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 strangers child june 2011 is the fifth novel by alan hollinghurst. In the course of his writing career, hollinghurst has fashioned a unique literary voice at once considered, ruminative and. Alan hollinghurst, 3 january 20 forster was an only child whose father died when he was one, and he was raised by his mother in an atmosphere thick with aunts.
As authors from chaucer to hollinghurst have shown, sex reveals our emotions, instincts and morals. The book moves from johnnys experiences in raffish 1970s london to the citys turnof. In alan hollinghursts latest, a hazy sex scandal looms over many. One line from alan hollinghursts new book, the strangers child, is lodged. The strangers child alan hollinghurst, 2011 knopf doubleday 448 pp.
His most recent novel is the strangers child and he has written the. Alan hollinghurst audio books, best sellers, author bio. Called the first piece of gay fiction ever to win the honor, the story was also a sprawling and haunting elegy to the 1980s, wrote entertainment weekly critic jennifer reese. The book tells the story of a minor poet, cecil valance, who is killed in the first world war. 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. Alan hollinghurst biography life, story, history, mother. Alan hollinghurst is an english novelist, and winner of the 2004 booker prize for the line of beauty. Alan hollinghurst is the author of the novels the strangers child, the swimmingpool library, the folding star, the spell, and the line of beauty, which won the man booker prize and was a finalist for the national book critics circle award. In alan hollinghursts latest, a hazy sex scandal looms. In 19 he visits a cambridge friend, george sawle, at the latters home in stanmore, middlesex. 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.
Browse alan hollinghursts bestselling audiobooks and newest titles. Hollinghurst won for the line of beauty, the first gaythemed novel to win the british. Alan james hollinghurst frsl born 26 may 1954 is an english novelist, poet, short story. The folding star shows a sexist book can be shortlisted for the booker prize so long as the sexism is homosexism so long as all the sex objects are men liberal lefty double standards should make any lefty cringe and the rest of us, laugh. Interview with alan hollinghurst alan hollinghursts extraordinarily rich novel the line of beauty. He has received the somerset maugham award and the james tait black memorial prize. Browse alan hollinghurst tour dates and order tickets for upcoming shows near you. The book moves from johnnys experiences in raffish 1970s london to the citys turnofthemillennium rave scene. 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 tour deforce envisioning of the thatcher years as an era of doomed romance hes admired for his elegance of style. Author tour sensibility overwhelms narrative in this story of homoerotic obsession, a second novel from the. Stephen smith meets booker prize winning author alan. The structure of the book, hollinghurst says, was meant to show how a single prewar scene is viewed at different historical turning points, the effect being of a. The line of beauty, winner of the 2004 man booker prize and a finalist for the national book critics circle award. Alan hollinghursts first novel, the swimmingpool library, begins on the central line and ends in the subterranean showers of an underground swimming pool.
The booker prize winning british author alan hollinghurst has chronicled wealth and controversy at the heart of the establishment during the aids panic of the 1980s, in his book. Alan hollinghursts most popular book is the line of beauty. The sparsholt affair is a sweeping and intimate masterpiece, full of sensual pleasures and observational wisdom. In 1981 he moved on to lecture at university college london. Hollinghursts new domestic epic leapfrogs across seven decades to examine how the laws of social propriety shape the destinies of a father and. O ne line from alan hollinghurst s new book, the strangers child, is lodged in my head as i arrive at his hampstead flat. In 1997, he went on an asia book tour in singapore. An author with an extraordinary talent for fusing past lives and experiences with contemporary concerns, allan hollinghurst is widely regarded as one of britains finest living writers. In between novels, hollinghurst spends most of his time working on the next one, slowlywhichever book will follow the strangers child still hasnt been announced. We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. He is a writer, known for the line of beauty 2006, university challenge 1962 and bairro alto 2009.
Forster award of the american academy of arts and letters, and the james tait. Alan hollinghurst is one of the british novels most admired stylists. Alan hollinghurst is the author of the novels the swimmingpool library. In alan hollinghurst s latest, a hazy sex scandal looms over many lives. Alan hollinghurst is the author of five novels, the swimmingpool library, the folding star, the. Winner of the 2004 man booker prize and a finalist for the lambda literary award and the nbcc award. From the man booker prizewinning author of the line of beauty. Alan hollinghurst was born on may 26, 1954 in stroud, gloucestershire, england as alan james hollinghurst. Bbc world service world book club, alan hollinghurst. British novelist alan hollinghurst won the prestigious man booker prize for fiction in 2004 for his fourth novel, the line of beauty. Alan hollinghurst books list of books by author alan. Alan hollinghurst is the author of five novels, the swimmingpool library, the folding star, the spell, the line of beauty and the strangers child. Alan hollinghurst on the books that have shaped his life.
In 1981 he joined the times literary supplement and was the papers deputy editor from 1982 to 1995. As in his debut, hollinghurst seeks thematic richness by counterpointing lives from different eras, but here his weakness as a storyteller is even more marked. Opening in oxford during world war ii, the novel loosely revolves around david sparsholt, an adonis upon whom friends freddie green and evert dax find themselves fixated. The novel picks up a thread that has run through hollinghursts books since the swimmingpool library. The strangers child audiobook by alan hollinghurst.
He was on the staff of the times literary supplement from 1982 to 1995. October 20, 2004 novelist alan hollinghurst is awarded this years prestigious man booker prize. In alan hollinghursts latest, a hazy sex scandal looms over many lives. The sparsholt affair confirms alan hollinghursts status.
Its a milieu he turns to his advantage in his fiction, where the middleclass female world is observed with a. In the late summer of 19, george sawle brings his cambridge schoolmatea handsome. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. 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. The strangers child vintage international series by alan hollinghurst. Top ten books alan hollinghurst top ten books hollinghurst came to acclaim with his groundbreaking debut novel, the swimming pool library, in 1988, and went on to win the 2004 man booker prize for the line of beauty, a novel that nailed the crosscurrents of greed, envy, privilege, and sexual desire in 1980s britain. Alan hollinghurst s most popular book is the line of beauty. Spanning fifty years and three generations, alan hollinghursts the sparsholt affair tracks a network of artistic acquaintances through highsociety london. The question is not why write about sex, claims author. He has also received the somerset maugham award, the e. Alan hollinghurst was born in stroud in gloucestershire, england in 1954 and was educated at magdalen college, oxford. The sparsholt affair by alan hollinghurst, paperback. He has received the somerset maugham award, the james tait black memorial prize for fiction and the 2004 man booker prize.
Booker prize novel sparks free speech row in czech republic. He read english at magdalen college, oxford graduating in 1975. Forster award of the american academy of arts and letters, and the james tait black. Alan hollinghurst author of the line of beauty goodreads. Hollinghursts fourth novel, the line of beauty, won the man booker prize in 2004.
While there valance writes a poem entitled two acres, about the sawles house and addressed, ambiguously, either to george himself. The line of beauty world book club alan hollinghurst talks with harriet gilbert and the wbc audience about his man booker prizewinning novel, the line of beauty. In the summer of 1983, twentyyearold nick guest moves into an attic room in the notting hill home of. Forster award of the american academy of arts and letters, and the. Geoff dyer alan hollinghursts the sparsholt affair is startling, radical, embedded in tradition but entirely new in final effect the novel that other novelists were all. The sparsholt affair by alan hollinghurst the work of a. Books by alan hollinghurst author of the line of beauty. The swimming pool library, the folding star, the spell, the line of beauty, and the strangers child. Alan hollinghurst has 27 books on goodreads with 110905 ratings. Discover more authors youll love listening to on audible.
Buy a cheap copy of the line of beauty book by alan hollinghurst. In the late summer of 19, george sawle brings his cambridge schoolmatea handsome, aristocratic. Forster award of the american academy of arts and letters and the james tait black memorial. His latest, the line of beauty, last years booker prizewinner, starts on a hot summer day and ends with its protagonist and london bathed in the light of the moment. Alan james hollinghurst frsl born 26 may 1954 is an english novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. The strangers child by alan hollinghurst, paperback. Alan hollinghurst is the author of four previous novels, the swimmingpool library, the folding star, the spell and the line of beauty. Alan hollinghurst book attacked as pornographic after radio broadcasts a short excerpt from it published. Daphne sawle, a key figure in the book, whom we follow from a poetically. Alan hollinghurst was born in stroud in gloucestershire, england in 1954 and was. His acclaimed first novel, the swimmingpool library 1988, gives a vivid.
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