ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the patterns of heroism interspersed in the novel, which are subjected to an aesthetic treatment typical of Alan Hollinghurst. Hollinghurst's fiction writing is at its best when it felicitously introduces counterpointing subplots. The chapter shows that the Carlylean notion of "hero worship" is queered so as to come "at things from another angle". It aims at exposing the production of heroism. Before it becomes a textual undertaking with allographic memoirs, heroism assumes the tangible shape of a stone memorial. The hero is a landmark figure, whose biography ties in neatly with the narration of the nation, to which it contributes a chapter. The chapter argues that in order to distance himself from the genre of the historical novel, relying on both hero figures and temporal continuity, Hollinghurst opts for a narrative economy that can be envisioned through the Deleuzian model of folding, unfolding, and refolding.
