The Short History of a Prince

This novel is one of my favorites of the last year. Hamilton uses a unique storytelling technique weaving together her narrative by alternating between the past and present. This technique makes the story very engrossing and hard to put down. Although one does not have to be an artist or gay to enjoy this novel, I feel that if you can relate to either of those things this story has added resonance. This story reminded me what it was like to be a teenager -- full of angst, dreams and passion. Enjoy!

While this is a somewhat unorthodox basis for a review, I'd like to state that I went to high school with Jane Hamilton and knew the people who were the basis for Walter, Mitch, and Susan. I respect readers who found the book a departure from Hamilton's technique and usual settings (3rd person, male-centered, suburban rather than 1st person, female-centered, rural) and who found Walter a difficult character to like. At the same time, less in the spirit of a review than in clarification, I can say that the man who was the basis for Walter was charming and vulnerable, while also being self-centered, and he did talk exactly the way Hamilton has him talk in the novel. Further, the assumption that Hamilton doesn't understand the nuances of a gay man does seem provincial to me--should Flaubert not have written "Madame Bovary," then? And those readers who use their own heterosexuality as an excuse for not liking the book--well, that reflects your own limitations more than Hamilton's or the book's. I found this book more of a struggle than her earlier ones--domestic violence and child death/abuse are more engaging topics for the majority of readers, weened on Oprah and Sally Jessy, et. al., than the struggles of a gay boy in search of self. But it finally is worth the effort--and I think Hamilton's enormous insight and empathy achieves a depth of feeling for Walter lacking in most Gen-X fiction by gay men I have read. And I will say this--I know one young man this book gave enough courage and self-reflection to to permit him to come out to himself and those around him. Does this make it great literature? Of course not--but it should make us think before we simply dismiss it because it doesn't immediately connect with the lives of middle-class housewives who all too willingly want only fiction that allows them to see themselves as victims or fairy tale heroines.

After finishing The Short History of a Prince, I have been ruined for other novels for a long time. I still feel like I'm living Walter's life with him. I felt close to almost all of the characters. Jane Hamilton worked magic with that book.I am usually the type of person who stops reading novels if they are not up to my standards, or if they bore me. I could not put this book down. I lost sleep over it.For many of you who felt that the characters were not real enough for you, I have to say that I suspect that your comments and attitudes reveal your homophobia. I mean, if we all read literature with characters who were similar to ourselves, we wouldn't have much to read at all! It made my heart soar to experience the "coming of age" of a homosexual character, and to read about love between partners of the same sex. My recommendation to everybody is to open your minds a bit, and allow yourselves to experience beauty.

A book that I enjoyed from cover to cover. In this work I did see so much of life as I once knew it. This writter has a wonderful undestanding of human nature, incredible sense of humor and a gift to write about all of these things.

Unsuual characters, the kind you meet everday but never really think about, populate this amazing slice-of-life novel. For the reviewers who didn't get the point, I say "Look around you. Look at the people you think you understand. What stories do they hide deep in their souls?"It's not just Hamilton's study of a gay man that wins my respect but her dead-on look at a woman (Susan) who can be cruel and self-centered while she is a loving a true friend. Or the neighbor who is a health-food freak and a chain smoker. Or the bi-sexual lover (Mitch) who can enter a gay relationship and then suddenly drop it like yesterday's newspaper. All of this is so real, so true to the way people really are.This is a marvelously sensitive book full of humor and little truths that will have you nodding your head as you read.