Friday, July 15, 2011

A brief thought about Hotel du Lac

 
Kay Clifton also had trouble getting into Hotel du Lac.
At the risk of being the only participant in IABD who is writing a negative review, I must plunge in a with very brief description of my reactions. I just finished Hotel du Lac, my first Brookner. I was heartily disappointed especially since it won the Booker prize. I felt that it had a 1950's feel to it and I  had a difficult time identifying with the protagonist's dilemna. I also found it hard to read Edith Hope's comment that she liked men better than women and hope that that doesn't reflect Brookner's attitude. Overall, I felt that the story was simplistic and old fashioned and found it hard to believe that a sophisticated woman of the 1980's like Edith would behave and think the way that she did. The ending was also a disappointment as I couldn't understand Edith's wanting to marry Mr Neville and therefore felt that Brookner's introduction of the surprising but obvious incident that helped her to make the choice that she did was an unnecessary ploy. I would have to say that I could only give the book 2 stars.

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