Quatrefoil [Paperback]

I suppose there is a reason that some books are still being read 60 years after publication. In this particular case it seems that this book was groundbreaking in its time and has been compared to Gore Vidal's book "The City and the Pillar". That may be going a bit too far as their writing styles don't really have anything in common.
The plot is explained well enough elsewhere and is simple enough.

The problem I had with it was that the writing is very much a product of its time and is quite constrained. It is not always clear exactly what one character is trying to say to the other. It's a very coded book and I suspect it may have meant more to the original readers than it would to more enlightened readers today. At the time Barr had to be careful what he wrote for fear of censorship and the puritanical standards of the publishers. As a consequence it would be unfair to say it is written badly (it isn't) but too much is said in such a roundabout way that you are left at the end of a page length monologue trying to figure out exactly what was being said. Also I doubt very much whether anyone ever spoke in such long convoluted sentences even back then. It seemed more like the author was trying to deliver a philosophical grounding for homosexuality and put it in the mouths of the two main characters because in the real world no one would speak in such paragraphs. I kept thinking of Dickens' `Circumlocution Office'.

It is a product of its time and Steward seemed to appreciate it - but then I suspect it was rare sort of book for its day. It couldn't be written today. The author also likes long lingering descriptions of rooms, views, clothes and people. I presume they are accurate and convey the desired atmosphere but there seem to be so many of them - even down to the dining room table - but I had to pass over them after a few chapters and just take the gist of it. It's worth reading though and is well written but the limitations of the time have to be taken into account. Also, and this is just a personal observation, I felt that the author really couldn't see a long term scenario for the two men and came up (possibly on a whim) with the ending he did. It is very disappointing.

Really enjoyed reading this, it has a story that twists and turns. Somewhat dated in today's terms on how the gay characters see themselves and each other but probably reflects how it was then.