The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel: A review
What does an author do for an encore after the overflowing success of a book they have written? What did Vonnegut do after Slaughterhouse Five, his iconic masterpiece set in wartime Dresden? He produced book after book, all as good if not better than Slaughterhouse Five. He did not let the success of Slaughterhouse Five damper his creative energy. In Mandel’s case, Station Eleven, her fourth novel, was a blockbuster, translated into thirty-five languages. How could she top that success? Wasn’t Station Eleven the pinnacle of success for Mandel? It appears not. Like Vonnegut, I can see Mandel continuing to produce opus after opus without consideration of past successes. Mandel is not one to rest on her laurels. The Glass Hotel is as good if not better than Station Eleven although the comparison is difficult because The Glass Hotel is in an entirely different genre than Station Eleven. Station Eleven is a dystopian drama with a hopeful ending whereas The Glass Hotel is in a genre difficult to pinpoint. I’m not sure in what section of the bookstore this book belongs. Is it a crime drama, a thriller, a cautionary tale? It’s all of those and maybe more.
In The Glass Hotel, Mandel taunts us with her masterful foretelling just as she did in her previous novels. Mandel has the ability to take us to a peak of intensity before laying down a seemingly random insight into the future leading us into a crescendo of resolution. In this novel Mandel weaves in and out of a metaphysical world that connects her characters in a web of intrigue and of consummate dissatisfaction. Most of her characters we might consider losers. Certainly, most of them are so bent on living a comfortable life that they are willing to invest all of themselves and their life savings in a Ponzi scheme run by a charming narcissist who convinces them that their lives and money are safe with him. Of course, they are mostly oblivious to the dangers involved in the kind of investment offered to them, but frankly, most of them are willing to turn a blind eye to the possibility of danger by the promise of wealth and glory. Some are not and become complicit themselves in the Ponzi. It was hard for me to relate to any of the characters although aspects of each of their personalities have attractive qualities suggesting that they are real humans engaged in real human activity. So, in fact, I could relate to all the characters in a limited sense. Not all the characters in the book are Ponzi involved. The ones that aren’t are flawed in their own ways, but they are also on personal quests to find the peaceful life. By the end of the book we learn that all the characters, the ones that haven’t died, have adapted to their circumstances and carry on with life. I love the way Mandel grounds her characters in place yet lets them wander in and out of place, sometimes with unpleasant results, sometimes with a sense of inevitability. She includes a number of sub-plots in the development of her main plot yet they are all connected to the core of the novel and to the main characters. These sub-plots tell a rich story. I am particularly attracted to Olivia’s story. Maybe it’s because she is an artist struggling in a commercial and nasty world.
I don’t want to give away any of the delicious story of The Glass Hotel, so I have avoided mentioning specific characters and their roles in the book. I leave you to discover those for yourselves.
The Glass Hotel is a sensitive and essentially voyeuristic romp through the lives of a number of flawed characters, each with their own set of redeeming qualities, some more veiled than others. The way I judge any book I read, fiction or non-fiction is in my reluctance to put it down. I found The Glass Hotel difficult to put down. I read it well into the night, uncharacteristically for me, I can assure you of that!.
I strongly recommend The Glass Hotel. It has superb plot development, a fascinating cast of sometimes endearing, sometimes despicable characters, and it is also a cautionary tale and a lesson in caveat emptor along with an exploration into the psychology of wishful thinking. Finally, it offers hope in the resilience some people demonstrate in the face of grievous loss. Get the book. Read it.
The Glass Hotel: A Novel
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James Brydon
An admirable successor to Station Eleven.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 16, 2020Verified Purchase
Lola
Absolutely beautiful and thought-provoking!
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