Rating: 
Summary: Best novel with a gay protagonist
Review: I haven't read either of Jane Hamilton's other novels, so I was surprised to discover such a wonderful book. Ms. Hamilton writes the interior life of a gay man better than most gay writers, and she treats all of her characters with grace. The story centers on a gay teenager, his extended family, and his friends. The setting is the Chicago area and nearby Wisconsin. The milieus are ballet and high schools. Themes include love, unrequited and otherwise; and the importance of place in the life of the individual and the family. Hamilton seems to have a fondness for E.M. Forster: he is mentioned in the text, and this novel shares themes with both "Maurice" and "Howard's End". I enjoyed the way the chapters alternate between 1972/3 and 1995/6, allowing the reader to know what happened in the past, and what would happen in the future, without knowing the climactic events in each of the threads. My previous favorite gay novels were "Giovanni's Room" and "While England Sleeps", but while both of those were bleak, "The Short History of a Prince" is hopeful. A page-turner, I rank it with "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and "The Brothers K" as one of my favorite modern novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Jane Hamilton.
Review: I enjoyed this book for the same reason I enjoyed her other novels--they are beautifully written stories, with well developed characters and incredible realism. I did read it in one day and it was time well spent. Map of the World is still my favorite Hamilton novel, but more because it was written from a viewpoint and life events similar to mine vs. Walter's history. You feel yourself entrenched in Hamilton's world as she creates it and you can picture each person so perfectly. I look forward to her next endeavor.
Rating:
Summary: A Prince of a Story
Review: Hamilton does what she does best, as always, makes us look at ourselves; our limitations, our own fears.
This is the second time I've read "Short History of a Prince"
It was better the second time, because, ofcourse, we see more detail. The story unfolds back and forth from the 70s to the 90s...For some more inexperienced writers, this may not have worked, but for Hamilton, it did.
Walter is the main character, coming of age in some chapters, a thirty eight year old in others. I love how Hamilton does this, as in the "Book of Ruth" It really allows the reader to understand the characters more clearly. I enjoy dance and adored Balanchine, so I found the story line centered around the dance world very interesting. I wonder if Hamilton danced once herself or just did her homework on this one. The story has been woven with family situations, death, dreams, sexual desires (some we may never experience), youth, middle-age, and finally, in the end,
realizing that sometimes what we have is enough... Love, love, love Hamilton, the messages she sends, Her tenderness, Her ability to allow hope to seep through all of her stories. She does not disappoint in this one either!
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet and Poignant
Review: Jane Hamilton's bittersweet and poignant novel, "A Short History of a Prince" is for anyone who has ever had a love that took up residence in the whole of their heart, yet remained as elusive as a dream. This is the beautifully crafted story of three friends, Walter, Susan and Mitch, who create memories together while drifting through the world around them like ghosts. This is Walter's story though, a boy whom we watch grow into uneasy adulthood, carrying inside of him all the dreams of his youth, unrealized. Hamilton casts a wondrous spell on the reader with sepia-tinted imagery and poetic phrasing, vivid characters against a background that is at once dreamlike and real. "A Short History of a Prince" is the kind of story that gets lost in the fast-pace of our lives, but would be well-worth slowing down to read. In the adage "stop and smell the roses", Hamilton's book is that rose, beckoning alluringly from a place far off the trodden path. As a first-time reader of her work, I was enthralled from beginning to end, seeking out these pages whenever I could. Hamilton's writing helped me recapture emotions that seemed to have faded once I reached adulthood, with striking exactness. I highly recommend this book for everyone who hasn't taken the time to stop and smell the roses for a long, long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great; 3 1/2 stars.
Review: Jane Hamilton spoiled me; after Book of Ruth andMap of the World, I thought she could do no wrong. While Short History isn't exactly "wrong," it isn't quite the other two, either. I had trouble believing in this huge, fat, extended family that endlessly got together for every imaginable occasion. I had trouble believing Walter's ballet director would go off on him so cruelly -- as if this man would have never encountered a gay man in the world of ballet before! I had trouble believing that everyone in the family would always call Sue Rawson by her full name, particularly her sisters; it seemed a literary invention to me. And the end was so incredibly neat it felt a tiny bit insulting, like there were suddenly all these rabbits being pulled out of hats at the last minute. Nevertheless, this book is worth reading because it is not really a failure either. Individual scenes are beautifully written and memorable. Walter is a well-drawn character ove! ! rall and I did care about him. And, once again, Jane Hamilton's various observations about people and their thoughts are wonderfully on target. If you have never read Jane Hamilton, this may not be the place to start. That would have to be Book of Ruth. If you are already a fan, this will not ruin her for you, and you will surely find lots to like.
Rating: 
Summary: It was a short history for me!
Review: I couldn't get past page 68. I read the first chapter (1972), and found it OK, but once the second one got going (1995), I started getting very irritated. Walter came across as a malcontent whiny guy, and the characters so far had been less than enticing (Susan seemed slightly egotistical, and Lucy was way too perfect to be real). Another thing that bothered me is the excruciating descriptions that the author goes through about the most minute details. I could tolerate that level of detail when the story carries my interest (We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates is a great example), but in this case I just had to glaze over whole paragraphs describing suburbian neighborhoods. I hate it when I don't finish a book, so I decided to check Amazon reviews and see what other people had said. I'm not so disappointed now. To the author's credit, I didn't see the fact that Walter is (...) right away. However, the parallelisms between lesbian aunt Sue Rawson mentoring Walter in his ballet, and then Walter mentoring his niece on hers was too melodramatic. The ending, which I only know about through other people's comments, makes me wonder if Jane Hamilton perhaps wrote this book with Oprah in mind. I really enjoyed The Book of Ruth. It was difficult to go through, but there was something true and compelling about the story and the characters. In this case, though, I wasn't able to find any empathy for anyone or get driven to the story.
Rating:
Summary: More relatable than Ruth
Review: Without question, Jane Hamilton is one of my favorite authors (who could not be moved by "The Book of Ruth"?), but in "A Short History of a Prince", Hamilton rises to a new level of exquisite characterization. Hamilton's graceful lyricism is present as always, rendering the book a charming read whether or not you enjoy the plot - but it is nearly impossible not to do so. Anyone who has every participated in the arts, or at least coddled an impossible dream, can relate to the plight of Walter. In a world in which, tawdry, but uplifting "feel good" books crowd the shelves it is refreshing to read of one who struggles with a dream, fails to achieve it in the physical sense, and yet triumphs internally. Hamilton gently reminds us that true grace lies in humanity and true achievement in how we deal with others. It is a novel about subjects far deeper than dance and far more human than death. It is a novel about life. Hamilton is a master of characterization. Ruth Grey and Matt (of "The Book of Ruth") are prime examples. But it is the character of Walter that stands out in my mind. He is one of the most fulfilling gay characters I've encountered in literature, proving once and for all, that literature with a gay central character, need not be soley concerned with sex and relationships. Instead, Walter is a complex, lovable and slightly pathetic (in a good way, mind you) man who must deal with the real life tragedies of death in the family and unfulfilled dreams. I enjoyed "A Short History of a Prince" far more than "The Book of Ruth" for several reasons. Partly because it was slightly easier to digest in its general lack of violence and dismal poverty, but mostly because I found Walter to be a character closer to my heart and self. I am not a gay man, but I felt more kinship with Walter than with Ruth. He is less specific than Ruth, more middle class, artistic and introspective. In short, he is me.
Rating:
Summary: Hamilton Is One Of The Best
Review: Jane Hamilton is one of the top American authors out there today. Hamilton achieved both critical and commercial success with her first two novels "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World." Much to her credit, she does not rest on her laurels and re-hash the characters or plot in her third outing, "The Short History of a Prince." In "Ruth," Hamilton's narrative reads almost as a thriller reaching a shocking conclusion while in "Map" a tragic event early on sends readers on a downward spiral through the rest of the novel. While there is plenty of angst in "Prince," it is a much more quiet and reflective novel. The protagonist tells his story during a life-altering year as a teenager as well as a grown man in the present day. That too is a change from Hamilton's previous work. Perhaps tagged as a "woman's" writer to date, Hamilton for the first time has a male lead character in Walter McCloud. There is a lot to savor in "Prince." It is a coming-of-age story as Walter must cope with a death in the family while coming to grips with his own homosexuality. While Walter may be one of the most well-realized gay characters put into print, one small quibble is that he seems to fall into so many stereotypes (ballet dancer, opera/theater lover, works in a dollhouse shop, literature teacher). Also, "Prince" asks the age-old question "Can one ever go home again?" as Walter returns to his Midwest roots as an adult. The novel is not only about the struggle to let go of the past, but perhaps even more painfully so letting go of the dreams of the future. If you are looking for well-developed characters and beautiful prose, there is no need to go any further than a Jane Hamilton novel.
Rating:
Summary: A poignant novel - hit's home
Review: An awesome novel. Hamilton writes characters that you all know very well. It seems as if I have met all of them at sometime in my life. One of the characters seemed to have lived my life. I strongly recommend this novel to you. I could not put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Good listening
Review: This was the first of Jane Hamilton's books that I have completed, and it was an audio tape. I think that it was fine as an abridged audio but might have been tedious if it were any more wordy. As it was, there was enough of the narrative and description to tell a very complete story. This story -- of Walter McCloud, his family, and his close friends -- was an intimate view into how the tragic death of a young person can have long-lasting and far-reaching effects on everyone who knew him. Yet the book does not become overly focused on the death or the dying in itself, but rather on the feelings of those who lived through it and on how they dealt (or did not deal) with it. The story moves back and forth from Walter's teenage years in the 70s to his life in the 90s at age 38 when he takes a job as a teacher in a tiny Wisconsin town. His time there allows him to reflect on his teen years when his brother was dying, when he was studying ballet hoping to be a star, and when he found his first love, Mitch. I thought the book had very strong characterization, and even in this abridged form I felt a connection to the characters and their motivations.
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