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he: A Novel | John Connolly
20 posts | 7 read | 1 reading | 17 to read
John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity and the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists. An extraordinary reimagining of the life of one of the greatest screen comedians the world has ever known: a man who knew both adoration and humiliation; who loved, and was loved in turn; who betrayed, and was betrayed; who never sought to cause pain to others, yet left a trail of affairs and broken marriages in his wake . . . And whose life was ultimately defined by one relationship of such tenderness and devotion that only death could sever it: his partnership with the man he knew as Babe. he is Stan Laurel. But he did not really exist. Stan Laurel was a fiction. With he, John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity, the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists, and one of the most enduring and beloved partnerships in cinema history: Laurel &Hardy.
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IReadThereforeIBlog
he: A Novel | John Connolly
Pickpick

John Connolly‘s fictionalised look at the life of Stan Laurel is an absorbing and fascinating read with Connolly clearly having done his research on the man‘s life. The literary conceit of never mentioning Stan by his name mostly works and he gets the rhythms of the Laurel and Hardy dialogue right together with the peculiar nature of their relationship, but Laurel the man remains a mystery as Connolly never quite gets what made him tick.

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CaitlinR
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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1. I love Connolly‘s Charlie Parker novel, but HE is the best book I read last year. A wonderful fictional account of Laurel and Hardy‘s friendship.
2. Always. Part of the “control depression” routine
3. In the 30‘s with snow. ☹️
4. Peanut butter and cheese.
5. Sending hugs to all

@howjessreads

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belacat
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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A sad story, but a loving story about a partnership & friendship. I wish that the author used the f-word a lot less. I am not a prude, but I found myself cringing towards the end. Give me some euphemisms. Be a little creative.

CaitlinR I loved, loved this book. Wouldn‘t it be wonderful to have a relationship like theirs; flaws and all? 6y
92 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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Briget66
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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What was Babe before him? What was he before Babe? It is as though, shortly after their first meeting, they became conjoined, so that all other possible existences ceased at that moment. Is this of consequence? Of course it is.
And of course it is not.
Half of these existences—Babe‘s more than his, because Babe was captured by the light long before he—are anyway unreal. Like the flesh, film is a temporary medium.
It rots, it burns.

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CaitlinR
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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Pickpick

Do. Not. Miss. This.

A brilliant and beautiful fictionalized account of Stan Laurel‘s life. I read it in two days and wept when reading the final, incredible, longest sentence in the book. I agree with Connolly when he writes: “I loved Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy more than ever, with all their flaws, in all their humanity...” Author‘s Note p. 456.

BarbaraTheBibliophage This wasn‘t on my radar at all. Thanks for the heads up. I love biographies. 👏🏻👏🏻 6y
20 likes1 comment
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SarahMillerBooks
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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PJPeski
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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“ . . . in the belief that it might save them.” This is one of the saddest passages I‘ve ever read.

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PJPeski
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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“When all the memories have departed, so too will he. The dead have no recall.”
I‘ve been reading John Connolly for nigh on twenty years; this is nothing like anything he‘s written before, but so far promises to be lovely.

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TheSloanRanger
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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Won myself an advance proof of John Connolly's latest! #winnerwinner

Cinfhen 😁‼️ 7y
11 likes1 comment
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DeborahSmall
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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To the right is a great signed postcard of Laurel and Hardy #noalibis

ScorpioBookDreams I love his old fashioned writing! Xx 7y
DeborahSmall @ScorpioBookDreams it's lovely. Such a nice guy! X 7y
53 likes2 comments
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DeborahSmall
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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Fantastic event with John Connolly, organised by the super #noalibis. He introduced 2 Laurel and Hardy movies, talked about his research into Stan Laurel and some interesting facts about his relationship with the likes of Chaplin. ❤️

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DeborahSmall
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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Think I got a great seat for this evenings reading and interview. At the Ulster Museum, organised by David at #noalibis 😍

TrishB Oh wow 😀 enjoy! 7y
DeborahSmall @TrishB it was amazing. He introduced 2 Laurel and Hardy shorts. Then talked a lot about Stan Laurels life and the research he done in writing the book. Best author event I've been too x 7y
TrishB Sounds fab, and such as great seat. Have a good rest of the weekend ❤ 7y
70 likes3 comments
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DeborahSmall
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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Really looking forward to this event on Friday at the Ulster Museum. Love John Connolly ❤️📚#noalibis

DivineDiana This book sounds very interesting! Stacked! 7y
Libby1 Ooo! I've not read his books before! It's too bad as I could probably actually go to this. I might check out some events at the Aspects Lit Festival in Bangor starting on 14 September. Have you heard about it? 7y
DeborahSmall @Libby1 my #whodunnituk is the first in his Charlie Parker series so it will make its way to you. John Connolly comes to Belfast at least once a year, definitely for every book release. I missed his last visit as i never dreamed it would sell out with it being at the bigger venue but it did. So booked about 5 weeks ago. Roddy Doyle is there tomorrow night and Robert Webb on Thursday. I'd love to be going to all 3! X 7y
DeborahSmall @Libby1 I'll look at the Bangor festival, haven't heard anything about it yet 7y
ScorpioBookDreams @DeborahSmall I've heard good things about Robert Webb's book xx 7y
60 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Olivia306
he: A Novel | John Connolly
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It's no secret I am a fan of Mr. Connolly's writing so I am curious about his latest effort. Also the book event at Waterstones Picadilly was really nice. I always love talking about books with other like-minded people. 🤓