Sparsholt Affair | 
bailedI‘m at 60%, one of the characters is trying to pry into the big mysterious scandal at the center of the book, and I‘ve realized that I just don‘t care about whatever it is or whoever is involved. 😅 I‘m just bored.
Which is a pity because Hollinghurst is excellent at grounding his stories in a time and place. I think I‘ll have to try a different book by him at another time.
bailedI loved The Line of Beauty but I feel like ever since Alan Hollinghurst‘s books have less plot and more sex, as if he needs a bit of a plot just to have something in between sex scenes. It gets boring to keep reading about men just staring at each other's crotch and waiting for the moment to go for it. After half the book and nothing much else happening I still don't know what happened to Sparsholt during the war but I don't even bother anymore.
pickYet another masterpiece spun by Hollinghurst and his beauteous, engrossing prose.
Spanning across decades each as bewitching as the last, we follow the famous sex scandal with intimate detail from various captivating narratives, leaving the reader ravenous and, more often than not, holding one's breath out of fear of frightening away the happenings on those scarcely lit London streets.
Truly worthy of the adoration its earned.
Utter perfection.
bailedI gave it until 200 pages, but I wasn't really interested in it. It sounded really interesting though.
pickThis is one of those books that feels like sitting down chatting with a good friend. The humor is understood and there‘s also a slight nod to gossip. I loved Evert and Johnny so much that ending the book was a bittersweet affair. 5 ⭐️
pickAlthough I enjoy the author's writing, I do wish sometimes that he would expand his range beyond the rarified social circles his beautiful gay men live in. Having said that, I still give it a pick because it so good at what he does.
so-soThis is my current progress with October goals. This is mainly to keep me on track. The tagged book was so well written, but simply lost my interest about 300 pages in. It was a Man Booker longlist last year. #booker2018
I‘m way behind on posting October goals. These are what is on my bedside table. I‘ve actually finished two already (😂) and have several in the works. Im likely not to read half of these, but I really need to make a concerted effort to pare some stacks down. #october2019
pickI hadn‘t planned on starting and finishing a 454 page book today, yet I did. Some parts dragged and I skimmed occasionally but overall this was an immersive tale of friends from Oxford beginning in 1940 culminating in late 1990‘s. Divided into 5 parts each section is its own little slice of life story following the characters & their next generation of offspring. It also traces the experiences of Queer life in Britain through the decades. 3.5 🌟
#PrideMonth dictated my current read ~ after a shaky start it‘s turning out to be quite a pleasing read. It‘s an interconnecting story following the lives of 4 friends who meet at Oxford University in 1940. My first Hollinghurst ( reminds me a bit of Boyne)
bailedI‘m not going to finish this. I‘m accepting that and moving on.
Next ebook! I sat next to a man on a plane reading this and when we landed, he recommended it to me. We hadn‘t spoken the whole flight. I‘ve remembered that ever since so since it‘s a kindle deal I bought it.
pickLoved this one! It‘s not for everyone - the plot is almost non existent, but the characters and the lovely prose more than makes up for it.
This story is in 5 parts, a tale of gay life in the UK from 1940‘s to today, each part almost like a novella. The first half is definitely more successful than the latter half, but it‘s still 4.5⭐️for the gorgeous writing, and making me immediately pick up 2 more from this author!
#pop19 #setonacollegecampus
Reading on my patio, and spotted this cool-looking fellow hanging out on my fence! I think he‘s a Cuban Anole 😎🦎#lakelife
Just realized that all my #currentreads are color themed in my favorite color..... 💙💙💙
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
1. The Island of Sea Women for B&N bookclub, The Sparsholt Affair on kindle and I am, I am, I am on audio.
2. The Hand that first held Mine by Maggie O‘Farrell (5⭐️read)
3. I‘m a total morning person.... I love the quiet of an early morning when no one else is up, a FL sunrise and the lake life in my yard....
#MarchIntoThe70s #LondonCalling something about this cover caught my eye on my recent trip to London and I bought this book( along with 9 others😉) Of course, I haven‘t read it yet😝The blurb gave me Hearts Invisible Furies vibes, a young man good looking & charismatic develops a lifelong friendship with another young man when they both attend Oxford University in the Fall of 1940. Book spans 5 decades. #NeedToRead
pickThis was a very Alan Hollinghurst book :) Beautiful prose and interesting characters. In my opinion, not as good as The Line of Beauty or The Strangers Child, but I think fans of Hollinghurst will enjoy it all the same. 4.5 ⭐️
Congratulations @Nessavamusic !! Thank you for doing this! I would love The Sparsholt Affair in my bookshelf. #20K1KGIVEAWAY
pickBig and brilliant beautiful of prose and fantastic in its gayness and mix of love ,heartbreaks and the progression of British 20th CENTURY life. My hat how I adore Alan Hollinghurst and his novels .
Only two, but theyve been on my library wait list for months. So now I own them. Beautiful day at a beautiful bookstore. If you are in London, a must see.
pick1 of the gr8 scenes of fiction is in the authors booker winner when the hero dances with Maggie thatcher. So i looked fwd to his latest and was absorbed by the story of how the gay experience changes from the early 40's to modern day through David and Johnny sparsholt (f+ son). A story which was absorbing , with gr8 characters but given the scope perhaps cd have been longer, &seemed to avoid whether deliberately the impact of aids. But worth rdg.
pickThis is Hollinghurst‘s sixth novel & in terms of structure is very similar to his previous one ‘The Stranger‘s Child‘. It is divided into five sections, spanning wartime Oxford to modern day London. It reminded me a bit of ‘A Dance To The Music of Time‘ in that the characters fade in and out of the action over the course of the book - for example the ‘star‘ of the first section is barely seen or heard of in the other 4 sections.
pickI really enjoyed this book and the way the author captures the lives, relationships, and experiences of gay men in Britain over a 70+ year span. The writing is amazing and while the plot does drag in a few places, I still loved it.
Book is decided into 5 sections (section 1 is by far the best) and each section jumps ahead about 10 years to follow the Sparsholt family.
Trying to cram in a few more books before I make my 2018 Man Booker longlist predictions. Each year on the blog our panel of judges reads and reviews the entire longlist. But before we begin we make predictions on which books will make it.
Do you think this one will make the longlist? I‘m only a few chapters in. Monday we post our predictions
pickA glorious sprawling tale in 5 sections, The Sparsholt Affair follows a father and then his son from Oxford in 1940 through to modern day London—and how life for gay men in Britain changed over that 70 year period. This is a sweeping saga of family and a group of friends, quiet and romantic and patient as it moves along.
“Each person, if he was lucky, found the place where he could shine, and the person to shine on.“
Next read...I heard this is a good saga. That is so my jam.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have never read anything quite so beautifully written about the varieties of lust and desire and how changes in society impact these things but also how scandal from the past can overshadow the future . It is quite an exquisite feat of writing, ambitious in scope and yet ultimately a little bit of a disappointment in terms of a satisfying novel.
Hollinghurst is a sublime prose stylist and I think of this more as a beautiful failure.
Hollinghurst is such a master wordsmith. Such brilliant and sly observations this one just seemed so astute and unusual
#TBRtemptation post 3! In 1940, Evert Dax and David Sparsholt meet at Oxford U. With military call-ups, the students sense futility with their studies cut short. What the two do this year will set a great deal in motion among a many people. You'll witness several generations, up through the present, love through uncertainty and change. Also, you'll see the evolution of the Modern, in art, architecture, etc. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
Met the man himself today. Very interesting and intelligent, fabulous dry sense of humour.
Next up- I am already enchanted by this book set in Oxford. First impressions of this book are giving me The Virgin Suicide vibes with a group of young men fancying the new young man they see across the way from one of their rooms. While I know it won‘t mirror that novel, I do love when one book (knowingly or unknowingly) reflects another. And I am loving hearing the descriptions of all the places in Oxford that I adore. I have high hopes...
👯♀️
pickAlthough the story of The Sparsholt Affair at times felt like it dragged on a bit longer than necessary, Hollinghurt‘s writing is so beautiful, especially when describing quiet, almost ‘nothing‘ moments, in such a fascinating way.
Thank you to Knopf and Goodreads for an advanced copy to enjoy! Happy pub week
Big thank you to AAKnopf and Goodreads for an advanced copy of the new Alan Hollinghurst- I think this is exactly what my lackluster January needs.
Later in the day. Now some bookish activity can begin. Same beach. The tide is going out. ✨✨✨
The Sparsholt Affair is my next Audible book. Another #blameitonlitsy Im going in blind. This is the beach outside our hotel in Inchydoney - so I may start this Audible- or I may just have to listen to the sea....
pickAlan Hollinghurst‘s new novel, The Sparsholt Affair, is an impressive portrait of the titular character, David Sparsholt, through the eyes of various people surrounding him. Beautifully and sensually written, it follows three generations, showing change in time both in Sparsholt‘s character as well as public perception of gay people in society. This was my first Hollinghurst, and it definitely won‘t be my last.
Having a nice evening in with a mug of tea, finishing up Alan Hollinghurst‘s wonderful The Sparsholt Affair. Hope everyone‘s been great and reading something fantastic!
so-soBookTube review here: https://youtu.be/Sn-SYlBbKb0
I feel a peculiar kind of sadness, devastation even, that this novel—which started out so brilliantly I expected it‘d end up being among my top reads of the year—slipped out of Hollinghurst‘s grasp in the second half, evoking the quote about a painter losing a painting from Guare‘s Six Degrees of Separation. The first section would have been a masterpiece as a stand-alone novella.
