The Line of Beauty
by Alan Hollinghurst
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alan HollinghurstEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-10-05
ISBN: 1582345082
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Book Reviews of The Line of Beauty
Book Review: "He found himself yearning to know of their affairs"
Summary: 5 Stars
When readers finish Alan Hollinghurst's latest novel, The Line of Beauty, they will easily see why it has just won the Booker Prize. Hollinghurst, in his previous novels has made a career out of portraying particular sides of gay life - the incessant partying, the drugs, the selfishness, the bitchiness, and the unremitting need for sex, as his characters search out desire in public toilets, bars, sex clubs, and late night clubs. Many of his characters - while candid and honest - have never been particularly likable, and the author's portrayal of them has often been far from flattering.
In the Line of Beauty, Hollinghurst continues with his hedonistic themes, but his scope is also much boarder and his canvas a lot larger. This is an exquisitely executed and scorchingly candid work, where Hollinghurst's characters are eclectic, funny and are a maddening assortment of people who are all restlessly trying to navigate their way through Margaret Thatcher's mid-eighties Britain where capitalism, opulence, and class envy reigned supreme.
The story begins in 1983 and centers on the young twenty-year-old Nick Guest as he becomes intertwined with the Fedden family and their luminous world of money and privilege. Gerald Fedden is a Tory Member of Parliament and is basking in the glory of Thatcher's economic policies; he lives with Rachel, his wife, and his two children, Catherine and Toby in a vast garden-filled estate called Kensington Park Gardens in Notting Hill. Nick studied with Toby, and has just come down from Oxford to London to distractingly do a doctorate on Henry James. While coming from a provincial, middle class background - his father is a humble antiques dealer - Nick is welcomed into the Fedden family like a type of surrogate son and over time, he becomes a kind of minder to the neurotic, troubled Catherine.
Nick enthusiastically partakes of the family's lavish parties and political dinners, and tries to impress them in their somewhat facile discussions on literature and art. He tries his best to promote civility amongst their affluent boredom, and entrusted with their secrets, he inevitably sketches their upper-class English ghastliness. But Nick's unsure of his footing in this opulent, affluent looking-glass world, and as he gazes hopefully into the gilt arch of the hall mirror, the young, distracted man finds the mirror reluctant to give its approval. Nick constantly has to remind himself that he is doing this all for pleasure.
When Nick meets Leo, a black cockney, after secretly answering a personal advertisement, the trusting, blushful, and unworldly virgin, is introduced to lusty sex and gay life. As a young man Nick feels the wrong kind of irony, the wrong knowledge for gay life, but later as he settles into his new family, a sense of security takes hold. A craving deepens in front of him and he discovers the "lovely teamwork of drugs and drink." Much of the later part of the novel involves his relationship with Wani, a long-lashed Lebanese millionaire playboy whose family represent the new, well-heeled class. While working as a creative consultant on Wani's new magazine, Ogee - named after the curve that is Hogarth's line of beauty - Nick is introduced to a world of non-stop threesomes, moneyed decadence, and cocaine-fueled days and nights.
Nicks life of excess builds to a virtuoso scene when Prime Minister Thatcher - who is referred to as "The Lady" and is much anticipated throughout the novel - finally attends a party at the Feddens' house. Wearing a bejeweled jacket that makes her look like a "country and western singer," she finds herself innocently dancing with a coked-up, out of it Nick. Nicks sumptuous life, however, soon takes a turn for the worst as dark secrets are unveiled and he eventually discovers the ruthlessness of his masters, the viciousness of class loyalty, and the ferocious homophobia of the Thatcherite Tories.
With a sly, feline wit, The Line of Beauty is undoubtedly Hollinghurst's finest, not only in the breadth of its ambition but also in its intricacies of observation and expression. He presents subtle interpretations of the world of those who think they are "born to rule" and his attention to drawing room dialogue is unsurpassed - there are lots of droll scenes where the author shows his flair for describing the tiniest social shenanigans. The novel is a rich, elegant and superb comedy of manners, and while never didactic, it's always ironic. Undoubtedly, The Line of Beauty is destined to become a giant masterpiece of modern literature. Mike Leonard November 04.
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