Scan barcode
undeadcleo's review against another edition
3.0
Really weak ending, but good enough that I'll check out his other work!
karieh13's review against another edition
2.0
I thought "The Way Inn" would be a hotel/convention version of "Up in the Air" - the movie that is referenced on the back of my copy. A take on the generic comforts of the hospitality industry - where "nothing but the best" rapidly becomes "everything is the same." Parts of this book were like that.
Neil Double (!) the main character - is a conference surrogate. He'll travel to conferences so you don't have to. Bring back the information for you at a fraction of the cost and time. He's a pro at navigating hotels & convention centers. He seems a natural at it - and a scene draws from his first memory of being "cared for" at a hotel: "The theatre with the silver tray and the little disc of layered paper was acted out for me. I could ask for things and they would appear with panache." He is especially enamored of room services, housekeeping, and bathrooms he never has to clean. He is embraced and surrounded by pleasant sameness - generic smiles, stock photo people, and hotel paintings.
"The paintings were all over the hotel - in my room, here in the restaurant, out in the lobby, in the bar. And so it was in every Way Inn. They were all variations on an abstract theme: meshing coffee-coloured curves and bulging shapes, spheres within spheres, arcs, tangents, all inscrutable, suggestive of nothing. I had never really examined them - they were not there for admiring, they were there simply to occupy space without distracting or upsetting. They were an approximation of what a painting might look like, a stand-in for actual art."
Anyone who has stayed in chain hotels or traveled much for business can relate to Neil's observations - and some of them are funny.
"People form habits quickly in hotels. They nurture new routines. You go out of your room, you turn toward the lift or the stairs, and you repeat the same turn every time. There's no reason to turn the other way."
"The Nespresso machine in the corner glinted with the promise of uniform, repeatable, predictable cups of coffee of acceptable quality. Perfect for chain hotels, of course."
The "Up in the Air" feeling soon rapidly gives way to much darker elements. Scenes and plot devices that seem pulled from "The Hobbit", "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas", and particularly "The Shining". There is one scene that seems to be written for Jack Torrance & Lloyd the bartender at the Overlook Hotel.
"How long have you been serving the hotel, Hilbert?" I asked, working in a note of pastoral concern. "Yes! Hilbert said. He appeared delighted at my query. "I knew you sensed it. I knew it. Precisely the question." And later, ""Hell of a bargain," I said. "You get to live forever. But you have to spend eternity in a chain hotel on a motorway."
I have to admit - past the first third of the book - I was completely lost. The social commentary that I was enjoying disappeared in a cloud of abstract images and actions. I could not follow the thread of either the plot of the writer's overall point. Surely it was my fault, but the more I read of "The Way Inn" - the faster I wanted to get out.
Neil Double (!) the main character - is a conference surrogate. He'll travel to conferences so you don't have to. Bring back the information for you at a fraction of the cost and time. He's a pro at navigating hotels & convention centers. He seems a natural at it - and a scene draws from his first memory of being "cared for" at a hotel: "The theatre with the silver tray and the little disc of layered paper was acted out for me. I could ask for things and they would appear with panache." He is especially enamored of room services, housekeeping, and bathrooms he never has to clean. He is embraced and surrounded by pleasant sameness - generic smiles, stock photo people, and hotel paintings.
"The paintings were all over the hotel - in my room, here in the restaurant, out in the lobby, in the bar. And so it was in every Way Inn. They were all variations on an abstract theme: meshing coffee-coloured curves and bulging shapes, spheres within spheres, arcs, tangents, all inscrutable, suggestive of nothing. I had never really examined them - they were not there for admiring, they were there simply to occupy space without distracting or upsetting. They were an approximation of what a painting might look like, a stand-in for actual art."
Anyone who has stayed in chain hotels or traveled much for business can relate to Neil's observations - and some of them are funny.
"People form habits quickly in hotels. They nurture new routines. You go out of your room, you turn toward the lift or the stairs, and you repeat the same turn every time. There's no reason to turn the other way."
"The Nespresso machine in the corner glinted with the promise of uniform, repeatable, predictable cups of coffee of acceptable quality. Perfect for chain hotels, of course."
The "Up in the Air" feeling soon rapidly gives way to much darker elements. Scenes and plot devices that seem pulled from "The Hobbit", "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas", and particularly "The Shining". There is one scene that seems to be written for Jack Torrance & Lloyd the bartender at the Overlook Hotel.
"How long have you been serving the hotel, Hilbert?" I asked, working in a note of pastoral concern. "Yes! Hilbert said. He appeared delighted at my query. "I knew you sensed it. I knew it. Precisely the question." And later, ""Hell of a bargain," I said. "You get to live forever. But you have to spend eternity in a chain hotel on a motorway."
I have to admit - past the first third of the book - I was completely lost. The social commentary that I was enjoying disappeared in a cloud of abstract images and actions. I could not follow the thread of either the plot of the writer's overall point. Surely it was my fault, but the more I read of "The Way Inn" - the faster I wanted to get out.
haroldinho's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cassiehelen's review against another edition
4.0
A slow starter. There were times in the beginning when I was considering giving up on this book. It had tediously long descriptions. However the suspense in the second half made up for the over-descriptive first. I loved the twists and I was never able to predict the next part. The characters were sinister and mysterious, and the arena of the conference was engaging and made you feel like you were really part of that world. This would have been 5 stars if it wasn't for the tedious beginning.
chris_davies's review against another edition
3.0
A disappointing follow up to Care of Wooden Floors, which I loved. It's not bad, by any means, but it still fell a fair way short of my (perhaps unfair) expectations. This book features two distinct storylines, the first of which takes an age to get started before petering out, whilst the second features a baffling take on the infinite hotel which the author struggles to make sense of.
Along the way there is some entertainment to be had, particularly the section where our 'hero' (a thoroughly unlikeable fellow) attempts to circumvent a ban that's been placed on him. But then when that storyline runs out of steam I began to wonder what was the point of it? Perhaps we were supposed to to draw some clever parallels between the two threads and I am just too dim to see them.
Overall, this is an occasionally amusing, but ultimately unsatisfying and frustrating read. Not awful, but not recommendable either. Two and a half stars, really. I can't help wondering whether this was an earlier effort that the author returned to after the success of Care of Wooden Floors. Oh, and don't publishers employ proof readers any more? There's nothing more likely to take me out of a story than an obvious typo, and there are a fair few of those here.
Along the way there is some entertainment to be had, particularly the section where our 'hero' (a thoroughly unlikeable fellow) attempts to circumvent a ban that's been placed on him. But then when that storyline runs out of steam I began to wonder what was the point of it? Perhaps we were supposed to to draw some clever parallels between the two threads and I am just too dim to see them.
Overall, this is an occasionally amusing, but ultimately unsatisfying and frustrating read. Not awful, but not recommendable either. Two and a half stars, really. I can't help wondering whether this was an earlier effort that the author returned to after the success of Care of Wooden Floors. Oh, and don't publishers employ proof readers any more? There's nothing more likely to take me out of a story than an obvious typo, and there are a fair few of those here.
justineharvey's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
Neil Double has a job that entails attending a lot of conferences. And that means staying in a lot of chain mid-range hotels - the sort that offer the same experience no matter where you are, that spring up near airports and conference centres, that offer their own business suites and have loyalty cards. For most people this would be hell, but he loves the bland conformity, knowing that his room will be cleaned and the sheets turned down. Then, in the Way Inn he meets a woman he has seen before. Soon he is tumbling down a rabbit hole (albeit one with beige carpets, repetitive corporate art and complimentary coffee) and his world is turned inside out as he discovers the truth behind this faceless corporate paint-by-numbers hotel chain. This novel starts out as a gentle satire on the conference industry, but that's not where it ends. Peculiar in a good way, it's a great story.
austinstorm's review against another edition
5.0
Enjoyable and creepy. There's a lot of J.G. Ballard in this, plus some Richard Matheson. The existential crisis is mirrored beautifully by a nightmarish Borges-meets-Lovecraft sort of conceit.
I keep thinking of favorable comparisons. Maybe a little Man Who Was Thursday, a little P.K. Dick. Martin Amis? Worth reading if you enjoy enjoyable novels.
I keep thinking of favorable comparisons. Maybe a little Man Who Was Thursday, a little P.K. Dick. Martin Amis? Worth reading if you enjoy enjoyable novels.
villanellemp3's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
noelrk's review against another edition
3.0
Took way too long to read this. It was decent enough, if a little repetitive. Wiles is stronger at light critiques of late-stage capitalism than horror/suspense.