⇒ Libro While England Sleeps David Leavitt 9780349109534 Books

While England Sleeps David Leavitt 9780349109534 Books

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While England Sleeps David Leavitt 9780349109534 Books

The Spanish Civil War. Gay romance. England in the late 1930s. One of my favorite authors. A sure guarantee of 5 stars? That's what I thought, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Baffled: that's what I think about this book. Why didn't I love it? Oh, it's a workmanlike creation, and I finished it. But couldn't get into the characters. Or maybe I should say they resonated with me, but not to any great extent. When I'm really enjoying a book, the characters become more or less part of my current thought patterns, and I look forward to being with them, enjoying their presence, and am interested in what they'll do next. Didn't happen with "While England Sleeps."

In fact, I've put off writing this review, as I kept wondering what I wanted to say about the characters, or the plot, or the period during which the novel takes place. Nothing leaps to mind. But I don't dare give David Leavitt less than 4 stars. He's too good an author to deserve less than that, so it must be my fault for not appreciating this work to the fullest extent.


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While England Sleeps David Leavitt 9780349109534 Books Reviews

This post-lawsuit re-issue begins with an interview with David Leavitt, exploring his anger and bitterness at having been sued. Leavitt drew heavily on the autobiography of poet Sir Stephen Spender (World Within World), and Spender took umbrage, such that the lawsuit resulted in the remaining copies of the first edition of "While England Sleeps" were destroyed. In this second edition, Leavitt has made what he considers minor revisions, enough apparently to satisfy the terms of the judgment.

But the book is still ponderous. Rather than Sir Stephen Spender's lilting prose, you have Leavitt's self-focused upperclass Englishman who dabbles in love with a working class man. Leavitt insists the unrelenting sexual details are essential, I might agree if they were well written. They aren't.

Read Spender. Skip Leavitt. Unless you're interested in the dynamics of the lawsuit (which is why I gave it two stars, rather than one), this book isn't worth your time or money.
Fascinating roman a clef of a certain period in the twentieth century.
Always enjoyable but in this novel is ended on a strange note not quite knowing the reason for his young lover and what his life meant.
Daivd Leavitt's writing is quite beautiful. He brings you into a whole new world and makes you feel a part of situation. I like his writing and how the characters interact. I was left wanting to know more about what made the characters do what they did but I learned about a unique time and unique people.
Good writing, period piece. Bittersweet story of confused protagonist who realizes too late what he should have known immediately.
I enjoyed it...
As a busy mom of an eight year old boy, I don't find it easy to make time for reading. So, for me to get into a book I have to be very captivated by it. I was surely captivated by While England Sleeps. Another reviewer referred to this as "another depressing gay story"...must admit I didn't see it that way at all.

I felt the story of Brian and Edward no more tragic than that of heterosexual lovers. But tragic it was. Brian is a self centered rich kid and Edward is a not so selfish working class kid. Yet they fall in love. However, Brian has to go thru the cold hard slap of reality before he realizes how much Edward means to him.

Brian's galant search for Edward in war torn Spain is very touching - probably the first time Brian had to make an attempt to put someone else's needs before his own.

Yes, there is graphic "gay" stuff and sex scenes which may offend some but not so far removed from hetero-sex scenes. I recommend this book for someone who is open minded, a romantic at heart, interested in history and loves a well told story with great character development. Glad I can add this to my collection.
I really enjoyed this story of early mid Twentieth Century gay life. The pretending to yourself to be straight, the betrayal of someone you love in order to make that charade a reality, a charade which ultimately fails only to ruin your life, the mixing of social classes, the quaint old aunts who write checks when you are pleasing them and turn their backs when you are not -- all the entanglements that used to come with being gay and all the energy it took to deal with them are right here, beautiflly written about in this engaging novel. The story of a love so foolishly lost and a war so quickly entered into to escape the pain, only to encounter horror instead behind Utopian ideals that prove just as fake as everything else -- it's all here. The section on the Spanish Civil War was some of the best gay historical war fiction I have ever read. In short, it was a great book and I could palpably feel all the guilt the narrator carried around after the most tragic event of the novel, and the rest of a life lived in the looming shadow of that event. For gay men of a certain age, this is a must read.
The Spanish Civil War. Gay romance. England in the late 1930s. One of my favorite authors. A sure guarantee of 5 stars? That's what I thought, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Baffled that's what I think about this book. Why didn't I love it? Oh, it's a workmanlike creation, and I finished it. But couldn't get into the characters. Or maybe I should say they resonated with me, but not to any great extent. When I'm really enjoying a book, the characters become more or less part of my current thought patterns, and I look forward to being with them, enjoying their presence, and am interested in what they'll do next. Didn't happen with "While England Sleeps."

In fact, I've put off writing this review, as I kept wondering what I wanted to say about the characters, or the plot, or the period during which the novel takes place. Nothing leaps to mind. But I don't dare give David Leavitt less than 4 stars. He's too good an author to deserve less than that, so it must be my fault for not appreciating this work to the fullest extent.