address it and I would never recommend it to anyone, unless of course I'd want to hate-rant with somebody else. It's a great book to hate, that's for sure!