A Boy's Own Story

A Boy's Own Story

by Edmund White

2.25 out of 5 (2 ratings)

Format:
Paperback 
Pages:
240 
Publisher:
Pan Macmillan 
Publication Date:
14 March 1986 
Category:
Books 
ISBN:
9780330281515 

Description

'Edmund White has crossed The Catcher in the Rye with De Profundis, J. D. Salinger with Oscar Wilde, to create an extraordinary novel. It is a clear and sinister pool in which goldfish and piranhas both swim. The subject of A Boy's Own Story is less a particular boy than the bodies and souls of American men; the teachers and masters; the lovers, brothers, hustlers and friends; the flawed fathers who would be kings to their own sons who should be princes' New York Times Review 'A breathtaking evocation of a young boy growing up in the fifties in an American town ...The book's extraordinary power lies in the tension between the obsessive longing and then moments of denial, the attempts to transcend or avoid the inescapable fact of the boy's sexuality ...There have been many good novels of adolescence; this one surpasses them all' Jeremy Seabrook, New Society 'The boy's self-portrait shines with authenticity, he is an extraordinary but plausible mixture of sweetness and deviousness ...Add to this the fact that White's prose is marvellously sensual while his eye is sharply satiric and you have something of the flavour of an outstanding text which should appeal to a wide audience. The book goes beyond its homosexual theme to say something about the whole process of growing up' Robert Nye, Guardian

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Showing 1-2 out of 2 reviews.

  • A interesting read, but I found I did not engage with the characters.

    3.00 out of 5

    Bembo

  • I don't know what the deal was. I just couldn't get into it. I really liked <i>The Beautiful Room is Empty</i>. This one seemed more fragmented. I started getting into the second half, when he went off to boarding school. That was when the pace started to pick up. I didn't care much for his relationship with his father, though it played a role later in his life. It was kind of interesting that he fantasized about being his father's lover, not unlike Allen Ginsberg. I haven't heard much about a homosexual Oedipal complex, but it appears to exist. I think I have a problem with childhood memoirs (I say memoir because this is supposedly based on White's life) in general. I don't like reading about adults interpreting their childhoods when they were completely lacking any sense of self-awareness. I like when he hits his teenage years. Teenagers, in my opinion, are far more interesting and dynamic than children. I like their beliefs and opinions. A lot.There were some beautiful passages in this book. And some wonderful analysis of a life lived. I started it at the same time as <i>Lolita</i>, which has many stylistic similarities, namely the flowery, well written prose. Which can really weight one down after a while. I'm looking forward to reading something a bit lighter and still have a high opinion of Mr. White, even though I didn't want to finish his book (but I did).

    1.50 out of 5

    anoceandrowning

Reviews provided by Librarything.

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