The Glass Hotel - May 2023 Book Group discussion thread
11 watchers
May 2023
9:01pm, 18 May 2023
22,198 posts
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Columba
20 pages in my heart sank as I realised that this is yet another book where I was going to have to keep a list of all the different characters and on what pages they appear. My final list was 62 people long. Some of these authors do like to think big, don't they? Vincent moves through several different "worlds" (high finance, container ships, music groups, visual arts, drug addictions, the hospitality service) and the story spans about 50 years, including a short extension into the future. I presume the author has done her research; I'm not familiar with any of these "worlds" so can't comment, though the container ships bit was interesting in view of "Down to the Sea in Ships" which we read a while ago, or some of us did. Very accomplished, very clever. While I was reading it I thought I might (when finished) go back to the beginning and re-read, to see how all the events and characters interwove; but didn't, because thanks to my list (which I had to keep referring to) I had it more-or-less sorted. I wonder whether it's easier to write such a complex story than it seems? If the author starts off with a completed story in mind, chronological sequence included, and then splits it up into bits, and presents her readers with handfuls of selected pieces which they have to make sense of, isn't this rather like starting off with a picture and turning it into a jigsaw puzzle? I'll read back and see what everyone else thought. |
May 2023
9:15pm, 21 May 2023
79,076 posts
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Diogenes
I’m only about 50 pages in, and I know reception so far is generally favourable , but I’ve just read a passage that is Dan Brown bad.
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May 2023
9:37pm, 21 May 2023
79,077 posts
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Diogenes
There’s a book by Hemingway called The Torrents Of Spring in which he pastiches a type of novel popular at the time. For me it is one of his best works. So far GH is reminding me of the books he was parodying.
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May 2023
8:03pm, 22 May 2023
61,828 posts
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LindsD
I absolutely loved this. I gave it a 9. It reminded me a bit of Great Circle and a few other books I've read recently where the author mentions what's going to happen and then moves backwards to show you how and why. I really liked all the characters, even the monstrous ones. Two tiny gripes: would have liked to know more about Paul, and although I like happy endings, was a bit irritated by the |
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May 2023
8:06pm, 22 May 2023
61,829 posts
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LindsD
What was the passage, Dio? I agree I think, Quimby. I was also a bit 'oh' when I got to the end. Wanted to know more about what happened to Olivia, also. And more of Geoffrey Bell would have been good. |
May 2023
8:37pm, 22 May 2023
6,247 posts
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quimby
Ooh, putting Great Circle on my list. I love Amelia Earhart. Thanks, LindsD.
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May 2023
8:38pm, 22 May 2023
61,833 posts
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LindsD
It's really good. I think we might have had it as a monthly choice.
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May 2023
9:36pm, 22 May 2023
79,094 posts
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Diogenes
What was the passage, Dio? It’s one about shipping, pg 47-49 |
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May 2023
9:44pm, 22 May 2023
61,835 posts
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LindsD
Thank you
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May 2023
10:13pm, 22 May 2023
22,203 posts
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Columba
Too long to quote, I suppose, Dio? (I've returned my copy to the library).
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