Townhouse Books

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Hotel New Hampshire: by John Irving

A delightful absurdist tale of a family and their hotel-owning experiences in New England and Vienna. It's also occasionally tragic (sudden, unexpected deaths), occasionally creepy (sibling love affair, ewww), and bizarre (bears and Austrian terrorists). I sped through the book on an airplane and then the next day, still wrapped up in its spell. Within a few days after finishing, my fond memories started to be affected by logic but all in all, it's an excellent read.

Do not, under any circumstances however, allow yourself to watch the 1984 movie based on the book, even if it has a 6-year-old Seth Green as the youngest son. Awful, awful, awful, to the point of almost retroactively ruining the book.

My only previous Irving experience was A Prayer for Owen Meany 15 years ago. I think I will read another, and suggestions are welcomed of course. But before that, I have the end of an Updike four-book series to finish.



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4 Comments:

  • You should read Garp. Everyone should read Garp. Arp! Aaarrrr!
    I also enjoyed A Widow for One Year, but don't set aside your reading list to get to it.

    By Anna, at 7:57 PM  

  • Wait, you haven't read Garp? Get thee to a bookstore!

    By bshort, at 11:55 PM  

  • Eh, I saw the movie.

    By evt1618, at 12:34 PM  

  • That movie was a travesty. I think the director realized part way through that John Irving books are unadaptable and decided to just shoot the moon. It was awful, awful, awful.

    By Anna, at 1:29 PM  

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