Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Vintage (1999), 272 pages
Description
Alan Hollinghurst's new novel is a comedy of sexual manners that follows the interlocking affairs of four men: Robin Woodfield, an architect in his late forties, who is trying to build an idyllic life in Dorset with his younger lover, Justin, a would-be actor increasingly disenchanted with the countryside; Robin's 22 year old son Danny, a volatile beauty who lives for clubbing and casual sex; and the shy Alex, whose life is transformed by house music and a tab of ecstasy. As each in turn falls under the spell of romance or drugs,country living or rough trade, a richly ironic picture emerges of the clashing imperatives of modern gay life, the hunger for contact and the fear of commitment, the need for permanence and the continual disruptions of sex. At once lyrical and farcical, sceptical and romantic,The Spellconfirms Alan Hollinghurst as one of Britain's most important novelists.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Johnny1978
As beautifully phrased and thought provoking as all of Hollinghurst's work, but with a lighter, comic touch. His dissection of the realtionships and affairs of four gay men (an introverted romantic, a narcissistic slut, a smug alpha male and a promiscious twink) is almost painfully acute; his
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evocation of late nineties London is rich and vivid. Show Less
LibraryThing member marq
"The Spell" is a story of a group of men and their changing relationships with each other though love affairs, breakups, reconciliations, stability and death. I think that in a few months I will remember very little about the plot of this book but I will remember the characters and the emotions. I
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empathised with most of them in one way or another and I envied them. Show Less
LibraryThing member alionora
I was recommended Hollinghurst's The Swimming Pool Library, but it was out at the library, so I grabbed this one instead.
It's described as a comedy, but the problem is that it just isn't funny. There are a few funny moments, yes, but over-all... no. Another problem is that the characters aren't
This could have been a good story. It starts of promising, with the four main characters in a cottage out in the country. If it had stayed that way, I think it definitely could have been an interesting chamber play, but alas it didn't.
I'll still give The Swimming Pool Library a chance, because while I didn't enjoy this particular book, I still enjoyed Hollinghurst's writing.
It's described as a comedy, but the problem is that it just isn't funny. There are a few funny moments, yes, but over-all... no. Another problem is that the characters aren't
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particularly likeable. I was rather fond of Alex, shy, uncomfortable and hopelessly in love, but in the end he got a bit too pathetic. You never get under the skin of the characters, you don't get any explanations for their actions. There is no plot worth mentioning, everyone has sex with everyone, and that's pretty much it. And the sex isn't even very interesting.This could have been a good story. It starts of promising, with the four main characters in a cottage out in the country. If it had stayed that way, I think it definitely could have been an interesting chamber play, but alas it didn't.
I'll still give The Swimming Pool Library a chance, because while I didn't enjoy this particular book, I still enjoyed Hollinghurst's writing.
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LibraryThing member lxydis
beautiful writing, unappealing, tediously self-involved characters.
LibraryThing member fist
When this book came out, it must have benefited from a substantial gay sympathy bonus. I can't otherwise explain the positive reviews. If this had been a sexual comedy with heterosexual characters, it would be clear that these characters are pretty wooden, the plot with ever-changing mutual
This is the third Hollinghurst novel I've read. I preferred it to the constipated emotions of "The Line of Beauty", but missed the thrill I had when reading the Swimming Pool Library (quite a few years ago).
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couplings a bit tawdry, and the language that of an old spinster, with polished similes (no doubt retrieved from a little notebook titled "Similes that I shall use in one of my next books, regardless if appropriate or not) and an odd reverberation of the "fuck" word as befits someone going through some kind of second puberty. Drug use, raves and gay promiscuity are written about with a "look how naughty us gays are" tone, but never seem authentic. I couldn't plausibly imagine any of the characters, let alone relate to them. This is the third Hollinghurst novel I've read. I preferred it to the constipated emotions of "The Line of Beauty", but missed the thrill I had when reading the Swimming Pool Library (quite a few years ago).
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
I enjoyed this book, but if you really want to read an excellent one by him, read _The Swimming Pool Library_. This is just a minor excursion compared to that -- though it shines as a farce.
LibraryThing member AlisonY
As is typical to Hollinghurst novels, there was no surprise that the characters in The Spell were all posh, eternally horny, gay English men. Whilst this definitely runs as a strong thread in the weave of his other novels, mostly they still have an alternate plot line of sorts that carries the
In The Spell the gay scene itself was the plot line, or at least that part of the scene that involves an older man / younger man dynamic. Hollinghurst writes with introspection around the draw of the fun, hedonistic younger guys to the older men who think they've found nirvana only to break their hearts over the inevitable transience of the relationships. In many ways I suppose it's not dissimilar to the classic heterosexual relationship disaster of women who go for the 'bad boys' and then sob with incredulity when they turn out not to be husband material. Both moths to a flame. Possibly more sex involved in the former.
There was a lot more shagging in this novel than in some of his other titles. And I mean a lot of shagging. If someone wasn't at it every few pages they were primed and ready to be at it. Hollinghurst evidently wanted to write a novel that was squarely about the 1990s London gay scene of clubbing, drugs and promiscuous sex with strangers in toilet cubicles / park bushes, etc., and the trickiness of trying to keep monogamous relationships going when there were so many strangers in toilet cubicles / park bushes, etc. to be having sex with.
Having a very good friend of old who was having a gay old time (pardon the pun) doing exactly that in 1990s London (the promiscuous bit - not so hot on the relationship side), I get that Hollinghurst depicts the London gay scene very well in this novel. However, for me it wasn't enough of a plot line to carry the rest of the novel. The younger characters were intolerably selfish and self-absorbed (so far, so accurate when I think back to my friend during that period), and the older characters were desperately annoying doorsteps. Their relationships therefore left me a bit cold, and perhaps I was too heterosexual for all the shagging but after a while I just wished they'd give it a rest for 5 minutes and watch a bit of tele and drink some cocoa.
However, having said all that, although Hollinghurst's novels can often be imperfect (sometimes I find I lose interest a bit when his plots meander), he's a very, very fine writer at a prose level, and I find myself drawn back to his novels time and time again like... well, a moth to a flame.
3.5 stars - with more plot beyond the shagging this could have been a very fine novel, but sadly this novel was as superficial as the relationships it described. An extra half star for the consistently fine writing, though.
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story.In The Spell the gay scene itself was the plot line, or at least that part of the scene that involves an older man / younger man dynamic. Hollinghurst writes with introspection around the draw of the fun, hedonistic younger guys to the older men who think they've found nirvana only to break their hearts over the inevitable transience of the relationships. In many ways I suppose it's not dissimilar to the classic heterosexual relationship disaster of women who go for the 'bad boys' and then sob with incredulity when they turn out not to be husband material. Both moths to a flame. Possibly more sex involved in the former.
There was a lot more shagging in this novel than in some of his other titles. And I mean a lot of shagging. If someone wasn't at it every few pages they were primed and ready to be at it. Hollinghurst evidently wanted to write a novel that was squarely about the 1990s London gay scene of clubbing, drugs and promiscuous sex with strangers in toilet cubicles / park bushes, etc., and the trickiness of trying to keep monogamous relationships going when there were so many strangers in toilet cubicles / park bushes, etc. to be having sex with.
Having a very good friend of old who was having a gay old time (pardon the pun) doing exactly that in 1990s London (the promiscuous bit - not so hot on the relationship side), I get that Hollinghurst depicts the London gay scene very well in this novel. However, for me it wasn't enough of a plot line to carry the rest of the novel. The younger characters were intolerably selfish and self-absorbed (so far, so accurate when I think back to my friend during that period), and the older characters were desperately annoying doorsteps. Their relationships therefore left me a bit cold, and perhaps I was too heterosexual for all the shagging but after a while I just wished they'd give it a rest for 5 minutes and watch a bit of tele and drink some cocoa.
However, having said all that, although Hollinghurst's novels can often be imperfect (sometimes I find I lose interest a bit when his plots meander), he's a very, very fine writer at a prose level, and I find myself drawn back to his novels time and time again like... well, a moth to a flame.
3.5 stars - with more plot beyond the shagging this could have been a very fine novel, but sadly this novel was as superficial as the relationships it described. An extra half star for the consistently fine writing, though.
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LibraryThing member DrFuriosa
An intriguing and nuanced depiction of relationships and flings for gay men in England. I still prefer Hollinghurst's later works, but this is better than The Folding Star.
LibraryThing member robfwalter
My least favourite Alan Hollinghurst book. It's about a bunch of highly punchable characters moving back and forth between the country and the city and falling in love, etc. The lack of architecture to describe impacts negatively on Hollinhurst's writing, as does the lack of plot. None of the
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characters seem to grow or develop, they just move around. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
1998
Physical description
272 p.; 7.8 inches
ISBN
0099276941 / 9780099276944