Line of Beauty | 
pick19-23 Jun 25 (audiobook)
Another book I had intended to read for a long time, I enjoyed this far more than expected.
Telling the story of a young, gay man who moved in and ingratiated himself with a rich British family in the 80s, Hollinghurst examines wealth, beauty, Thatcherism and the reality of being homosexual in the early 80s when AIDS was ravishing the community.
A worthy Booker winner beautifully written.
pickThis was a Gatsby-esque novel set in the 1980s. Nick, a gay man, moves into the home of a conservative member of parliament and his family. This was beautifully written with a wry humor. It touches on the Aids crisis, politics, and the nature of beauty, and exposes much of the hypocrisy of the era. There was a bit in the middle that felt overlong and sluggish, otherwise a great, insightful read.
#queerbc @puddlejumper
💙 Tuck Everlasting was a book that really stuck with me as a kid. I loved the plot. The book made me think. I still re-read this book and love it every time.
💙 There are parts of Marigold from Magic for Marigold that remind me of myself as a child.
💙 I most recently finished The Line of Beauty. 3.75 stars It started and ended strong, but was a bit of a slog in the middle.
#wondrouswednesday @eggs
pickIt‘s the 80s and Nick Guest is a young intellectual and discerning aesthete, fresh from Oxford, awed by his friend Toby‘s family and upper class home filled with art and antiques where he is a lodger. Toby‘s father is an MP in the Thatcher government and the home hosts many of the privileged and powerful. Nick seems to be appreciated by the family for his wits and his homosexuality is known and he hopes, accepted. We follow Nick through his ⬇️
#3books #thatwererecommededtome recently by my lovely co-worker, and we seem to like a lot of the same books...
I read and loved the Hollinghurst, and the other two are on my nightstand waiting..... 📚
pickLoved it! On the surface it‘s about the money, greed, sex and politics of Thatcher‘s 80s, but it‘s about so much more. It becomes a story of belonging and not belonging, of a glamorous facade and what lies beneath the veneer. Nick, a young gay man, besotted by a rich family, becomes a part of their world for a while, until things inevitably fall apart around him. Gorgeous writing and compelling characters, can‘t wait to read more by Hollinghurst.
#Movember @Cinfhen #borderline
No borders, just a Line! One from my #2020TBR today, I‘ve been meaning to read this 2004 Man Booker winner for ages! I read The Sparsholt Affair this year, and really loved his writing, so hoping for a great read.... 💕
Current read - but going into hibernation at the moment because I just can‘t do any more Tory politics. It‘s stirring up everything awful I remember about the 80s, which then jars with everything going on today and I‘ve decided I‘m done for now.
To be returned to when less bitter and twisted.
It‘s basically Brideshead in the 80 and wonderfully written.
pickI read this book several years ago. Couldn't tell you much about it now, but I know that I really liked it. I recently started going to a therapist, and I saw this in the sidewalk walking from her office this week. I immediately thought of the book, but wondered if there is something else to the phrase. Either way, I found a little something to treasure in Cambridge!
pickI am going to be thinking about this for a long time. The story is deceptively slight. The triumph is in the vivid characters who personify so much about the upper middle class world of the 1980s and its "greed is good" mentality and also its ambivalence towards gay men in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. So many secrets, so much dishonesty, so much sycophancy. It's tragic.
I'm enjoying some holiday time on beautiful Green Island. My internet connection is a bit iffy, so please forgive me if I'm not liking or commenting much for the rest of the week.🙂🌴🌺🌤🍹
It's a rainy, EF kind of day. To battle my storm anxiety I'm going to escape into a book.
"He saw that interests weren't always a sexy thing. A shared passion for a subject, large or small, could quickly put two strangers into a special state of subdued rapture and rivalry, distantly resembling love;"
‘For Gods sake don‘t leave me.‘ He said, ‘Of course I won‘t,‘ and felt the occasion close in on him, suffocatingly, from a great distance. It was something else Toby had mentioned, by the lake: there are times when she can‘t be alone, and she has to have someone with her.
pickThis recent read has become a new favorite. There are some sociopolitical elements in the story, but the character study is what brings the force to this beautiful novel. What we get from Hollinghurst‘s micro-observations is a broad picture of human life through a very specific lens. When I was reading it all in one sitting, I noted: There‘s something intensely humanizing about being trapped behind the veil of a protagonist‘s insecurities.
I want all of these black&white Picador 40th Anniversary collection covers! I have the edition of Room from this collection and it‘s stunning. The Line of Beauty and Mother‘s Milk look gorgeous!
I just finished The Line of Beauty and am only 20 minutes away from completing 24 hours for the #readathon! This book was incredible, but I need some time to process before reviewing it. Now finishing up the ‘thon with a few stories from Anthony Marra.
#24in48
pickI loved this book about Nick, who stays with the wealthy Fedden family in Kensington Park, London. He divides his time between partying and travelling with the family on one side, and exploring the realities of his sexuality and gay life on the other.
The park plays a big role in this aspect of his life - at least as I remember the book. Highly recommended!
#NuYear #DownInThePark #1001books
When there is traffic and you‘re not the driver. #mountTBRchallenge
pickA staggering beautiful work of genius, like an updated gayer Brideshead Revisited.
This is one of the best gay novels out there, and one of my favorite novels set in London. It won the Booker in 2004.
#RockInMay #LondonCalling
Excited to read this for my Queer London Book Club! My first Hollinghurst novel 🌈🇬🇧📚#amreading
