A literary sensation and bestseller both in England and America, The Swimming-Pool Library is an enthralling, darkly erotic novel of homosexuality ...
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Nov 05, 2011
mark
rated it: 
i'll start off with a blanket statement: many novels of the Gay Fiction subgenre will fall within two categories.
1. Coming of Age Tales in which the protagonist struggles to come out, often against his unsympathetic surroundings. often tender; occasionally mawkish.
2. a category that i like to call Gay World Novels in which, oh, everyone is pretty much gay. fine. dream on, gays, dream on. if you can't live it...dream it!
to me, the self-relegation of most gay More...
1. Coming of Age Tales in which the protagonist struggles to come out, often against his unsympathetic surroundings. often tender; occasionally mawkish.
2. a category that i like to call Gay World Novels in which, oh, everyone is pretty much gay. fine. dream on, gays, dream on. if you can't live it...dream it!
to me, the self-relegation of most gay More...
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Dec 11, 2008
Eric
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The plot was only intermittently absorbing, but the narrator's tones are utterly addictive. I can't get enough of Hollingburst's style. It can delicately register so many things--shades of emotion, nuances of intellection, as well as symphonies of physical movement, as in the suburban boxing tournament--but never sounds fussy or over-elaborate; very solid and quick, a model for anyone.
I wasn't sure if the rather stark contrast between the rich emotion of Lord Nantwich's old diaries More...
I wasn't sure if the rather stark contrast between the rich emotion of Lord Nantwich's old diaries More...
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Sep 14, 2008
Gary
rated it: 
At times captivatingly beautiful, and at time maddeningly tedious, Hollinghurst's debut novel is about pre-AIDS, early-80's gay live in London. To be expected, there's lots of sex. Most with underage boys or "exotic" black men.
While it wasn't a horrible novel, overall it was a bit too obvious and typical for my tastes.
Rich aristocratic British white male as protagonist? check!
Love affair with servile, poor black man? check!
Gay bashing at the hands of skinheads? More...
While it wasn't a horrible novel, overall it was a bit too obvious and typical for my tastes.
Rich aristocratic British white male as protagonist? check!
Love affair with servile, poor black man? check!
Gay bashing at the hands of skinheads? More...
Nov 05, 2011
Shovelmonkey1
rated it:
This book is tricksily misleading on a number of fronts. At first appearance it's a breezy but self obsessed commentary by flirtatious man about town, William Beckwith; young, monied, unscrupulous, charming and gay. The narrative is archly upper class with frequent references to private mens clubs such as the Corinthian and the Athenaeum. Because of the way it's written it took me about 50 pages (until the mention of Bucks Fizz - the pop group not the drink), to work out that this book is set in
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Feb 01, 2012
Larry
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Nov 19, 2011
Bembo
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The year is 1983, Will Beckwith is twenty-five years old, a gay aristocrat public school and Oxford educated, and living a life of leisure and pleasure, not needing to work thanks to the substantial wealth gifted by his notable grandfather, Lord Beckwith. Will tells of his unexpected encounter with the gay eighty-three year old Lord Nantwich who subsequently requests that Will should write his biography based on the abundant diaries he has kept over his eventful life. As Will reads through Lord
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Jun 19, 2011
Everett
rated it:
an account of early 80´s gay living---lots of sex, lots of gyms, and some politics. That it´s predictable is not surprising, that it´s honest deserves however some praise-it´s not a sympathy-vote gay novel, which is refreshing, as many of you will not like the protagonist whose arrogance and sex-drive might seem vulgar, or whatever. It also isn´t a maudlin sob-story with page after page of childhood trauma, familial disavowel, or boyfriends dying of AIDS or gaybashing--and here I want to say tha
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Dec 27, 2010
Becky
rated it:
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Jun 04, 2010
Sophie
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-I'd surrendered to the prospect of doing nothing, though it kept me busy enough.
-I told myself that I had scooped someone back from the threshold of death, but that seemed incommensurate with the simple routine I had followed, the vital little drill retained from childhood along with all the more complex knowledge that would never prove so useful--convection, sonata form, the names of birds in Latin and French.
-Often those who have swum still have their trunks on and so More...
-I told myself that I had scooped someone back from the threshold of death, but that seemed incommensurate with the simple routine I had followed, the vital little drill retained from childhood along with all the more complex knowledge that would never prove so useful--convection, sonata form, the names of birds in Latin and French.
-Often those who have swum still have their trunks on and so More...
Nov 03, 2009
Colin
rated it:
I love Hollinghurst, but I guess I was expecting this book to be a little racier. I know it was racy, but while going on a walking tour through Russell Square past the hotel where the narrator's lover works, I had a professor describe it as "pornographic." I've read better / worse.
But Hollinghurst's style is wonderful, and his story of pre-AIDS London and the history of repression and entrapment in England is fantastic. I'm a little annoyed by all of the class issues bet More...
But Hollinghurst's style is wonderful, and his story of pre-AIDS London and the history of repression and entrapment in England is fantastic. I'm a little annoyed by all of the class issues bet More...
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Jun 08, 2009
Francisco
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Apr 23, 2009
Milan/zzz
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I would lie if I tell I wasn't in shock while reading this book. This is first gay novel I've ever read and that's why I was very interested in it. Especially after so fabulous reviews which "The Swimming-Pool Library" has. Actually I"m not sure what kind of story I expected, maybe some story about homosexual relationship like in movie "Philadelphia" (with or without AIDS). "Philadelphia"? Ha, ha! comparing with this book even Almodovar with his movies is a li
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Mar 16, 2011
Dominic
rated it:
A semi-interesting story in parts, but ultimately it boils down to the vanity and shallow life of a gay man, William Beckwith, living in 1980s Britain. It's a book about not much happening to an unlikeable sex-crazed man. It is very unclear whether the author is extoling the virtues of this man's life or criticising them; to be honest it reads like he is doing neither and just reporting the tedious antics of this promiscuous man over one summer. The attempts to contrast this with the diary of th
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Mar 29, 2011
Sara
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Jul 21, 2009
Tessa
rated it:
I was very sad when this ended. The narration is so well-done and delicate -- it wraps you (by you I mean me) up in the protagonist's head without you even knowing until something happens that makes you see how closely identified you've become. There's one scene in particular that does this to dazzling effect. It's around page 197 - I omit mentioning particulars not because it would spoil the plot or anything, but because if you're going to read it you deserve to come on it fresh. And for a
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Jan 08, 2010
Shelley
rated it:
Okay,I give up. I have tried and tried to push through this one and cannot do it. It seems like there are two separate books fighting with each other here. One is an interesting story and had some promise. The other is just sex. Just when the actual story gets going and I am absorbed in finding out more about Nantwich and what is going to happen with him and his memoirs, the author interrupts the story to throw in another repetitive and tedious sex scene that is identical to the one a few pa
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Feb 24, 2009
Scott
rated it:
I totally loved this book and I wish I could write prose as Hollinghurst. His turn of phrase and excellent use of language is stellar.
The story is interestingly told through the eyes of a thirtyish gay man in the prime of his life simply lounging, working out, and having sexual encounters of the various kind. The plot dupes you into regarding the plot as non-existent and that the book will tell the typical tale of a lounger, but the author starts dropping hints to an underlying sec More...
The story is interestingly told through the eyes of a thirtyish gay man in the prime of his life simply lounging, working out, and having sexual encounters of the various kind. The plot dupes you into regarding the plot as non-existent and that the book will tell the typical tale of a lounger, but the author starts dropping hints to an underlying sec More...
Aug 30, 2011
Sophie
rated it:
General Premise: In 1983, upper-class hedonist Will Beckwith is charged with writing the biography of Charles Nantwich, an elderly peer.
At the beginning I felt the narrator (Will) was a prick. Unfortunately my opinion hasn’t really changed. Most of the other characters, you learn more things about and they become fully fleshed out characters, but the narrator is about as deep as a puddle, which is quite wearing. He does admit this about himself, which is something. Also very sex-obsessed t More...
At the beginning I felt the narrator (Will) was a prick. Unfortunately my opinion hasn’t really changed. Most of the other characters, you learn more things about and they become fully fleshed out characters, but the narrator is about as deep as a puddle, which is quite wearing. He does admit this about himself, which is something. Also very sex-obsessed t More...
Oct 25, 2009
I need to stop doing this thing of, when I'm completely taken with a novel by a writer I've never read before, running out and instantly reading something else by that writer. It's just too much pressure, and I always wind up all pissed-off and disappointed. This has recently happened with Patrick Hamilton, Martin Amis, and now, Alan Hollinghurst – is there something about these Brits that they don’t make good second dates? When I read The Line of Beauty I loved it so much I was sick. Naturally
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Oct 22, 2011
Alec
rated it:
This is more or less how I want books to be written - this elegance of sentence that always manages to flow magnificently while delivering detail you don't need but definitely want. And it's not just descriptive - it can switch around and give you crudity, and witty dialogue, and vicious judgements, as well as just telling you what the scenery's like.
Brilliant narrative authority and sense of reality, and wonderful that it rejects an obvious coming of age structure. That rather than t More...
Brilliant narrative authority and sense of reality, and wonderful that it rejects an obvious coming of age structure. That rather than t More...
Jul 07, 2011
Davie
rated it:
Saw this mentioned numerous times on a famous-gay-people-pick-their-favorite-books blog post a few weeks ago. I appreciated parts of Hollinghurst's "The Line of Beauty," but just couldn't find much to connect with in the main character's life of British aristocratic privilege. So I thought I would give this older work a try.
Turns out it is one of those books about people having sex in public restrooms. Are. You. Kidding. Me. ?. This is one of the best gay novels ever writte More...
Turns out it is one of those books about people having sex in public restrooms. Are. You. Kidding. Me. ?. This is one of the best gay novels ever writte More...
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Mar 16, 2009
Michelle
rated it:
The flow and tone of this novel is beautiful. It actually reminds me (absent the graphic gay sex) of Wilde's _The Picture of Dorian Grey_. Hollinghurst's style - especially when describing space and people is very like Wilde's I think. There are some delightful characters in this novel who don't hold a prominent place in the plot but who contribute nonetheless. Roops, Taha, etc., add some dimension to a sometimes shallow plot line.
The ending is not unexpected. Though Will is off More...
The ending is not unexpected. Though Will is off More...
Jun 27, 2011
Iva
rated it:
Issues of wealth, race, class and underground gay life in pre-AIDS London permeate this first person novel, a perfect pick for Pride Week (or any week, actually.) Hollinghurst's language is descriptive and transportive. There is a diary of an officer in Sudan in the 1920's juxtaposed with 80's London's club and gym scene. He does a heartbreaking prison scene. He creates a sort of Harriet the Spy 6-year old nephew. His characters are not to be forgotten. Hollinghurst creates scenes of heartbre
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Jun 01, 2011
Joy
rated it:
Well, I pretty much agree with Katie: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/108...
However, I'm only giving this 3 stars, because I am less generous. There were many bright spots of lovely writing, but the characters were just so annoying. If Will had learned anything by the end of the book, I would have liked him better. And yet knowing that he and his friends were about to be devastated by the arrival of HIV/AIDS made me a little more sympathetic somehow. Either he'll die (sad) or bec More...
However, I'm only giving this 3 stars, because I am less generous. There were many bright spots of lovely writing, but the characters were just so annoying. If Will had learned anything by the end of the book, I would have liked him better. And yet knowing that he and his friends were about to be devastated by the arrival of HIV/AIDS made me a little more sympathetic somehow. Either he'll die (sad) or bec More...
Jun 14, 2009
Josie
rated it:
wow, i am starting to understand references in one gay novel to another!!
brideshead revisited x giovanni's room???
written post-AIDS, but set pre-AIDS. this makes it quite different from Dancer from the Dance, though the opposite from what one would suppose--Dancer has this doomed feeling about it, while Library is a carefree romp.
Hollinghurst does this rather clever thing of having no woman ever appear in the book. There are women through the phone but clever strate More...
brideshead revisited x giovanni's room???
written post-AIDS, but set pre-AIDS. this makes it quite different from Dancer from the Dance, though the opposite from what one would suppose--Dancer has this doomed feeling about it, while Library is a carefree romp.
Hollinghurst does this rather clever thing of having no woman ever appear in the book. There are women through the phone but clever strate More...
Jan 02, 2012
Janie
rated it:
The Swimming Pool library is set in 1983 London and focusses on a gay, highly sexed young rich (not particularly likeable) man who gets laid virtually on every page in full pornographic detail.
Honestly it was good to start with in its inevitable shocking sense but just got so tedius very quickly. Surely the main character could find other things to do other than sex with total strangers in porn cinemas, public toilets, etc. etc.
But there was a reasonable story behind th More...
Honestly it was good to start with in its inevitable shocking sense but just got so tedius very quickly. Surely the main character could find other things to do other than sex with total strangers in porn cinemas, public toilets, etc. etc.
But there was a reasonable story behind th More...
Dec 12, 2008
oxana
rated it:
I would give this two-and-a-half stars, if possible. Let's settle with three, then, though maybe two would be more honest when it comes to my personal opinion.
The name of the book, actually, has very little if anything to do with the book itself. Also, if someone thinks this might be a tale of a romantic relationship between a younger and older man, will be sorely disappointed.
There is some romance, yes, and briefly described and lightly explicit sexual scenes between men More...
The name of the book, actually, has very little if anything to do with the book itself. Also, if someone thinks this might be a tale of a romantic relationship between a younger and older man, will be sorely disappointed.
There is some romance, yes, and briefly described and lightly explicit sexual scenes between men More...
Jun 12, 2010
Cathrine
rated it:
Superbly written and sometimes very funny about the early 80's London gay world pre-AIDS. Some call the book racy and erotic, but it's all written in very tasty and subdued way.
The young gay aristocrat William Beckwith devotes his existence to the pursuit of pleasure, enjoying numerous casual affairs with a variety of men. By chance one day he saves the life of the elderly Lord Nantwich. A friendship begin when Lord Nantwhich wants William to write his biography. By reading Lord Nant More...
The young gay aristocrat William Beckwith devotes his existence to the pursuit of pleasure, enjoying numerous casual affairs with a variety of men. By chance one day he saves the life of the elderly Lord Nantwich. A friendship begin when Lord Nantwhich wants William to write his biography. By reading Lord Nant More...
Mar 15, 2010
Sonja
rated it:
A meandering and somewhat pointless novel, though that may have simply been capturing the leisurely life of the unemployed and wealthy protagonist, William Beckwith. I enjoyed it, as Hollinghurst has a pretty sly and witty way of describing people, but I'd like to read another of his novels to see this in a better setting. One sees gay life in England from WWI to the 80s, and the evolution of the tenuous negotiation of this subculture with the culture at large. This is definitely the cruisiest n
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Aug 04, 2011
Kathy
rated it:
God offers Lucifer a second chance if he can live one month as a human. Lucifer accepts the offer so God takes Declan Gunn who is depressed London novelist contemplating suicide puts his soul on hold for a month and let’s Lucifer take power. This is a side-splittingly entertaining novel as Lucifer throws himself into the sex. The imagery of Lucifer's reactions to the different smells as he walks through London is dramatic. I will say that Duncan’s writing is very intense and I had really think o
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