The Short History of a Prince

The Short History of a Prince

by Jane Hamilton
The Short History of a Prince

The Short History of a Prince

by Jane Hamilton

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Overview

Walter McCloud is a boy with dreams unlike most. Introduced as a child to the genius of Balanchine and the lyricism of Tchaikovsky, Walter has always aspired to be a dancer. As he grows older, it becomes clear that despite his desire, he lacks the talent, and he faces the painful knowledge that his more gifted friends have already surpassed him.

Soon, however, that pain is overshadowed when his older brother, Daniel, finds a strange lump on his neck and Walter realizes that a happy family can change overnight. The year that follows transforms the McClouds, as they try to hold together in the face of the fearful consequences of Daniel's illness, and Walter makes discoveries about himself and his friendships that will change him forever.

Decades later, after Walter has left home and returned, he must come to terms with the memories of that year, and grapple once and for all with the challenge of carving out a place for himself in this all-too-familiar world.

A moving story of the torments of sexuality and the redemptive power of family and friendship, The Short History of a Prince confirms Jane Hamilton's place as a preeminent novelist of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780307764072
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date: 09/01/2010
Sold by: Random House
Format: eBook
Pages: 368
Sales rank: 611,092
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin. Her short stories have appeared in Harper's magazine. Her first novel, The Book of Ruth, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was a selection of the Oprah Book Club. Her second novel,  A Map of the World, was an international bestseller.

Read an Excerpt

As it turned out there was so much baggage on the trip to Lake Margaret that Walter's friends, Susan and Mitch, sat crushed in one foldout seat in the back of the car, and Walter was left with the middle bench seat. Robert McCloud had arranged the two aquamarine coolers, the suitcases and the grocery bags. It wasn't for nothing, he said, that Joyce had been a Girl Scout: she was fully prepared for an ice age, a drought, a monsoon and the invasion of the termites. Walter was pinned against the door by the coolers, it was awkward to turn around, and he had to shout to be heard. The teenagers gave up talking after a few minutes on the expressway. Susan and Mitch fell asleep against each other. Nothing had gone according to plan, and Walter stared gloomily out the window. Just as well that Daniel was sick, he thought. If he'd come they'd have had to tie him to the roof rack.

Joyce glanced back now and then to make sure there was nothing unseemly going on between the two lovebirds in the kiddie seat. She gave her husband a preview of the day to come, quietly, and with restraint, evoking her hysterical sister. Even marking the gestures, not imitating them full out, was funny, and Robert snorted into his shirt and twice said, "Oh, Joycie."

She had enough sense not to ask Walter if he was all right. She could see that he was troubled about something, and he in his turn knew that she had taken note of his unhappiness. Her general sympathy brought him a guilty little pleasure. His thin skin and tender heart were at once a source of pride and anxiety to her. He had asked to study ballet, she had known better than to try to talk him out of it, and she had clung to the belief that his enthusiasm for the dance would shield him from the predictable taunts. It had been such a stroke of luck that his two dancing-school friends happened to live in Oak Ridge. They had been put together in the First Junior Class at the Kenton School of Ballet in Chicago when they were ten years old and together they'd advanced all the way up to the Second Intermediate Class. But through good and bad fortune Walter would always have his own temperament, and Joyce feared that he would feel the injuries of adolescence more keenly than his peers. Still, she hadn't given up on a straightforward future for him, and she wondered if it was Susan, if the leggy girl squeezing against Mitch, was the source of his present misery.

Her conclusion was not exactly off the mark. Walter was thinking about the night the week before, when he and Susan and Mitch had been in the McClouds' living room, dancing and listening to records. Walter had picked out Tchaikovsky's Serenade, a piece that had been their favorite since the previous summer. George Balanchine, the greatest choreographer in the history of the dance, according to Walter, had made a plotless ballet to the music, and Walter, in a tribute to both virtuosos, had the volume up so high that the Gamble dogs, in their yard, cocked their heads this way and that, hearing noises in a frequency Tchaikovsky never intended. The dancers rushed headlong in and out of the doors, running the length of the room with their arms outstretched, doing the bits of the Balanchine choreography they had absorbed over the years. Between the three of them they had seen eight performances of Serenade. Walter and his aunt Sue Rawson had seen it four times the month before, night after night at Ravinia Park.

Mitch was always the man, intermittently lifting Susan over his head and carrying her around like a barbell. It seemed to Walter that Mitch's strength was inherent, that it was a quality he had not had to work for, no need to lift weights or wrestle or play a lot of catch. It was just there, that strength, a part of him. There were few hard, fast, unstated rules to their dancing game, principles not to be broken or bent. They were meant for Walter. It was curious, he thought, that he understood the protocol instinctively, that no one had ever had to slap his wrist or say, Repeat after me. Funny, that it was the kind of thing he knew with animal sense. He was not allowed to lift Susan, but he could offer his arm if she wanted support for an arabesque. He was not to turn her; the pirouette business was also Mitch's privilege. Susan, however, could turn Walter, with good humor on both sides. He most certainly was not to attempt, even as a joke, to lift Mitch. But he could touch Mitch if, say, they were dancing in a circle, holding hands. Then they were comrades, the three of them. When they spun there was nearly an absence of possession.

Walter, in the first movement of Serenade, threw himself into the wind of the large fan on the dining-room table and struck a pose. He buffeted back and forth, in and out of the steady push of air. If only he had on one of the blue chiffon costumes that Balanchine's dancers wore, a gown that would flutter and billow after him. He was going full tilt--no one could say that he did not have enough feeling for the entire ensemble of twenty-eight girls. "Not having the blue dresses," he panted as he jetéed past Susan, "for this ballet, is probably on a par with riding a motorcycle and"--he called over his shoulder--"finding that it doesn't rev."

Reading Group Guide

1. A sense of place is significant in each of Hamilton's books. At the heart of The Short History of a Prince is the family's summer home at Lake Margaret. What role does this big old house play in Hamilton's tale? Why is it so important?

2. In A Map of the World, Hamilton takes the reader on a slow, downward spiral toward disaster; in The Short History of a Prince, she makes it clear early on that Walter's brother will die, thereby revealing the book's ultimate tragedy and then moving beyond it. Does this defuse the story's suspense? Once you know of the death, what is it that makes you want to read on?

3. Walter's response to his brother's impending death is cruel and self-centered. Is his behavior understandable—even forgivable—at this point? Why or why not?

4. One of the pleasures of this novel is the evolution of Walter's and Susan's friendship. How does Hamilton manage to show each character at his or her worst in this relationship and yet convince the reader that they can be devoted friends?

5. Sue Rawson is an important figure in Walter's life, and her association with the world of classical arts holds particular meaning for him. What do you think Hamilton is trying to say with her portrayal of this woman who seems to live on an altogether different plane than the rest of her family?

6. Is The Short History of a Prince written entirely from Walter's point of view, or were there times when you felt the presence of an omniscient narrator? If so, how did this change of perspective affect your reading of the story? What about Walter's humorous tone? Did his lighthearted attitude diminish the impact of thistale of tragic death, failed romance, and loss of a dream, or serve to make it even more poignant? How does Hamilton manage to take us through such a journey and end with hope?

7. How would you describe the world as portrayed in Jane Hamilton's novels? Is it particularly just or unjust? Does it strike you as realistic?

Interviews

On April 8th, 1998, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Jane Hamilton to our Authors@aol series to discuss her latest novel, THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE. Jane Hamilton's first novel, THE BOOK OF RUTH, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was selected by Oprah's Book Club. A MAP OF THE WORLD, her second novel, was an international bestseller. Her latest novel, THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE, is available at Keyword: bn.



JainBN: Welcome, Jane Hamilton!

Jane Hamilton: Thank you!


JainBN: Jane Hamilton is on the phone with us from Wisconsin. How's the weather out there? El Nino minding its own business?

Jane Hamilton: Seattle, actually. The weather is beautiful!


JainBN: I forgot! Seattle tonight. :)

Jane Hamilton: No problem!


JainBN: Jane, we have many, many questions, so if you're all set....

Jane Hamilton: I'm ready!


Question: The protagonists of both RUTH and PRINCE are relatively talentless individuals forced to cope with living in the shadows of more celebrated peers. Why does this dynamic interest you? Did this relationship exist in your own upbringing?

Jane Hamilton: First of all, I haven't thought of the books in relationship to each other, so it's interesting to hear readers talk about common themes. I was the type of girl who, like Walter, studied dance but had no talent.


Question: How would you describe the midwestern temperament?

Jane Hamilton: We're very polite and we're friendly in a reserved way. I would say that we're more conventional than people on either coast, in general.


Question: I finished THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE last night. It is the most wonderful book I've read in 50 years of reading. I'm speechless. How do you know so much about life?

Jane Hamilton: First of all, thank you! The great privilege of writing and being able to live other people's lives and learning from them -- most of what I know about life I've learned from my characters.


Question: Your novels seem ultimately to focus on very subtle transformations of your characters' psychology. Is this literary taste rooted in your background as a short story writer?

Jane Hamilton: I learned to write novels by starting out with short stories, but no novel is worth its salt if the characters aren't transformed from beginning to end.


Question: THE BOOK OF RUTH was an Oprah Book Club selection. Do you approve of the ascendancy Oprah has acquired over the life and death of midlist fiction?

Jane Hamilton: I think that anyone who can make television viewers pick up a book, read it, and have a momentary reverie is a good thing. She certainly does have an amazing amount of power, but she has used it in a very interesting and creative way.


Question: Was it difficult to put yourself in the mindset of Walter, a homosexual adolescent male? How did you go about trying to achieve this?

Jane Hamilton: It wasn't really difficult, because I've known many people who share parts of Walter's sensibility. I wanted to write about someone who had a passion to dance but had no talent, like myself. But I had no interest in trying to write about somebody similar to myself. So it was much more fun to put my predicament into the body of a boy. And it gave me a certain feeling of freedom.


Question: A MAP OF THE WORLD and THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE both describe how a solid, grounded midwestern family is turned upside down by one traumatic event. Do you think that midwestern filial fortitude is, to some extent, an illusion?

Jane Hamilton: Because I've only lived in the Midwest, I don't have a perspective of how midwesterners are different from other types of people. I didn't set out to portray a specific midwestern family bond; that is, I wasn't interested in the "midwesternness" of it. But I think that all filial bonds are fragile.


Question: I imagine you're a voracious reader. What are you reading right now?

Jane Hamilton: I'm reading AMAZING GRACE by Kathleen Norris and LARRY'S PARTY by Carol Shields.


Question: Are there any plans to make your books into films? Would that please or disturb you?

Jane Hamilton: A MAP OF THE WORLD is supposed to start filming this summer. I've made peace with the fact that a movie is an entirely different medium from a book. I will always have the book, and the movie will be what it is. And it might even be interesting. I have no part in the movie, and I have no problem with that. They're talking about filming it in Toronto.


Question: Many of your readers refer to Ruth as a victim, a term with an inherently defeatist connotation. Do you consider Ruth victimized, and is there anything in her story which you consider empowering to her?

Jane Hamilton: I don't think in terms of her as a victim. I think that she has many strengths, one of which is the power to tell stories. She understands the power of language. She's fierce in her own self. She's capable of empathy. And all of those things are not part of a typical victim.


Question: Is there any of yourself in Walter?

Jane Hamilton: Walter and I both loved to dance, and we love books.


Question: I absolutely love the part in A MAP OF THE WORLD where the mother is talking to her dead daughter and tells her when they're together again they'll pick up where they left off. What was the inspiration for this mesmerizing, touching portrayal?

Jane Hamilton: Just being a parent and being afraid that something like that could happen to my children.


Question: You live on an orchard in Wisconsin. Apples? Do you and your family still farm the land?

Jane Hamilton: It is an apple orchard. My husband and his family are very active in the operation.


Question: Which of your characters do you feel closest to ? Is it always the one you're currently writing about?

Jane Hamilton: Yes, I feel closest to Walter right at the moment. And I'm enjoying that bond, and I know that it won't be that strong when I move on to my next book.


JainBN: Here's a lovely comment from one of our audience members....

Question: One of my favorite things in the book is how sometimes it is enough that things are better than we expected in a situation. How true. I will give my children copies. If I was eloquent I would try to tell them so many things you've written beautifully.

Jane Hamilton: Oh, how nice! Thank you for reminding me, too, that that is part of the book. Sometimes I lose track of some minor themes.


Question: The part where Walter imagines someone looking up at the hospital window and thinking of the family now there rings so true. I remember feeling that. Was that an emotion you've experienced?

Jane Hamilton: Yes, I have definitely experienced that.


JainBN: Jane, thanks so much for writing such beautiful and moving books. We look forward to your next gift.

Jane Hamilton: Oh, thank you! And thanks for the good questions!


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