michaeljpdx's review against another edition
3.0
You can read my review of “The Spell” at my web site.
clem's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
aperrone's review against another edition
3.0
Well written, yes, but not perhaps enough to redeem the lackluster story. The characters are not compelling, not exciting, and all seem to be worth, in the end, their own physical attractiveness (something that seems to be a trend in Hollinghurst’s novels).
nunnuanne's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
selkelite's review against another edition
4.0
Alright, so the ending scene was a little silly and, as a whole, this book doesn't come close to the dizzying literary heights of The Line of Beauty. It is, however, a wonderful read.
I love the way Hollinghurst evokes character and place and community, I love the awkward terrible sad sweet workings of the relationships he portrays, I love being dropped into a world in which nearly everyone is gay.
(That 1 star review up there really bugs me - I can't understand why anyone looking for a fast paced plot would have picked up a novel by this author in the first place, and I am endlessly bothered by readers who need all characters to be - shudder - likeable. If that's you, don't read this book. If not, enjoy.)
I love the way Hollinghurst evokes character and place and community, I love the awkward terrible sad sweet workings of the relationships he portrays, I love being dropped into a world in which nearly everyone is gay.
(That 1 star review up there really bugs me - I can't understand why anyone looking for a fast paced plot would have picked up a novel by this author in the first place, and I am endlessly bothered by readers who need all characters to be - shudder - likeable. If that's you, don't read this book. If not, enjoy.)
rebeccablomgren's review against another edition
1.0
Simply put, this novel is about four gay men and their relationships that are always in a state of falling apart or coming together. The prose is beautiful, and the main reason I picked up The Spell . Having never read Hollinghurst, I was excited to delve into one of his works and see what all the hype was about.
Evidently, I picked the wrong novel. The characters are not just unlikable (which I could handle), they're entirely two-dimensional, propelled by the most basic of desires. There's no motivation, no real struggle, no chance for any kind of development. It's all just a merry go round of who's sleeping with who and uneventful weekends in the British countryside. It was hard to find anything to really like or dislike in this novel, as everything felt tepid and bland. The only thing that really stuck out to me as negative was the opening chapter. Why is Robin the only character to get a background chapter set years before the rest of the story? It didn't contribute anything save for setting up his flippant, unattached, attitude that everyone save for Alex shares.
The Spell is a good novel if you want to zone out and read something pretty. Other than that, it has no story to speak of and the characters are pointless.
Evidently, I picked the wrong novel. The characters are not just unlikable (which I could handle), they're entirely two-dimensional, propelled by the most basic of desires. There's no motivation, no real struggle, no chance for any kind of development. It's all just a merry go round of who's sleeping with who and uneventful weekends in the British countryside. It was hard to find anything to really like or dislike in this novel, as everything felt tepid and bland. The only thing that really stuck out to me as negative was the opening chapter. Why is Robin the only character to get a background chapter set years before the rest of the story? It didn't contribute anything save for setting up his flippant, unattached, attitude that everyone save for Alex shares.
The Spell is a good novel if you want to zone out and read something pretty. Other than that, it has no story to speak of and the characters are pointless.
quirkycynic's review against another edition
2.0
"He clearly had no idea of the psychic shock, to someone like himself, of falling in love. Danny would be a great lover, that would be his career, though he knew next to nothing about love, just as some great musicians knew nothing about music, beyond their gift for making it."
I really enjoyed the other Alan Hollinghurst book I read, The Swimming-Pool Library, but had two main criticisms when I'd finished it: one was that it was vastly over-written, and the other was that it was not over-plotted but rather over-thematicised.
The Spell, I'm able to state in comparison, is only slightly over-written, and if anything vastly under-thematicised.
It's not that I expect every book I read to be a wellspring of depth, but I was waiting quite a while for this one to not feel so much like just an overlong episode of Queer As Folk and I'm not sure it ever did. The back cover of my copy calls it "a comedy of sexual manners", and it is sexual, and very mannered, but never really has the space to be funny.
The book is at its best, I guess, when it's delving into one of my favourite subjects: the invisible dynamics hidden far beneath the web of relationships between the characters. And there are a lot of interesting dynamics at play -- particularly in the close look at age gap relationships and the role of drug culture in modern queer life.
But, I mean, at the end of the day the main characters are still only four upper-middle class white British gay men. They don't have much differentiation between them (particularly in how annoyingly they all say "darling" in practically every sentence), and pretty much the extent of the relationship dynamics Hollinghurst is interested in is how they all constantly screw everything that moves in unendingly vapid attempts to psychically wound each other.
And I guess finally I just found this a pretty misanthropic or even a nihilistic view of queer relationships, since the characters spend the entire page count all trying to backstab each other for... what? Seeking companionship, or for just being gay in the first place as it began finally to feel?
I included that quote at the top since it's one of the very few times in the entire book (and at the very end, too) that the concept of love even comes into play at all. No surprise it's about a character devoid of it entirely. As a concept it's strangely absent; so much so that it started to make the story feel empty as I basically asked myself have any of these people ever loved each other at any point or are they all completely bereft of it? Does anyone in this world of the story love at all? And more importantly, where are the books where this can be more at the forefront of queer stories instead of constant self-hatred and maliciousness?
magus_eden's review against another edition
4.0
While I certainly have to agree with the many reviewers who have declared this to be Hollinghurst's worst book, it is Hollinghurst's worst book, so it is still a richly enjoyable read. A two-and-a-half-star story disguised in breathtaking ten-star prose.
artwinsintheend's review against another edition
2.0
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 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.
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 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.
catdad77a45's review against another edition
4.0
Although to my mind Hollinghurst CAN'T write a truly bad book, this does not live up to the sheer brilliance of the other three of his I have read... it just didn't have the compulsive forward thrust that keeps one really interested. Am not sure exactly why that should be: the prose is gorgeous as always, and the characters are varied and for the most part interesting. But this short book took me longer to read than his magnum opus, The Line of Beauty, so something didn't quite click.
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