The Swimming Pool Library

By: Alan Hollinghurst

Narrated by: Samuel West

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

This novel centres on the friendship of William Beckwith, a young gay aristocrat who leads a life of privilege and promiscuity, and the elderly Lord Nantwich, who is searching for someone to write his biography.

©2006 Alan Hollinghurst (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"West has a lot of fun with the waspishly clever dialogue, and, provided you ensure it's not overheard by listeners of delicate sensibilities, this is terrific to listen to." (Karen Robertson, The Sunday Times)

Strong stuff

Swimming Pool Library is beautifully written and will give you a vivid picture of the life depicted. As a straight man I endeavored to give all the gay sexuality the same distance I gave the sexuality of "straight" characters whose taste differs from mine--cf. Lolita or anything by Pynchon. But don't think you can just skim over it and get back to the plot. Gay sexuality is THE subject of this book.

Excellent reader.

Offers Insight

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It depends on the friend. This book is NOT for everyone. It graphically describes the life of a promiscuous gay man. So if the topic of homosexuality or detailed sex scenes disturb you, then steer clear. Also, black people are almost like fetish objects in this novel. Many of the upper-crust, white British men in the novel are VERY attracted to Africans. Although the wealthy men are genuinely sickened by hate crimes, they also don't quite see black people as "human" either. It's like people from Africa are viewed as some sort of enchanted, mythological creatures to be sought after and adored. I don't want to give the impression that the book centers on race relations, but some of the ways that black people are described made me feel uncomfortable. I think that Hollinghurst purposely did this to further explore the idea of what it's like to be viewed as an "other" in mainstream society.

I would recommend this book to a friend who loves beautiful writing and strong characterization. I would recommend it to a friend who enjoys thinking about things that they've never considered before. Before this novel, I never thought about how so much "homosexual history" was covered up, changed, or never recorded to begin with. Just like in Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child, the idea of what is forgotten and what is chosen to be remembered hangs heavily.

What did you like best about this story?

How it let me see the world through a new set of eyes.

What does Samuel West bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is a fantastic narrator. All of his characters sound unique and he does a fantastic job with different dialects and accents. Perfect pacing, smooth voice, lovely narration, perfect execution of wit... I would love to hear another story read by him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, but I don't want to spoil things for you... There's a part that will stick with me for a long time.

Beautifully Written and Read

This story is about gay life. That is the heart of it. If you are offended by that (and it includes explicit sex) then this is not for you. However, what you will be missing is superb writing and an amazing debut novel which showed what a genius Hollinghurst is. All his books are marvellous, with The Line of Beauty, which won the Booker, being a very worthy winner. There is an audiobook of that which sadly Audible doesn't have but would be fantastic if they got it.

Hollinghurst's first and among the best.

If you could sum up The Swimming Pool Library in three words, what would they be?

great period piece

What did you like best about this story?

Listening to it twenty years after reading it made me realize how much I had changed. It's a great description of upper class British life. Hollinghurst's lush writing is in full bloom.

What does Samuel West bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Sam West's narration makes this an good example of listening surpassing reading. His Lord Nantwich is spot on. It's Hollinghurst's ear for British language that provides such great material. Sam brings the fellow to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Gay England in the late 20th century.

Pointless and Plotless

I did actually listen to the whole book because I waited in hope of some twist or purpose to the story .... sadly there was none. I purchased because it won the Man Booker prize, I have to say I have no idea why.

I think as others have said this is more of a gay porn novel and as I straight person I found it over the top (probably 1/3 of the book was gay sex), I only tolerated it in the hope the story had some interesting twist around Charles Nantwich... but sadly no .. and well it just ends with no reason, although I was very happy about this in many ways.

Disturbing

Highly recommend not reading this. I tried to keep an open mind throughout most of the book, but it continually toyed closer and closer to sex with underage boys. I know in England that it's legal to have sex with young men as early as 16, but this book even crosses that boundary, and tries to paint it as fun and flippant.

I believe the author to be perverted, there is no celebration of true love between men of legal age. It relishes in perverseness. It really bothered me, and I couldn't finish the last quarter of the book. The plot sucks, by the way, and it's extremely long winded most of the time.

I actually got my money back from Audible after writing them an email explaining my issues with it. They were nice about it. Save your money and your credits, pass this one by.

Interesting but...

I kind of enjoyed it, I spent most of the time facinated by the lifestyle of the era (1970's) and the research into the days of the time before. I kept expecting their posh bubble to burst but disappointingly it is not the point of the story, then again any point would have been good. Unless the point is that posh lives are pointless.

A meandering journey

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The storyline goes on without much point, but the emotion, feeling and self absorption of the main character is very interesting.

Was there even a story!!!???

While the book was beautifully written with vivid language and distinct characters where the hell was the plot???? There was no plot and by the end there was no resolution for any of the characters. However Samuel West did an amazing job as the narrator. He is the only reason i finished the book!

A Great Eulogy to Homosexual Love

Heterosexual woman that I am, I greatly enjoyed this book.
Nothing in it is offensive.
If you mind sex, erotic descriptions, and perhaps sensual pleasure altogether... this is not for you.
The writing is beautiful. The reader’s voice is SUPERB! I need to get all the books West narrates. Brilliant.
Completely devoid (I mean, COMPLETELY) of women… which is a plus, since other illustrious heterosexual writers (such as Philip Roth) make one regret being a woman. What with their objectifying fantasies and real or imagined violence against us. None of that here, for a (refreshing) change.
Thank God, this was written in 1988! Today, our young Torquemadas would make a gory show of this writer’s public execution. As it’s not exactly “woke” or “correct”… hence its beauty.
I highly recommend this Audible title.