Hollinghursts bookerwinning novel about nineteeneighties. Winner of the 2004 man booker prize and a finalist for the lambda literary award and the nbcc award. Alan hollinghurst is the author of several novels including the swimmingpool library, the folding star, the spell, the line of beauty and the strangers child. The title is taken from in memoriam, tennysons elegy to his great. Nick was enthralled with henry james, but the real line of beauty is more enthralling than its fictional dissection. The spell alan hollinghurst the spell alan hollinghurst. He won the 2004 man booker prize for the line of beauty. The line of beauty by alan hollinghurst the sex in the opening and best section of the novel conveys the thrill of first love and being young and the figuring of that stuff out with a touching accuracy that many writers have shot for but few have so successfully nailed.
When alan hollinghurst won the man booker prize in 2004 for his novel the line of beauty, londons daily express went with this scarehead. The first edition of the novel was published in 2004, and was written by alan hollinghurst. The next installment in the series comes from alan hollinghurst, the british writer who won the man booker prize for the line of beauty in 2004. From alan hollinghurst, the acclaimed author of the sparsholt affair, the line of beauty is a sweeping novel about class, sex, and money during four extraordinary years of change and tragedy. Robin woodfield, an architect in his late forties, who is trying to build an idyllic life in dorset with his younger lover, justin, a wouldbe actor increasingly disenchanted with the countryside. In the summer of 1983 20yearold graduate nick guest moves into an attic room in the. In the course of his writing career, hollinghurst has fashioned a unique literary voice at once considered, ruminative and. Alan hollinghursts new novel is a comedy of sexual manners that follows the interlocking affairs of four men. In the summer of 1983, twentyyearold nick guest moves. Herein lies the ethical alchemy of beauty scarry 1 conjured up many times in the line of beauty. I originally planned to read this book in a day or two, but it took me a while longer simply because i was so enthralled and moved by the novels baroque descriptions and its aesthetic focus on issues pertaining to gayness and queerness during the 1980s. Alan hollinghurst writing styles in the line of beauty alan hollinghurst this study guide consists of approximately 29 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the line of beauty. Insofar as the ethical alchemy of beauty requires beautiful yet base materials to be transformed into something refined and invaluable, hollinghursts novel uses the trope of betrayal to rethink bad behaviors and low.
There are many models of beauty and as old saying goes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Alan hollinghurst is among britains most highlyrated literary novelists, whose bestknown book the line of beauty 2004, winner of that years man booker prize, is a tourdeforce envisioning of the thatcher years as an era of doomed romance hes admired for his elegance of style. The threepart series, written by andrew davies and directed by saul dibb, is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by alan hollinghurst. Bbc 2 the line of beauty trailer may 2006 bit of a mixed bag end credits and a bit. Hollinghurst 255 sounds at once a badtempered ridicule of nicks feelings and a malevolent parody of aestheticism which both guys supposedly follow. Bestselling british writer alan hollinghurst talks about his booker prizewinning novel, the line of beauty. The result is intriguing, like reading gossip in beautifully made sentences with extraordinary insights into motive and nuance. Though hes best known for his elegant descriptions of gay male life and pitchperfect prose, hollinghurst is most striking here for his successful, often damning, observations. The line of beauty is a 2004 booker prizewinning novel by alan hollinghurst. The strangers child is hollinghursts fifth novel, following his 2004 booker prizewinning the line of beauty. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1989 somerset maugham award, the 1994 james tait black memorial prize and the 2004 booker prize. Gerald, an ambitious new tory mp, his wealthy wife rachel, and.
Eamonn mccabe e veryone who has read the line of beauty will recall the party at which the young protagonist, nick guest, dances with mrs thatcher. Alan james hollinghurst frsl born 26 may 1954 is an english novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. Originally published in the guardian, 5 august 2011. It is a novel that defines a decade, exploring with peerless style a young mans collision with his own desires, and with a world he can never truly belong to.
Nevertheless, when i first read alan hollinghursts seminal novel, the line of beauty, it struck a surprisingly resonant chord. He has received the somerset maugham award, the james tait black memorial prize for fiction and the 2004 man booker prize. The book has been awarded with man booker prize 2004. Thats very important, the king said, turning to the jury. The main characters of this fiction, lgbt story are. Hollinghurst holds up for us the thinness of beauty and the foolishness of its worship, yet when nicks ostensibly hollow collaboration with shallow, materialistic, philistine wani comes to unexpected glorious but limited fruition we are invited to reconsider. In alan hollinghursts latest, a hazy sex scandal looms. But wani is something of a dilettante, more interested in cocaine, porn and sex. The man booker prizewinning authors sixth novel explores changing attitudes.
Pdf the line of beauty book by alan hollinghurst free. The novel is set in britain in three parts, taking place in 1983. Alan hollinghurst is one of the british novels most admired stylists. The line of beauty is divided into three parts that take place over the course of three years in the life of nick guest, a gay college student living through the aids crisis of the 1980s. The spell isbn 9780099276944 pdf epub alan hollinghurst. Alan hollinghurst talks to james naughtie and readers about his 2004 man booker prizewinning novel the line of beauty.
At 400plus pages sprinkled with references to henry james, his fourth outing aspires to the status of an epic about sex, politics, money, and high society. Read free book excerpt from the line of beauty by alan hollinghurst, page 1 of 8. Framed by the two general elections that returned margaret. Alan hollinghurst won the man booker prize in 2004 for the line of beauty. Hollinghurst began his career in 1988 with a groundbreaking debut, the swimming pool library, and has since written five celebrated novels, winning the man booker prize with the line of beauty in. This acclaimed book by alan hollinghurst is available at in several formats for your ereader. Winner of the man booker prize, alan hollinghursts the line of beauty is a classic novel about class, politics and sexuality in margaret thatchers 1980s britain it is the summer of 1983, and young nick guest, an innocent in the matters of politics and money, has moved into an attic room in the notting hill home of the feddens.
John mullan is professor of english at university college london. The line of beauty by alan hollinghurst librarything. Bbc radio 4 bookclub, alan hollinghurst the line of beauty. Free download or read online the line of beauty pdf epub book. Set in the united kingdom in the early to mid1980s, the story surrounds the postoxford life of. The line of beauty is a 2004 man booker prize winning novel by alan hollinghurst. Alan hollinghurst on the books that have shaped his life. It is the summer of 1983, and 20yearold nick guest has moved into an attic room in the notting hill home of the feddens. The book, winner of the 2004 man booker prize, tells the story of nick guest, a lowermiddle class oxford graduate who moves into a fellow alumnus family mansion in notting hill in the summer of 1983. The line of beauty is alan hollinghursts man booker prizewinning masterpiece. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 438 pages and is available in paperback format. The line of beauty by alan hollinghurst books the guardian.
The line of beauty by alan hollinghurst project myopia. Robins 22 year old son danny, a volatile beauty who lives for clubbing and casual sex. His next novel, the strangers child, was longlisted for the man booker prize in 2011. He read english at magdalen college, oxford graduating in 1975. Instead nick helps start up wanis magazinefilm company ogee named after the line of beauty arch. The ironwork pattern of interlocking curves is beautiful. Alan hollinghurst writing styles in the line of beauty. I find it so easy to get lost in the elegance and artistry of alan hollinghursts the line of beauty. Alan hollinghurst is an english novelist, and winner of the 2004 booker prize for the line of beauty. From alan hollinghurst, the acclaimed author of the sparsholt affair, the line of beauty is a sweeping novel about class, sex, and money during four extraordinary years of change and tragedy in the summer of 1983, twentyyearold nick guest moves into an attic room in the notting hill home of. The strangers child, hollinghursts first since the 2004 bookerwinner the line of beauty, came out on monday in the u.
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