English novelist, poet and short story writer Alan Hollinghurst read selections from his award winning novels, The Line of Beauty and The Stranger’s Child, to Hopkins students and faculty as a part of the President’s Reading Series.
Held on Oct. 21, the Writing Seminars Department brought Hollinghurst to campus as an extension of the series’s 2014-2015 theme, “Literature of Social Import.” Graduate student Amanda Gunn opened the event and explained that the theme’s premise is designed to highlight writings that present different perspectives regarding race, class, gender and sexuality.
Brad Leithauser, a Writing Seminars faculty member and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant,” gave the formal introductions to Hollinghurst’s works. Leithauser referenced Hollinghurst’s first novel, The Swimming Pool Library, to discuss the poignant perspective on male gay life in the 1980s that appears in Hollinghurst’s other works. Leithauser also compared his literary arrival from Britain to that of Diana Nyad’s long distance swim from Cuba to Florida.
In his first reading, Hollinghurst chose a selection from his 2004 novel The Line of Beauty, which takes place during the two British general elections that brought Margaret Thatcher to power from 1983 to 1987. The story follows a young gay protagonist, Nick Guest, who stays with Toby Fedden and his family in London while studying as a graduate student.
The specific selection Hollinghurst chose to share depicts the upper class Fedden family holding a somewhat dysfunctional dinner party. The night is interrupted as news arrives that daughter Cat Fedden’s gay godfather has suddenly died. Taking a third person narrative stance from Nick’s perspective, the audience understands that the death is a result of the AIDS epidemic; however, the characters at the party refuse to initially accept this fact.
In this passage, Hollinghurst showcases his talent to create strikingly realistic character interactions, whether comical or tense. Overall, this selection exemplifies how Hollinghurst’s novel explores themes of hypocrisy, homosexuality, madness and wealth, with the emerging AIDS crisis forming a backdrop to the book’s conclusion.
In another excerpt from The Line of Beauty, Hollinghurst depicts a more comical scene as Prime Minister Thatcher visits the Fedden’s household for another dinner party. The family remains concerned about image, but comedy ensues as Thatcher fails to notice their attention to detail.
“I very much enjoyed the reading. I think Alan Hollinghurst is a writer of phenomenal technical skill who manages to cover huge social issues, [and] for that matter, issues that are often very personal to the individual, while also managing to incorporate a sense of wit and fun,” sophomore Olivia Shumaker said. “Even in moments like one of The Line of Beauty passages, in which the characters are discussing AIDS, he manages to convey the seriousness of the matter within a framework of humor that makes an incredibly awkward situation utterly enjoyable without lessening the impact of the moment or cheapening its contents.”
Longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, The Stranger’s Child is set in 1913 and follows the minor poet Cecil Valance. Cecil forms a concealed romantic relationship with George Saul. The title of the book comes from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous poem “In Memoriam.”
In his reading, Hollinghurst depicts Cecil in a romantic encounter with George’s younger sister Daphne. However, this awkward scene results because Cecil tries to covertly glean information: He suspects Daphne might have witnessed Cecil and George’s sexual encounter in the woods earlier.
Hollinghurst’s other novels include The Folding Star (1994) and The Spell (1998).
Many Hopkins students attended the event either to fulfill a writing class requirement or for their personal enjoyment.
“It was absolutely brilliant,” sophomore Alexis Sears said. “I especially loved when he read from Line of Beauty.”
Despite this reading being an hour long, Hollinghurst described the importance of selecting pieces to read that do not require expansive context.
“You want relatively self-contained episodes that don’t require 30-minute explanations,” Hollinghurst said.
Overall, Hollinghurst responded well to the Hopkins audience in attendance.
“Fantastically attentive audience. I was really impressed by it,” Hollinghurst said. “It was really gratifying.”
The next installment of the President’s Reading Series will not occur until next semester, when fiction writer, essayist and critic Aleksandar Hemon will his work on March 31.
In the meantime, the Writing Seminars department’s next sponsored reading will showcase poet Peter Campion, whose work includes poetry collections like Other People, The Lions and El Dorado and several monographs and catalog essays on visual artists such as Joseph McNamara, Terry St. John, Mitchell Johnson and Karl Knaths.
Champion’s reading will be held Nov. 3 from 6-7 p.m. in the Tudor and Stuart Room in Gilman Hall.
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