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)

Beautiful and dreamlike

This is such a wonderful story of multigenerational gay life, and is beautifully read by Mr. West. The book is cinematic in evoking a time just before AIDS when the gay world was in its nascent revery of youth and beauty. My favorite book in some time.

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.

A delightful story, beautifully read

What made the experience of listening to The Swimming Pool Library the most enjoyable?

Samuel West is an artist, delight to listen to. I loved having been consistently and artfully placed in the London locations I know well and love. In that respect it reminded me of the Forsyte Saga.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters, the eras, especially the beautifully rendered dialogue

Difficult but rewarding

The characters are so difficult to connect with, but their single-minded pursuit of life's fleeting pleasure is totally redeeming. The beauty of his descriptive prose is definitely worth the read.

The British upper class plays with the “low-born.”

Quite a few good stories within the basic central tale of upper class, entitled “gentlemen” mucking with ex-colonials, young boys of color, and young men without “status” in early 20th century England. Enjoyable, if to your taste.

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.

A Gay Man's Life : Now and Then

A touching, sensuous story of a modern gay man with harsh realities filling out the picture written in the perspective of the past history of prejudice and injustice toward homosexual men in England. Both sexy and enlightening. Wonderfully narrated by Samuel West.

Very well done

This is a great period piece. I love Hollinghurst's writing. A close lens on gay life.

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.

SUPERB WRITING, PERFECT NARRATOR

This has always been one of my favorite novels—its combination of beautifully intelligent writing, lush & frank eroticism, and complex rendering of race and class in both imperial and late 20th century Britain is unsurpassed. But I keep coming back to it for Samuel West’s narration! He never hits a wrong note; every layer of meaning is communicated, and above all he articulates wonderfully the novel’s humor. Audible should have West read Hollinghurst’s THE LINE OF BEAUTY!