There's a sense of our freedoms becoming vulnerable': novelist Alan Hollinghurst

"Hollinghurst was knighted in this year's New Year honours list, a couple of months after the publication of his novel Our Evenings, the story of actor Dave Win's journey from boarding school to the end of his life, which received rave reviews. In the Guardian, critic Alexandra Harris announced it his finest novel to date, noting that it forms a deep pattern of connection with its predecessors, while being an entirely distinct and brimming whole."

"One of those predecessors is The Line of Beauty, which won the Booker prize in 2004 and was shortly afterwards adapted for television, providing an early leading role for actor Dan Stevens. This autumn, Hollinghurst's tour d'horizon of the Thatcher era as seen through the eyes of Nick Guest, a young man taken up by a wealthy and politically powerful family, also became a stage play at London's Almeida theatre in a version by Jack Holden, directed by Michael Grandage."

Hollinghurst acknowledged a lifetime achievement award can evoke a hint of closure but said he treats it as an incentive rather than a reward. He was knighted in the New Year honours and published Our Evenings. Our Evenings follows actor Dave Win from boarding school to the end of his life and received rave reviews. Alexandra Harris called it his finest novel to date and noted deep patterns of connection with earlier work while remaining distinct. The Line of Beauty won the Booker prize in 2004 and has been adapted for television and for the stage at the Almeida. Hollinghurst said theatrical adaptation converts a long novel into a different medium with different terms.

Read at www.theguardian.com