May 09, 2004

Hotel World

If I'm recommending a movie today, I should recommend a book too, especially since it's almost beach season. So let me point your attention to Hotel World by Ali Smith.

Is it really beach reading? Sure. It is a slender volume that should fit easily into a beach bag, and it is the sort of book that takes you into exotic lives (both the denizes of hotels and that of a bag lady outside the hotel) and even beyond life. But what makes it a truly remarkable novel that merits being read in any locale is the author's impressive ability to create five distinct voices. The lives of the five women in the book overlap. They are deeply affected by one another. Yet we learn to know each of them as individuals. Smith chooses to use almost an almost entirely different language for each one. Her skill with words and images is striking. She is a writer and storyteller you want to see more from.

Posted by armand at May 9, 2004 01:20 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Books


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