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marjenn 's review for:
The Glass Hotel
by Emily St. John Mandel
3.5 stars
This book was A Lot and I need to sit with it for a while before I figure out my feelings on it.
Station Eleven is one of my favorite books, so it's impossible for me not to compare the two. Both books had the same dream-like writing quality, but the plot of The Glass Hotel wasn't quite as effective for me.
I felt like this book was trying to incorporate so many things – addiction, 90s music culture, the shipping industry, Ponzi schemes, ghosts, hospitality, art, mysterious disappearances – that it didn't do any of them justice. This book is barely 300 pages, but it felt bloated with themes and characters. Enough topics are touched upon to cover Mandel's next three books.
I am also a sucker for books that rely on the butterfly effect as a narrative device (everything is connected, characters reappear in each other's stories years later, etc.) but some of the connections between characters fell flat for me, and there are some characters who never get a proper conclusion (or one that I felt satisfied with, anyway).
With all the said, I still really enjoyed reading this book. ESJM's writing is exceptionally beautiful and there are some standout scenes. I especially loved the Ponzi scheme storyline and its subsequent unraveling. I think this is a book I'll be thinking about for a long time, and I expect it to grow on me.
This book was A Lot and I need to sit with it for a while before I figure out my feelings on it.
Station Eleven is one of my favorite books, so it's impossible for me not to compare the two. Both books had the same dream-like writing quality, but the plot of The Glass Hotel wasn't quite as effective for me.
I felt like this book was trying to incorporate so many things – addiction, 90s music culture, the shipping industry, Ponzi schemes, ghosts, hospitality, art, mysterious disappearances – that it didn't do any of them justice. This book is barely 300 pages, but it felt bloated with themes and characters. Enough topics are touched upon to cover Mandel's next three books.
I am also a sucker for books that rely on the butterfly effect as a narrative device (everything is connected, characters reappear in each other's stories years later, etc.) but some of the connections between characters fell flat for me, and there are some characters who never get a proper conclusion (or one that I felt satisfied with, anyway).
With all the said, I still really enjoyed reading this book. ESJM's writing is exceptionally beautiful and there are some standout scenes. I especially loved the Ponzi scheme storyline and its subsequent unraveling. I think this is a book I'll be thinking about for a long time, and I expect it to grow on me.