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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Not my favorite Irving book but dang good. His creative mind amazes me!
this pissed me off. for the first 200 pages of this book i was mildly interested but didn't necessarily like it. after that i got more interested, and felt some positive emotion rather than no feeling either way, but still wasn't crazy about it. and finally, in the EPILOGUE, i really liked the book, and couldn't put it down. that's a whole lot of book to slog through to like it at the end.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Sexual harassment
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm just not sure what to make of this book. John Irving is one of my favorite authors. His ability to craft interesting and believable characters is one of his strongest talents, and in that regard, this book is no disappointment. Even the setting is intriguing: who hasn't wanted to live in a hotel at some point in their lives?
Perhaps the thing I found most unsettling about the story was how casually the subject matter is treated. Death, sex, and more death: it's all treated in a nearly off-hand fashion. On the final page, I feel pleased that the main character has ended up in the situation he's in, but I feel like he's exactly the same person he was when he started. The use of the dog, Sorrow, as a running metaphor throughout the tale was interesting but felt forced. I just didn't come away from this novel with the same sense of satisfaction that I've found in his other works.
Perhaps the thing I found most unsettling about the story was how casually the subject matter is treated. Death, sex, and more death: it's all treated in a nearly off-hand fashion. On the final page, I feel pleased that the main character has ended up in the situation he's in, but I feel like he's exactly the same person he was when he started. The use of the dog, Sorrow, as a running metaphor throughout the tale was interesting but felt forced. I just didn't come away from this novel with the same sense of satisfaction that I've found in his other works.
"So we dream on. Thus we invent our lives." This was a re-read for me before travelling to Vienna for the first time. Still wonderful, still a delightfully quirky fairy tale. If you're an Irving fan and haven't read this, you should.
Family runs a series of hotels called Hotel New Hampshire. They also have an affinity for bears.Mom, Dad, grandpa (Iowa Bob), Frank, Franny, John (narrator), Lilly, and Egg. Start at first Hotel NH in Dairy. Live in hotel near private school. Franny raped by Chipper Dove and several football players. Frank is terrorized by them. Later Dad decides to move them to Vienna when an old friend gets in touch. Mom and Egg die on separate flight on their way there. Hotel populated with anarchists and whores. Bear is a woman dressed as bear. She becomes Franny's lover. Lilly becomes writer. Family becomes famous when anarchists decide to blow up Vienna opera house. Frank is Lilly's agent. She makes them famous.
They get even with Chipper Dove. Franny and John get over their lust. She marries Jr. John with Susie the Bear. Lilly commits suicide. Dad blinded from bomb. Third HNH becomes a rape crisis center.
Quirky and just slightly gross like you've stepped into the weirdness of a carnival sideshow.
They get even with Chipper Dove. Franny and John get over their lust. She marries Jr. John with Susie the Bear. Lilly commits suicide. Dad blinded from bomb. Third HNH becomes a rape crisis center.
Quirky and just slightly gross like you've stepped into the weirdness of a carnival sideshow.