The_Farewell_Symphony
The Farewell Symphony
1997 semi-autobiographical novel by Edmund White
The Farewell Symphony is a 1997 semi-autobiographical novel by Edmund White.
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It is the third of a trilogy of novels, being preceded by A Boy's Own Story (1982) and The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988). It depicts the later adulthood of its protagonist and documents his experience of homosexuality from the 1960s to the 1990s. Each of the three novels in this series assumes a progression in tone and style which may be measured in part by the sexual content, which starts in A Boy's Own Story, expands in The Beautiful Room Is Empty and becomes more detailed in The Farewell Symphony.
Also, the first two novels in the series are shorter and come in at around 300 pages, told through the inner dialogue of their unnamed narrator. The Farewell Symphony is a considerably longer at 500 pages. Another distinguishing characteristic that sets The Farewell Symphony apart from its predecessors is the former were largely concerned with struggle, whereas in the third volume White/the narrator encounters gradually increasing professional success and is thus initiated into the American literary elite, whilst continuing to deal with the struggles he encounters. This changes the tone and flow of The Farewell Symphony in comparison with the previous two installments, with the tone and direction changing on multiple occasions.
