The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst

The Swimming-Pool Library

Alan Hollinghurst

352 pages • first pub 1988 (editions)

fiction lgbtqia+ emotional reflective slow-paced

Description

The dazzling first novel from the best-selling, Booker Prize-Winning author of The Line of Beauty and The Sparsholt Affair. An enthralling, darkly erotic novel of homosexuality before the scourge of AIDS; an elegy, possessed of chilling clarity, ...

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Community Reviews Summary of 514 reviews

Moods

reflective 64%
challenging 39%
emotional 35%
dark 28%
tense 25%
mysterious 17%
sad 17%
lighthearted 14%
funny 10%
hopeful 3%
informative 3%

Pace

medium 59%
slow 40%

Plot- or character-driven?

Character: 73% | A mix: 21% | Plot: 4%

Strong character development?

No: 40% | Yes: 36% | It's complicated: 24%

Loveable characters?

No: 62% | It's complicated: 29% | Yes: 8%

Diverse cast of characters?

No: 43% | Yes: 43% | It's complicated: 13%

Flaws of characters a main focus?

Yes: 75% | It's complicated: 12% | No: 12%

Average rating

3.41

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Content Warnings

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