With an introduction by Sebastian Faulks Winner of the Man Booker Prize, The Line of Beauty is a classic novel about class, politics and sexuality in Margaret Thatcher's 1980s Britain. There was the soft glare of the flash - twice - three times - a gleaming sense of occasion, the gleam floating in the eye as a blot of shadow, his heart running fast with no particular need of courage as he grinned and said, 'Prime Minister, would you like to dance?' In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room ...
Read More
With an introduction by Sebastian Faulks Winner of the Man Booker Prize, The Line of Beauty is a classic novel about class, politics and sexuality in Margaret Thatcher's 1980s Britain. There was the soft glare of the flash - twice - three times - a gleaming sense of occasion, the gleam floating in the eye as a blot of shadow, his heart running fast with no particular need of courage as he grinned and said, 'Prime Minister, would you like to dance?' In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the wealthy Feddens: Gerald, an ambitious Tory MP, his wife Rachel and their children Toby and Catherine. Innocent of politics and money, Nick is swept up into the Feddens' world and an era of endless possibility, all the while pursuing his own private obsession with beauty. The Line of Beauty is Alan Hollinghurst's Man Booker Prize-winning masterpiece. It is a novel that defines a decade, exploring with peerless style a young man's collision with his own desires, and with a world he can never truly belong to.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $2.44, good condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $2.44, good condition, Sold by Orion Tech rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Arlington, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $3.27, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. Missing Dust Cover-Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty: a Novel to cart. $3.45, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Bloomsbury USA.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $3.75, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $4.79, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Non Basic Stock Line.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $4.81, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $5.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Line of Beauty to cart. $5.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bloomsbury USA.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
"Jamesian" is to me a term of disparagement--wordy and displaying how to write and to say very little in the process. But this book does say something--lessons in how to be a loser. (Wouldn't it be nice if a novel told you how to be a winner?) AIDS, of course, figures heavily in it--if you want drama in a gay novel, how can you do better than AIDS. Cocaine and three-ways: all the magic ingredients to give you a feling or anguish--but did you really want that anguish? Ingredients made-to-order drama, because like tragic operas, AIDS novels end with death, and make you feel so wonderful about it. Yes, exquisite writing. Read it and admire, then give it away, you won't want to read it again. Neither will the friend you gave it to.
bud19
Sep 18, 2008
language as art
if you have never read alan hollinghurst, prepare yourself for a display of the english language as few can ever hope to accomplish. soaring prose...language as art. having read all four of his major works, i was not disappointed by "the line of beauty". the only let-down was moving on to my next book by a lesser author and feeling, well the only way i can compare it is to visualize when your high definition cable tv goes off in a storm and you are forced to revert to simple antenna reception. although all of hollinghurst's works involve gay themes and charachters, i can only suggest that the prospective reader get past this and dive in. get to know how achingly expressive the english language can be and why it is that we read fiction in the first place: to be moved and to have our breath taken away simply by turning the page.
