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===Adolescence=== | ===Adolescence=== | ||
The rest of the novel traces David's life, from his adolescence in 1960s England to his death in near contemporary times. David is bi-racial. His mother, Avril, is a skilled dressmaker with her own business; David and Avril live together and are |
The rest of the novel traces David's life, from his adolescence in 1960s England to his death in near contemporary times. David is bi-racial. His English mother, Avril, is a skilled dressmaker with her own business; David and Avril live together and are close. David's father is Burmese. He is absent: a mysterious figure, whom Avril rarely mentions. | ||
Avril meets Esme Croft, a well-to-do divorcée. Esme is Avril's client at first. Later, Esme invests in Avril's business, and the two women become |
Avril meets Esme Croft, a well-to-do divorcée. Esme is Avril's client at first. Later, Esme invests in Avril's business, and the two women become friends and perhaps lovers. Esme, Avril and David go on holiday to Devon, where Dave becomes increasingly aware of his own same-sex attraction. Esme and Avril eventually move in together, although the true nature of their relationship remains long unstated. | ||
David attends Bampton, a public school, on a scholarship funded by the Hadlows. |
David attends Bampton, a public school, on a scholarship funded by the Hadlows. David visits the Hadlows at Woolpeck, a farm owned by Cara's family. David's personal connection with Mark and Cara grows, and he is fascinated by the house, Cara's farming relatives, and the surrounding countryside. He is also bullied by Mark and Cara's son, Giles. At the end of his visit, David demonstrates his acting ability, rehearsing a scene with Mark's mother Elise, an elderly French actress. | ||
===Oxford=== | ===Oxford=== | ||
After Bampton, David attends the University of Oxford. He initially does well academically, but he becomes increasingly consumed by his role as Mosca in a University production of''].'' His performance is well-reviewed, but |
After Bampton, David attends the University of Oxford. He initially does well academically, but he becomes increasingly consumed by his role as Mosca in a University production of ''].'' His performance is well-reviewed, but at great cost to his studies. A few weeks later he walks out of his final exams, feeling unprepared. Dave's last few weeks at Oxford are further complicated by his coming out, marked by an awkward, unrequited crush on another student. Back home, reeling from his experiences at Oxford, Dave ] to Avril and Esme. | ||
===Adulthood=== | ===Adulthood=== | ||
After Oxford, David remains committed to acting. He joins an experimental theatre company, which is eventually supported by the Hadlows. Dave has his first relationship with Chris, a man ten years his senior; their relationship is intensely passionate but also "missing" something deeper. Dave breaks it off to live with Hector, another actor. Both Dave and Hector, who is black, experience English racism, although Hector's experience of it is starker and more painful. | After Oxford, David remains committed to acting. He joins an experimental theatre company, which is eventually supported by the Hadlows. Dave has his first relationship with Chris, a man ten years his senior; their relationship is intensely passionate but also "missing" something deeper, in the words of one of Dave's friends. Dave breaks it off to live with Hector, another actor, with whom he falls in love during an intense rehearsal. Both Dave and Hector, who is black, experience English racism, although Hector's experience of it is starker and more painful. | ||
After much hard work, David develops into a skilled actor and speaker. He writes a book, and while promoting it at a literary festival, he meets Richard, who interviews him. David and Richard become lovers and later marry. With Richard, Dave |
After much hard work, David develops into a skilled actor and speaker. He writes a book, and while promoting it at a literary festival, he meets Richard, who interviews him. David and Richard become lovers and later marry. With Richard, Dave enjoys an emotional stability he didn't find in his earlier relationships. | ||
David experiences the death of Esme, Mark, and, eventually, his mother, Avril. Richard remains steadfast. | David experiences the death of Esme, Mark, and, eventually, his mother, Avril. Richard remains steadfast. | ||
===Giles Hadlow=== | ===Giles Hadlow=== | ||
Giles reappears throughout the novel as an ambitious and increasingly successful conservative politician. He writes a book entitled "Our Laws, Our Borders" and opposes UK membership in the European Union. He is made Minister for the Arts, although he is described by David as a |
Giles reappears throughout the novel as an ambitious and increasingly successful conservative politician. He writes a book entitled "Our Laws, Our Borders" and opposes UK membership in the European Union. He is made Minister for the Arts, although he is described by David as a philistine. As Giles's career progresses, England is riven by anti-immigrant and racist sentiment. | ||
===Death and Memoirs=== | ===Death and Memoirs=== | ||
Line 56: | Line 56: | ||
==Title== | ==Title== | ||
At the end of the novel, David tells Richard that he intends to call his memoirs ''Our Evenings''. David reveals, partly to Richard and partly to the reader, the many meanings the title has for him: the evenings David spent with other men when he was younger; the evenings David |
At the end of the novel, David tells Richard that he intends to call his memoirs ''Our Evenings''. David reveals, partly to Richard and partly to the reader, the many meanings the title has for him: the evenings David spent with other men when he was younger; the evenings David spends rehearsing and acting; and, finally, the evenings David and Richard spend together at home (Richard tells David, "I like evenings best"). | ||
The title is borrowed from the first movement of '']'' by ], which David listened to with a young schoolmaster at Bampton. The experience inspired David to devote himself to art. | |||
==Reception== | ==Reception== | ||
===Overall Critical Response=== | ===Overall Positive Critical Response=== | ||
According to ''],'' ''Our Evenings'' was |
According to ''],'' ''Our Evenings'' was, on balance, very well reviewed, with 15 reviews being "rave," two being "positive," four being "mixed," and one being a "pan."<ref name="Book Marks">{{Cite web |title=Our Evenings |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/our-evenings/|access-date=26 December 2024 |website=]}}</ref> | ||
===Style=== | |||
Most reviewers of ''Our Evenings'' praise Hollinghurst's prose style, including his vivid descriptions of places and physical objects, his finely-tuned portrayals of social interactions, and his skillful use of irony, especially in the dialogue of David Win himself. | |||
⚫ | A typical description of Hollinghurst's use of language is provided by ] writing in the ''Sunday Times:'' "t the sentence level, Hollinghurst remains an English stylist without obvious living equal."<ref name="Sunday Times">{{cite news |last1=Maier |first1=John |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review — the best living English novelist? |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-review-a-novelist-without-living-equal-x6mzc5gfq |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=]|date=4 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Similarly, ], writing in the ''Financial Times'', says, "I'm not sure any living writer is quite as good as taking you so immersively ..."<ref name="FT">{{cite news |last1=Shama |first1=Simon |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst — a gay coming-of-age novel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cf85f9dd-39db-4d23-a920-5a3d4a0d0f56 |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=3 October 2024}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | Moved by Hollinghurst's portrayal of the relationship between David and his mother, ] in the ''New Statesman'' wrote that it can be "difficult to convey without sentimentality or a universalising blandness, but this is where Hollinghurst excels, remaining patiently and gladly in these moments as they unspool and the life around them becomes as real as our own."<ref name="New Statesman">{{cite news|last1=Nolan |first1=Megan |title=Allan Hollinghurst's intimate vision|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2024/10/alan-hollinghurst-our-evenings-review-intimate-vision|access-date=26 December 2024 |work=New Statesman |date=25 September 2024}}</ref> | ||
===Reappearance of Themes Present in Earlier Works === | |||
Reviewers note the continuity of themes in ''Our Evenings'' and earlier work by Hollinghurst. These include the experience of coming out in early and mid-twentieth century England; relationships, sexual and otherwise, between gay men of divergent backgrounds and ages; the transmission and transformation of gay modes of life; and, more generally, class, money and culture in English society, as experienced by Hollinghurst's gay protagonists.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Alexandra |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review – his finest novel yet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/25/our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-review-his-finest-novel-yet |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=25 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="Slate">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Laura |title=The Author in Evening|url=https://slate.com/culture/2024/10/our-evenings-book-alan-hollinghurst-review.html |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=]|date=9 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The New Yorker">{{cite magazine |last1=Harvey |first1=Giles |title=Color, Class and Carnality Collide in Alan Hollinghurst's New Novel|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/30/our-evenings-alan-hollinghurst-book-review|access-date=27 December 2024 |magazine=]|date=23 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The Atlantic Magazine">{{cite news | last1=McGrath | first1=Charles |title=Alan Hollinghurst’s Lost England| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/alan-hollinghurst-our-evenings-review/679954/|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=8 October 2024|language=en}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | In this vein, ], writing in ''The Guardian,'' asserts that ''Our Evenings'' forms a "deep pattern of connection with ... , while being an entirely distinct and brimming whole."<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Alexandra |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review – his finest novel yet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/25/our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-review-his-finest-novel-yet |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=25 September 2024}}</ref> | ||
Francesca Peacock, on the other hand, writing for ''The Spectator,'' asserts that Hollinghurst's continued interest in what she calls "homosexual relationships" between "posh" and "non-posh" men results in a novel that is a "turgid composite of his previous works."<ref name="The Spectator">{{cite news |last1=Peacock |first1=Francesca |title=Familiar Scenarios|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/familiar-scenarios-our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-reviewed/|access-date=26 December 2024 |work=The Spectator |date=12 October 2024}}</ref> | |||
===Race and Politics=== | |||
Many reviewers of ''Our Evenings'' praise Hollinghurst's descriptive powers, his finely-tuned observations of social interactions, and his skillful use of irony, especially as deployed in the dialogue of David Win himself. Reviewers also note a continuity of themes in ''Our Evenings'' and earlier work by Hollinghurst: the coming out of a gay man in early or mid-twentieth century England, the relationship between younger and older gay men, and the role of class, money and culture in English society, as experienced by Hollinghurst's protagonists. Many also note the centrality of political and racial themes in ''Our Evenings'', new in Hollinghurst's work, and described by ] as a "cry of pain against an England descending into bleak, stiff-jawed chauvinism."<ref name="Los Angeles Review of Books">{{cite web |title=A Chaos of Privilege and Privilege|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-chaos-of-privilege-and-prejudice/}}</ref> | |||
Reviewers uniformly note the importance of race in ''Our Evenings,'' more present in this novel than in Hollinghurst's previous works. Earlier scenes of sex between men of different races, told from the perspective of white protagonists, have been replaced with the portrayal of the whole life of a bi-racial man.<ref name="The Vulture">{{cite news | last1=Worley | first1=Sam |title=AlanHollinghurst Tries to Atone | url=https://www.vulture.com/article/alan-hollinghursts-our-evenings-review.html|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=7 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The Atlantic Magazine">{{cite news | last1=McGrath | first1=Charles |title=Alan Hollinghurst’s Lost England| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/alan-hollinghurst-our-evenings-review/679954/|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=8 October 2024|language=en}}</ref> Most reviewers find that Hollinghurst is successful in doing so, in particular in describing how Dave experiences, suffers from, and, with increasing skill, manages outsider status and outright racial animus.<ref name="Los Angeles Review of Books">{{cite web |last1=Tyson |first1=Charlie |title=A Chaos of Privilege and Privilege|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-chaos-of-privilege-and-prejudice/|work=LA Review of Books|date=10 October 2024 |access-date=27 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Slate">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Laura |title=The Author in Evening|url=https://slate.com/culture/2024/10/our-evenings-book-alan-hollinghurst-review.html |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=]|date=9 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
More critical comments note the episodic character of ''Our Evenings,'' and some find a lack of depth in its characters, including in David himself. | |||
Some reviewers object to what they perceive as a two-dimensional portrayal of Britain's evolving political scene, symbolized by Giles as school bully and jeering bigot turned Brexiteer villain.<ref name="The New Yorker">{{cite magazine |last1=Harvey |first1=Giles |title=Color, Class and Carnality Collide in Alan Hollinghurst's New Novel|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/30/our-evenings-alan-hollinghurst-book-review|access-date=27 December 2024 |magazine=]|date=23 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The Spectator">{{cite news |last1=Peacock |first1=Francesca |title=Familiar Scenarios|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/familiar-scenarios-our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-reviewed/|access-date=26 December 2024 |work=The Spectator |date=12 October 2024}}</ref> Other reviewers are more sympathetic, seeing such stark contrasts as an understandable literary response to recent events. Thus ], writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, identifies in the novel a "cry of pain against an England descending into bleak, stiff-jawed chauvinism."<ref name="Los Angeles Review of Books">{{cite web |last1=Tyson |first1=Charlie |title=A Chaos of Privilege and Privilege|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-chaos-of-privilege-and-prejudice/|work=LA Review of Books|date=10 October 2024 |access-date=27 December 2024}}</ref> | |||
===Examples of Recent Reviews=== | |||
===Character Development=== | |||
⚫ | A typical description of Hollinghurst's |
||
A few reviewers find that some or all of the characters in ''Our Evenings'' lack depth. Sam Worley, writing in ''Vulture,'' suggests "young Dave doesn’t quite come alive," although he finds greater interest in the older Dave, when he "develops crushes, bombs a crucial college exam, and, accepting that his life’s path will be different than that of his boarding-school mates, joins an experimental theater troupe."<ref name="The Vulture">{{cite news | last1=Worley | first1=Sam |title=AlanHollinghurst Tries to Atone | url=https://www.vulture.com/article/alan-hollinghursts-our-evenings-review.html|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=7 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> ] also suggests to his readers that "when you close the book, you’re not going to miss that much."<ref name="FT">{{cite news |last1=Shama |first1=Simon |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst — a gay coming-of-age novel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cf85f9dd-39db-4d23-a920-5a3d4a0d0f56 |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=3 October 2024}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | ], writing in ''The Guardian,'' asserts that ''Our Evenings'' forms a "deep pattern of connection with ... , while being an entirely distinct and brimming whole."<ref name=" |
||
Other reviewers are entirely positive: Hamilton Cain, writing in the New York Times, finds "Dave a captivating protagonist, threading narrative lines as Hollinghurst skewers the hidden and not-so-hidden bigotries that define Britain."<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news | last1=Cain | first1=Hamilton |title=An Exquisite Queer Odyssey by a Literary Master| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/books/review/our-evenings-alan-hollinghurst.html|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=8 October 2024|language=en}}</ref> Similarly, Michael Cart, writing for ''Booklist,'' finds ''Our Evening's'' characters to be "complex" and "multi-dimensional."<ref name="Booklist">{{cite news | last1=Cart | first1=Michael |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst| url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Our-Evenings/pid=9799719|access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=15 September 2024 | language=en}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | |||
===Structure of Novel=== | |||
], writing in the ''Financial Times'', like many other reviewers, praises Hollinghurst's ability to evoke a time and place: "I'm not sure any living writer is quite as good as taking you so immersively ..." However, Schama also finds a lack of narrative momentum and continuity, and predicts that many readers will in the end be indifferent to the fate of the novel's characters.<ref name="FT">{{cite news |last1=Schama |first1=Simon |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst — a gay coming-of-age novel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cf85f9dd-39db-4d23-a920-5a3d4a0d0f56 |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=3 October 2024}}</ref> | |||
Some reviewers note the episodic nature of the novel. Critical response to this varies. ] is disappointed by the lack of underlying structure and momentum.<ref name="FT">{{cite news |last1=Shama |first1=Simon |title=Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst — a gay coming-of-age novel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cf85f9dd-39db-4d23-a920-5a3d4a0d0f56 |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=3 October 2024}}</ref> The author of a review in ''Kirkus Reviews,'' on the other hand, finds that the "expansive architecture of this book fluidly slips you from one phase of David's life to the next."<ref name="Kirkus Reviews">{{cite news | title=Our Evenings |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alan-hollinghurst/our-evenings/ |access-date=27 December 2024 | work=]|date=17 August 2024 | language=en}}</ref> | |||
Francesca Peacock, writing in ''The Spectator,'' finds nothing to praise in ''Our Evenings,'' calling it "tedious." Noting Hollinghurst's continued interest in what she calls "posh" and "non-posh" gay characters, and notwithstanding the novel's description of a bi-racial character's experience of anti-immigrant and racist sentiment in post-war and contemporary UK, largely unprecedented in Hollinghurst's earlier novels, she asserts that ''Our Evenings'' is a "turgid composite of his previous works."<ref name="Spectator">https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/familiar-scenarios-our-evenings-by-alan-hollinghurst-reviewed/</ref> | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== |
Latest revision as of 23:06, 29 December 2024
2024 novel by Alan Hollinghurst
First edition | |
Author | Alan Hollinghurst |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Gay literature |
Published | 2024 (Picador Books) |
Publication place | UK |
Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Pages | 496 pp |
ISBN | 9781447208235 |
Our Evenings is a 2024 novel by Alan Hollinghurst.
Plot
Prologue
David Win, a late middle-aged actor, and his husband, Richard, listen to news of the death of David's benefactor, Mark Hadlow. David then visits Cara, Mark's elderly widow.
Adolescence
The rest of the novel traces David's life, from his adolescence in 1960s England to his death in near contemporary times. David is bi-racial. His English mother, Avril, is a skilled dressmaker with her own business; David and Avril live together and are close. David's father is Burmese. He is absent: a mysterious figure, whom Avril rarely mentions.
Avril meets Esme Croft, a well-to-do divorcée. Esme is Avril's client at first. Later, Esme invests in Avril's business, and the two women become friends and perhaps lovers. Esme, Avril and David go on holiday to Devon, where Dave becomes increasingly aware of his own same-sex attraction. Esme and Avril eventually move in together, although the true nature of their relationship remains long unstated.
David attends Bampton, a public school, on a scholarship funded by the Hadlows. David visits the Hadlows at Woolpeck, a farm owned by Cara's family. David's personal connection with Mark and Cara grows, and he is fascinated by the house, Cara's farming relatives, and the surrounding countryside. He is also bullied by Mark and Cara's son, Giles. At the end of his visit, David demonstrates his acting ability, rehearsing a scene with Mark's mother Elise, an elderly French actress.
Oxford
After Bampton, David attends the University of Oxford. He initially does well academically, but he becomes increasingly consumed by his role as Mosca in a University production of Volpone. His performance is well-reviewed, but at great cost to his studies. A few weeks later he walks out of his final exams, feeling unprepared. Dave's last few weeks at Oxford are further complicated by his coming out, marked by an awkward, unrequited crush on another student. Back home, reeling from his experiences at Oxford, Dave comes out to Avril and Esme.
Adulthood
After Oxford, David remains committed to acting. He joins an experimental theatre company, which is eventually supported by the Hadlows. Dave has his first relationship with Chris, a man ten years his senior; their relationship is intensely passionate but also "missing" something deeper, in the words of one of Dave's friends. Dave breaks it off to live with Hector, another actor, with whom he falls in love during an intense rehearsal. Both Dave and Hector, who is black, experience English racism, although Hector's experience of it is starker and more painful.
After much hard work, David develops into a skilled actor and speaker. He writes a book, and while promoting it at a literary festival, he meets Richard, who interviews him. David and Richard become lovers and later marry. With Richard, Dave enjoys an emotional stability he didn't find in his earlier relationships.
David experiences the death of Esme, Mark, and, eventually, his mother, Avril. Richard remains steadfast.
Giles Hadlow
Giles reappears throughout the novel as an ambitious and increasingly successful conservative politician. He writes a book entitled "Our Laws, Our Borders" and opposes UK membership in the European Union. He is made Minister for the Arts, although he is described by David as a philistine. As Giles's career progresses, England is riven by anti-immigrant and racist sentiment.
Death and Memoirs
David dies shortly after suffering grave injuries in a racially motivated attack. Richard edits Dave's memoirs, which become the novel itself.
Title
At the end of the novel, David tells Richard that he intends to call his memoirs Our Evenings. David reveals, partly to Richard and partly to the reader, the many meanings the title has for him: the evenings David spent with other men when he was younger; the evenings David spends rehearsing and acting; and, finally, the evenings David and Richard spend together at home (Richard tells David, "I like evenings best").
The title is borrowed from the first movement of On an Overgrown Path by Leoš Janáček, which David listened to with a young schoolmaster at Bampton. The experience inspired David to devote himself to art.
Reception
Overall Positive Critical Response
According to Book Marks, Our Evenings was, on balance, very well reviewed, with 15 reviews being "rave," two being "positive," four being "mixed," and one being a "pan."
Style
Most reviewers of Our Evenings praise Hollinghurst's prose style, including his vivid descriptions of places and physical objects, his finely-tuned portrayals of social interactions, and his skillful use of irony, especially in the dialogue of David Win himself.
A typical description of Hollinghurst's use of language is provided by John Mair writing in the Sunday Times: "t the sentence level, Hollinghurst remains an English stylist without obvious living equal." Similarly, Simon Schama, writing in the Financial Times, says, "I'm not sure any living writer is quite as good as taking you so immersively ..."
Moved by Hollinghurst's portrayal of the relationship between David and his mother, Megan Nolan in the New Statesman wrote that it can be "difficult to convey without sentimentality or a universalising blandness, but this is where Hollinghurst excels, remaining patiently and gladly in these moments as they unspool and the life around them becomes as real as our own."
Reappearance of Themes Present in Earlier Works
Reviewers note the continuity of themes in Our Evenings and earlier work by Hollinghurst. These include the experience of coming out in early and mid-twentieth century England; relationships, sexual and otherwise, between gay men of divergent backgrounds and ages; the transmission and transformation of gay modes of life; and, more generally, class, money and culture in English society, as experienced by Hollinghurst's gay protagonists.
In this vein, Alexandra Harris, writing in The Guardian, asserts that Our Evenings forms a "deep pattern of connection with ... , while being an entirely distinct and brimming whole."
Francesca Peacock, on the other hand, writing for The Spectator, asserts that Hollinghurst's continued interest in what she calls "homosexual relationships" between "posh" and "non-posh" men results in a novel that is a "turgid composite of his previous works."
Race and Politics
Reviewers uniformly note the importance of race in Our Evenings, more present in this novel than in Hollinghurst's previous works. Earlier scenes of sex between men of different races, told from the perspective of white protagonists, have been replaced with the portrayal of the whole life of a bi-racial man. Most reviewers find that Hollinghurst is successful in doing so, in particular in describing how Dave experiences, suffers from, and, with increasing skill, manages outsider status and outright racial animus.
Some reviewers object to what they perceive as a two-dimensional portrayal of Britain's evolving political scene, symbolized by Giles as school bully and jeering bigot turned Brexiteer villain. Other reviewers are more sympathetic, seeing such stark contrasts as an understandable literary response to recent events. Thus Charlie Tyson, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, identifies in the novel a "cry of pain against an England descending into bleak, stiff-jawed chauvinism."
Character Development
A few reviewers find that some or all of the characters in Our Evenings lack depth. Sam Worley, writing in Vulture, suggests "young Dave doesn’t quite come alive," although he finds greater interest in the older Dave, when he "develops crushes, bombs a crucial college exam, and, accepting that his life’s path will be different than that of his boarding-school mates, joins an experimental theater troupe." Simon Schama also suggests to his readers that "when you close the book, you’re not going to miss that much."
Other reviewers are entirely positive: Hamilton Cain, writing in the New York Times, finds "Dave a captivating protagonist, threading narrative lines as Hollinghurst skewers the hidden and not-so-hidden bigotries that define Britain." Similarly, Michael Cart, writing for Booklist, finds Our Evening's characters to be "complex" and "multi-dimensional."
Structure of Novel
Some reviewers note the episodic nature of the novel. Critical response to this varies. Simon Schama is disappointed by the lack of underlying structure and momentum. The author of a review in Kirkus Reviews, on the other hand, finds that the "expansive architecture of this book fluidly slips you from one phase of David's life to the next."
Notes
References
- "Our Evenings". Book Marks. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- Maier, John (4 October 2024). "Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review — the best living English novelist?". The Times. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ Shama, Simon (3 October 2024). "Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst — a gay coming-of-age novel". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- Nolan, Megan (25 September 2024). "Allan Hollinghurst's intimate vision". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Harris, Alexandra (25 September 2024). "Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review – his finest novel yet". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ Miller, Laura (9 October 2024). "The Author in Evening". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ Harvey, Giles (23 September 2024). "Color, Class and Carnality Collide in Alan Hollinghurst's New Novel". The New Yorker. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ McGrath, Charles (8 October 2024). "Alan Hollinghurst's Lost England". The Atlantic Magazine. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Peacock, Francesca (12 October 2024). "Familiar Scenarios". The Spectator. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Worley, Sam (7 October 2024). "AlanHollinghurst Tries to Atone". The Vulture. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Tyson, Charlie (10 October 2024). "A Chaos of Privilege and Privilege". LA Review of Books. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- Cain, Hamilton (8 October 2024). "An Exquisite Queer Odyssey by a Literary Master". New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- Cart, Michael (15 September 2024). "Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst". Booklist. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- "Our Evenings". Kirkus Reviews. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.