Hope - Glen Duncan

...most likely unimportant.
Hope has a very simple spine, in a blue-y purple with the title Hope written in black, squared letters, the author's name (Glen Duncan) in white in the same fount though smaller. There is also a grey scale picture running through the letters which at first glance doesn't look like much, but on closer inspection turns out to be two naked figures, one male, one female, as a profile shot, showing the two chests and torsos ...
...than this.

Hope is Glen Duncan's first novel. He has definitely chosen a slightly quirky, and maybe controversial topic! He manages to keep the book on the right side of graphic and the strength of the writing, characters and story negate the fairly explicit content.

The blurb on the back of the book begins with bold white text asking 'do men really think about sex every six seconds?'. Whilst this might put some readers ... more

Although the age-old adage is don't judge a book by its cover, I am not a huge believer in this. I feel that in the modern world where there is such a vast amount of literature out there, the cover of a book has to be important in your choice of whether to select that book from the pile to then read the blurb (unless the book has been recommended in which case the cover is most likely unimportant.
Hope has a very simple spine, in a blue-y purple with the title Hope written in black, squared letters, the author's name (Glen Duncan) in white in the same fount though smaller. There is also a grey scale picture running through the letters which at first glance doesn't look like much, but on closer inspection turns out to be two naked figures, one male, one female, as a profile shot, showing the two chests and torsos pressed against each other. This picture is the same as adorns the front cover.

The edition I am reviewing was published by Penguin in 1998, but according to the book it was first published in 1997 by Viking. Its recommended retail price is £6.99, however it is available from Amazon for much less than this.

Hope is Glen Duncan's first novel. He has definitely chosen a slightly quirky, and maybe controversial topic! He manages to keep the book on the right side of graphic and the strength of the writing, characters and story negate the fairly explicit content.

The blurb on the back of the book begins with bold white text asking 'do men really think about sex every six seconds?'. Whilst this might put some readers off, it certainly grabs the attention of possible readers and so is effective.

The main character of Hope is thirty-something male, Gabriel Jones. He is portrayed as a very eligible guy – attractive, well-off, intelligent and so many of those other characteristics we women are meant to want.
Almost as the book opens you find that Gabriel has a passion, perhaps even addiction for pornography which led to the demise of his marriage. This passion for pornography is all pervasive in his life, to the extent that he spends huge amounts of time either engaged in or thinking about pleasuring himself (I apologise for the terminology, I just don't feel comfortable using certain words in reviews!).

I will say here, and reiterate throughout, that this a fairly graphic book, but it is well written and almost tastefully so, and I didn't feel that it was unnecessary or done purely for shock value. The story is about a highly sexed male, and the sexual commentary is used to develop the character and to carry the narrative – Gabriel uses a high class call girl to play out his fantasies and to help with his guilt and the like, and so the narrative has to be carried in this way.

Gabriel saves all of his money for his next visit to Hope. Hope is a high class call girl, a character who although crucial to the story, the reader gets to know very little about; this is effective as Gabriel also knows very little about her. She is an enigma to him, he is obsessed and he wants to know and love this woman, but she gives little to no of herself, and clearly doesn't need him in the way he needs her. What she does do for him is play out his fantasies, in return for money, and also help him in the long run to rid himself of some of the guilt he carries.

Between visits to Hope, Gabriel engages in a lot of soul searching (and other things). It is this soul-searching that offers the reader insights into the character and his past. It's almost two separate stories, the young Gabriel stands very much removed from his adult self. The book is written in an autobiographical style, jumping from past to present, but it is very easy to follow. Because of this, you get to know Gabriel very well and quickly, and Glen Duncan manages to convey why Gabriel is as he is without excusing or condoning the character, and also without spoon-feeding you the whys, a lot is obviously from inference.

This book is actually a very moving story of unrequited love, it's just written in an unusual manner. It's funny in places, and is a very compelling read, you really find yourself caring for Gabriel, both the current and the child, and you want to know his stories and to find out what happened to those children he used to know.

Because of the style of writing and the content, this book will not be suitable for anyone who is uncomfortable with sex and sexuality in their books, nor for teenage readers. I would, however, recommend it to anyone who likes to try something new, or who is not easily shocked. I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book from the first chapter, it was a little too graphic and sexual for me, but I persevered and was really glad that I did so as I found that the story and characters are good enough that the sex sinks into the background and now I'd happily reread it.

Glen Duncan's writings to date are:
Hope (1997)
Love Remains (2000)
I, Lucifer (2002) (the film rights have been sold to this)
Weathercock (2003)
Death of an Ordinary Man (2004)
The Bloodstone Papers (2006)
A Day And A Night And A Day (2009)

 

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