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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Hard Lesson in the Obsessiveness of Love, March 12, 2005
This review is from: Dance on My Grave (Paperback)
I first came across this novel in my eighth grade year at school. It had been the first homosexual novel that I'd ever read, and I found it both surprising and satisfying; it was a coming-of-age story about a pair of young men who happened to meet by chance of fate during the summer vacation and ended up spending several weeks together.
Hal seems much more committed to the relationship than Barry, who acts as though his time with Hal is merely an exciting fling. And one morning, Barry, filled with exhilaration, makes Hal promise that if one of them dies, the other must dance on his grave. For Barry to ask such a daring thing of Hal only serves to further arouse Hal's interest and he becomes more obsessively committed than ever, for he had always hoped to find the ideal, "bosom" friend, and he feels that Barry must certainly be "the one".
Dance on My Grave was like nothing I had ever read before, and admittedly, the novel seems targeted more towards a British audience and someone unfamiliar with British terms may have to reread certain parts several times to fully understand the book. But I have remained forever attatched to this book, for it evoked such emotions in me as I had never felt before. You can't help but feel sympathy for Hal, who, for his whole life, has been searching for the perfect friend and lover but could never find anyone that fit his ideals... until he met Barry.
The lesson of the desperate, clinging obsession that comes with true and unconditional love in this story seems to be like the young adult equivallent to Joseph Olshan's Nightswimmer. I highly recommend this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adult love and grief, September 8, 2008
Hal Robinson is sixteen, has just finished his school exams and has no idea what he wants to do with his life. Will he stay on at school? If so what will he study? Or will he get a job like his father wants? Hal lives at Southend, the part of London where the Thames River meets the sea. One day he 'borrows' a friend's sail-boat without asking permission. A storm blows up and soon Hal capsizes the boat. Then into his life sails Barry Gorman, eighteen year old, expert sailor, who rescues Hal and who it seems will soon sort Hal's life out. Soon Hal finds himself falling deeply in love with Barry, and it seems his every fantasy is about to be fulfilled. But, as Hal reveals at the very beginning of the book, Barry's life is destined to be cut short.
This book is written in a quirky, interesting, experimental manner. The text consists of Hal's first person account, six "running reports" by Hal's social worker, two newspaper clippings, and a school essay. The personal account features "action replays" in which Hal goes over the scene he has just described filling in the psychological details that could not be included in the flow of action. One important theme to arise is the 'postmodern' question of how much a written account mirrors reality? Hal desperately wants to be honest, but no matter how much he tries his words fail to describe the true 'feeling' of events, or can be interpreted in a way that varies from the 'truth'.
While being an account of a death the book is often surprisingly funny. I found myself laughing out loud in several parts. Grief, however, inevitably takes the main stage at the end of the story, and is represented in some considerable depth. This is not really a tear-jerker though, as throughout the book we have always known that Barry will die.
Of course the book is also a description of first adult love, in all its depth and pain. As the story progresses Hal moves from confused teenager to wounded but wiser adult. While this could be described as a 'gay' story the book can be also enjoyed by 'straight' adolescent readers: love, death and truth are in fact universal themes no matter in what details we dress them. The story includes some sex but it is only very discretely referred to.
This is an English novel and some colloquialisms and cultural references are included which US audiences may find difficult to understand. There is not enough of this though to make the book inaccessible: in fact most of the text should be crystal clear.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Full of wit, by turns amusing and tragic, July 12, 2009
Sixteen year old Henry Robinson, he prefers to be called Hal, tells is own story following the death of Barry. His account is primarily for the benefit of his Social Worker, but at the same time is is a means of understanding for himself. He has been arrested for dancing on the grave of his late friend, an a court case is pending.
Hal had know Barry for just seen weeks, following Barry's rescue of Hal from what was not just a dangerous but also and embarrassing situation. Barry, just a little older than Hal, thereupon takes Hal in hand and opens up for him what until then had just existed in his dreams, a love affair, a special and intimate friend; seven weeks of an intense and physical relationship.
Hal's comes across as a most likeable lad, and his account is personal and full of wit, by turns amusing and tragic, occasionally the two are combined in the most hilarious episodes. But what comes over most strongly from Hal's story is the making of a man; we see Hal grow from a boy easily led an influenced to someone who truly knows himself, who knows his pitfalls and is prepared take steps the necessary steps to move on.
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