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A review by catdad77a45
The Green Hat by Michael Arlen
4.0
I first came upon this title when I taught an LGBT theatre course at USF back 20 years ago - at which time I don't think I'd realized the play version was based upon this novel. The play's suggestion of a gay flirtation between two of the male characters is even MORE oblique in the book, but one can sort of read between the lines, given the narrator's sexless fascination with femme fatale Iris March, whom everyone else can't seem to help lusting after... and his bonhomie with all of his male chums.
Even though one of the most popular novels of the 1920's, very few read Arlen's most notorious novel these days, and that's a shame, since there's much to like in it. The first few chapters are a bit languid for modern tastes, and some of Arlen's ornate prose gets a bit twee, but things definitely pick up by the halfway point, and the ending chapter is a masterly working out of several threads only hinted at throughout the book. That prevarication as to explicitly stating what is happening is both a mite annoying and one of the novel's charms, but one can see how Arlen had to skirt around the prevailing morality, yet still proceed with the tale he wants to tell. There is some unfortunate tacit anti-Semitism and racism that is a bit disconcerting for a modern reader, but I suppose one has to make allowances for the commonplace attitudes of nearly 100 years ago. But there is also one of the best scenes set in a roaring 20's jazz club I've ever read to make up for such.
Even though one of the most popular novels of the 1920's, very few read Arlen's most notorious novel these days, and that's a shame, since there's much to like in it. The first few chapters are a bit languid for modern tastes, and some of Arlen's ornate prose gets a bit twee, but things definitely pick up by the halfway point, and the ending chapter is a masterly working out of several threads only hinted at throughout the book. That prevarication as to explicitly stating what is happening is both a mite annoying and one of the novel's charms, but one can see how Arlen had to skirt around the prevailing morality, yet still proceed with the tale he wants to tell. There is some unfortunate tacit anti-Semitism and racism that is a bit disconcerting for a modern reader, but I suppose one has to make allowances for the commonplace attitudes of nearly 100 years ago. But there is also one of the best scenes set in a roaring 20's jazz club I've ever read to make up for such.