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Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914 EAN: 9781596910034 ISBN: 1596910038 Label: Bloomsbury USA Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 432 Publication Date: October 03, 2005 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Release Date: September 15, 2005 Studio: Bloomsbury USA Editorial Review: Product Description: The 1995 Booker Prize finalist finally back in print.  Alan Hollinghurst’s hypnotic and exquisitely written novel tells the story of Edward Manners, a disaffected 33-year-old who leaves England to earn his living as a language tutor in a Flemish city. Almost immediately he falls in love with one of his pupils, but can only console himself with other, illicit affairs. With this novel, Hollinghurst exposes us fearlessly to the consequences of unfulfillable, annihilating desire. Related Items:      see moreAverage Rating:
 Rating:  - did not enjoy it at all. I couldn't wait for it to endI am surprised by the large number of reviewers who enjoyed the book. I found the main character, Edward, completely uninteresting. He seemed just another 30'ish man, who drinks too much, smokes too much and lusts after-what a surprise-someone who is younger than himself and at first unobtainable. When the adored one is finally available, they have one sexual encounter and then he vanishes with no explanation. The ending is very unsatisfying and after having read it several times again, I still can't figure out exactly how it did end. There is too much ambiguity and no real denouement. I kept expecting Luc to be discovered and an outburst of some unspoken truth. But, he just vanishes and then it ends after a desperate search which leads no where. I found the secondary characters to be as dreary as the main characters and over all, I would recommend this book to no one. Rating: - Close to perfectThis is an excellent book. The writing is fluid and engaging and the storyline reveals insights into memory and the passing of time in very unexpected ways. It stays with you long after you read the last page. I lived in the Flemish part of Belgium for a couple years and the author certainly has captured the endless rainy days, the feeling of permanence that only comes with multiple generations living in the same place, and the nuances of the culture's tension between the old and the new. I found the book to be a bit uneven in places and in need of some ruthless editing. The frequent tangents and micro-details about the (fictional) Orst paintings were particularly distracting, for example. Had Orst actually existed, the descriptions of his work might have been interesting and relevant, but since it was all fictional, it seemed secondary (even tertiary) to the narrative. I found myself skimming over descriptions of art works that never existed. But I still rate this book very highly. Where the writing is good, it's incredibly good. The section when the narrator returns to England is remarkably touching, and made me empathize with the narrator in ways I didn't think possible. And the last part of the book was perfect -- an ending that allows each of us to fill in our own conclusions. This is the first Hollinghurst book I have read, and I plan to read more. Rating: - Good, but doesn't quite live up to all of its' ambitions...I was a bit more impressed with Hollinghurst's technical skills here than engaged by the actual story, which revisits aspects of Thomas Mann's DEATH IN VENICE in far more sprawling fashion. Hollinghurst is a nearly-brilliant writer, though the very lush prose I found to be a touch distracting. But it may be entirely approriate in a tale of an infatuated, youth-worshipping tutor slowly sliding into a highly inapproriate affair with a cherubic student who ultimately turns out to be not quite as angelic as he first would seem to be. Hollinghurst's tale poses a number of questions which are left hanging: foremost among them would be the youth-obsessiveness in Western culture generally, and gay culture specifically. One is left wondering what the dead end of such a sensibility would be, and as this ethereal and atmospheric epic winds down, that question remains in the air, with a frustrating lack of further elaboration. -David Alston Rating: - A love's merging of language and lustTHE FOLDING STAR tells the story of Edward Manners, a sentimentally detached man who leaves England to earn his living as a private language tutor in a Flemish city. The exquisite prose of this 1994 release delineates a man's aching melancholy and longing for love despite his odd sexual economy during the few years prior to his arrival in Belgium. Therefore, unlike the most recent, highly-acclaimed THE LINE OF BEAUTY, the novel affords a plot no more than Edward Manners's hypnotic fantasy of one of his young pupils. The 33-year-old seems to be at the emotional crossroad: he often smiles at his own sense of anticipation, of being poised for change, and is ready to fall in love. But he is not used to spending so much time with one person that he thinks of a committed relationship dreads him. It might be love at first sight that no sooner has he met Luc than he takes an intimate fancy of him. The adoration quickly becomes a morbid infatuation that manifests into a pepperoni type of spying on the boy during his weekend excursion. He has no doubt driven Edward mad at times - he feels empty and is aching for him. The boy has affected everything Edward does to the point that he suffers without feeling afflicted. The stream of consciousness reflects Manners's despair over the unfulfilled love and the thumping of the heart. He can only console himself with other affairs to which no sentiment constitutes, other than the minimal trust of two people pleasuring themselves together, without much grasp of friendship or understanding. THE FOLDING STAR is about the unrequited love that leaves a man constantly longing, without the prospect of ever finding love. The mixed feelings of anxious longing and fear of commitment constitute a poignant air that hovers over the novel. It delivers the message that the course of true love never runs straight. The reading reminds one of the similar sentimental nuances Henry James experiences in Colm Toibin's THE MASTER. While Henry James consciously makes it a habit to keep his affection at bay and secretly longs for the intimate companion of a man, Edward Manners always finds himself marveling at how his sudden burst of feeling has wrongfooted him. Both engage in a somnambulist journey to find love. The former lives in such vessel of loneliness and independence - in a social sphere that is pinned and stifled with rules. The latter leaves his home to escape the same constraints only to find himself trapped by his emotions. That his sex life has well petered out before he comes to Belgium is the impediment to his surrender to commitment. THE FOLDING STAR is a stoic tale about the quest for love. Edward Manners lives among many gay men not only in the regard of the longing for a relationship but also in the sense of the nervousness, excitement, sensuality, and anxiety. One may think of the novel being made up of snapshots all these contradicting emotions that roam back and forth the character. It exquisitely depicts the nuances of affection, the anticipation for intimacy, and the desire of fulfillment of unconditional needs. Hollinghurst renders with artistry and haunting precision love's merging of language and lust. Rating: - An Sprawling and Admirable Epic THE FOLDING STAR is a sprawling neo-Victorian achievement, full of memorable characters, breathtaking description, and graphic gay sex. At its surface the novel is the story of Edward Manners - a 40ish, drinky, and rather raunchy former academic who relocates to a small Belgian town to work as a tutor. Almost at once Edward becomes infatuated with Luc, a student. His obsession is comic, tragic, and romantic. With this as its core THE FOLDING STAR then begins to reveal a much deeper and more complex reality. The interconnectedness of various lives and histories soon begins to become apparent, with former details gaining greater significance and literary relief in this engrossing epic of obsession and taboo. This is a wonderful book though I found it a bit dry and somewhat cold...it was a book to admire rather than embrace. |
Continuing a fortuitous tradition of capturing the Sondheim legacy on video recordings, this performance was filmed before a live audience in Los Angeles during the 1982 national tour. Almost 20 years later, Hearn returned to the role opposite Patti LuPone in an acclaimed concert production. But Sweeney Todd is an especially compelling experience in this 1982 version, complete with the clever staging tricks (e.g., the barber's chair) and as close to the original cast as we're likely to see. --David Horiuchi
