Book Review
Jun. 21st, 2011 10:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariHotel World
by Ali Smith
This stylish literary novel takes place in and around the Global Hotel one day in early winter and centers around five women, all of whom are spending time in the hotel under varying circumstances. One is the ghost of a young chambermaid who died there, one is a homeless woman whose regular begging spot is outside the hotel, one is a business traveler staying there, one is a receptionist on the night shift, and one is the sister of the dead chambermaid. The five of them intersect in interesting ways.
Smith's prose is compelling and beautiful, and she has a way with stream of consciousness that made me stick with the book, but I didn't like it as much as The Accidental. Hotel World lacked any real sense of narrative or character development. Things happen and people interact, but I got the sense that all of that was just a framework for Smith's use of literary technique. All that technique does make the book an enjoyable read in a certain way, but I kept feeling as if a certain depth of content was missing. It's almost as if the intended audience is literary critics and theorists rather than readers.
by Ali Smith
This stylish literary novel takes place in and around the Global Hotel one day in early winter and centers around five women, all of whom are spending time in the hotel under varying circumstances. One is the ghost of a young chambermaid who died there, one is a homeless woman whose regular begging spot is outside the hotel, one is a business traveler staying there, one is a receptionist on the night shift, and one is the sister of the dead chambermaid. The five of them intersect in interesting ways.
Smith's prose is compelling and beautiful, and she has a way with stream of consciousness that made me stick with the book, but I didn't like it as much as The Accidental. Hotel World lacked any real sense of narrative or character development. Things happen and people interact, but I got the sense that all of that was just a framework for Smith's use of literary technique. All that technique does make the book an enjoyable read in a certain way, but I kept feeling as if a certain depth of content was missing. It's almost as if the intended audience is literary critics and theorists rather than readers.
