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Marchpane's Reviews > The Glass Hotel
The Glass Hotel
by
by
You may be wondering if
The Glass Hotel
is anything like Emily St John Mandel’s previous novel Station Eleven? The answer is no. AND yes.
Don’t get me wrong, The Glass Hotel is a very different kind of book. Its setting is realistic, not speculative. In place of Station Eleven’s focus on art (Shakespeare, music, comics) there is filthy lucre – specifically a Ponzi scheme bearing a striking resemblance to Bernie Madoff’s massive fraud. The romanticism of Station Eleven – its starlit gauziness and heady atmosphere, beauty seen in a wildflower by the side of a highway clogged with rusted automobile carcasses – is dialled down here. Mandel’s writing is as evocative as ever, but her emphasis has shifted. In this novel full of morally questionable individuals, there aren’t as many pinpricks of light.
And yet common threads do emerge. Both books have a diffuse cast of characters; both narratives skip forwards and backwards, orbiting a central catastrophic worldwide event that forever bisects life into a before and an after. Station Eleven’s was a flu pandemic, The Glass Hotel’s is the 2008 financial crisis, which triggers the Ponzi scheme’s collapse. In both, the fallout from the singular event claims lives, and those that do survive are set to wandering.
There are more direct links too. Characters from the earlier book reappear here, and the idea of parallel universes – first raised in Station Eleven when characters imagine “a universe in which civilization hadn’t been so brutally interrupted” – also recurs. Mandel ties this to her theme of regret: the characters’ rueful ‘if only’ thinking manifests as reverberations between alternate realities, the ghost versions of lives that might have been, had they made different choices.
It’s as if Station Eleven – which had the feeling of a dream all along – is Oz and The Glass Hotel is Kansas. From parallel worlds arise parallel tales, different tonally but at heart, similar compositions. Mandel’s sensitive characterisations, meticulous layers, and musings on loss, regret and the frangibility of life are all here. It’s just a little less magical. 4 stars.
Don’t get me wrong, The Glass Hotel is a very different kind of book. Its setting is realistic, not speculative. In place of Station Eleven’s focus on art (Shakespeare, music, comics) there is filthy lucre – specifically a Ponzi scheme bearing a striking resemblance to Bernie Madoff’s massive fraud. The romanticism of Station Eleven – its starlit gauziness and heady atmosphere, beauty seen in a wildflower by the side of a highway clogged with rusted automobile carcasses – is dialled down here. Mandel’s writing is as evocative as ever, but her emphasis has shifted. In this novel full of morally questionable individuals, there aren’t as many pinpricks of light.
And yet common threads do emerge. Both books have a diffuse cast of characters; both narratives skip forwards and backwards, orbiting a central catastrophic worldwide event that forever bisects life into a before and an after. Station Eleven’s was a flu pandemic, The Glass Hotel’s is the 2008 financial crisis, which triggers the Ponzi scheme’s collapse. In both, the fallout from the singular event claims lives, and those that do survive are set to wandering.
There are more direct links too. Characters from the earlier book reappear here, and the idea of parallel universes – first raised in Station Eleven when characters imagine “a universe in which civilization hadn’t been so brutally interrupted” – also recurs. Mandel ties this to her theme of regret: the characters’ rueful ‘if only’ thinking manifests as reverberations between alternate realities, the ghost versions of lives that might have been, had they made different choices.
It’s as if Station Eleven – which had the feeling of a dream all along – is Oz and The Glass Hotel is Kansas. From parallel worlds arise parallel tales, different tonally but at heart, similar compositions. Mandel’s sensitive characterisations, meticulous layers, and musings on loss, regret and the frangibility of life are all here. It’s just a little less magical. 4 stars.
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Reading Progress
July 9, 2018
– Shelved
July 9, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 8, 2019
– Shelved as:
2020-releases
October 28, 2019
–
Started Reading
October 31, 2019
–
40.0%
November 3, 2019
–
80.0%
November 7, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 62 (62 new)
message 1:
by
Tammy
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Nov 06, 2019 05:23AM
Excellent, Marchpane. I need to review this. I liked it a bit better than you did but I haven’t read Station. I enjoyed your comparisons and contrasts between the two
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It’s as if Station Eleven – which had the feeling of a dream all along – is Oz and The Glass Hotel is Kansas.
"Oz" as in the informal reference to Australia or the realm of the Red Queen? 🤔
"Oz" as in the informal reference to Australia or the realm of the Red Queen? 🤔
"It’s as if Station Eleven – which had the feeling of a dream all along – is Oz and The Glass Hotel is Kansas."
Going by the comparison of TGH to Kansas, my guess is Marchpane refers to the Oz of "The Wizard of Oz."
Going by the comparison of TGH to Kansas, my guess is Marchpane refers to the Oz of "The Wizard of Oz."
Tammy wrote: "Excellent, Marchpane. I need to review this. I liked it a bit better than you did but I haven’t read Station. I enjoyed your comparisons and contrasts between the two"
Thanks Tammy. I really enjoyed it a lot - maybe should have gone with 4.5 stars? Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it too.
It will be interesting to see how the reviews fall between people who have/haven't read SE.
Thanks Tammy. I really enjoyed it a lot - maybe should have gone with 4.5 stars? Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it too.
It will be interesting to see how the reviews fall between people who have/haven't read SE.
Caroline wrote: "Going by the comparison of TGH to Kansas, my guess is Marchpane refers to the Oz of "The Wizard of Oz..."
Exactly! Land of the Wicked Witch, not the Red Queen :)
Exactly! Land of the Wicked Witch, not the Red Queen :)
Marchpane wrote: "...Exactly! Land of the Wicked Witch, not the Red Queen :)"
My grasp of all things Ozian is tenuous. 🤓
My grasp of all things Ozian is tenuous. 🤓
Marchpane, very interesting review. You may enjoy any of Emily St. John Mandel's pre-Station Eleven novels. They're written on small scales, each centering on one or two oddball characters in oddball situations. I enjoyed them all immensely. Although I thought that Station Eleven was an excellent departure for Mandel, I do hope that she returns at some time to her earlier smaller scale plots.
Thanks Dan, I'm definitely keen to check out Mandel's earlier works. In the two I've read, she has a way of zooming in to focus on smaller stories within the larger sweep. "Oddball characters in oddball situations" sounds pretty good to me!
Fabulous and motivating review.
I was a disappointed reader of Station Eleven—admiring but not enthralled as the hordes of true fans. Since I may be more Kansas than Oz (I love your metaphor), I feel ready to get into this one.
I was a disappointed reader of Station Eleven—admiring but not enthralled as the hordes of true fans. Since I may be more Kansas than Oz (I love your metaphor), I feel ready to get into this one.
Michael wrote: "Great review. I guess I’ll read Station Eleven first though"
Thanks Michael - I think that's optional but it is also the way I chose to do it, and I have no regrets. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks Michael - I think that's optional but it is also the way I chose to do it, and I have no regrets. Hope you enjoy!
Deanna wrote: "Fabulous and motivating review.
I was a disappointed reader of Station Eleven—admiring but not enthralled as the hordes of true fans. Since I may be more Kansas than Oz (I love your metaphor), I ..."
If you enjoyed the writing style then you may get along better with this. I am becoming more Kansas as I age I think!
I was a disappointed reader of Station Eleven—admiring but not enthralled as the hordes of true fans. Since I may be more Kansas than Oz (I love your metaphor), I ..."
If you enjoyed the writing style then you may get along better with this. I am becoming more Kansas as I age I think!
Nathan wrote: "I thought this book isn't out yet, how have you read it?"
Hi Nathan, I received an advance copy from the publisher.
Hi Nathan, I received an advance copy from the publisher.
It sounds more like her work prior to Station Eleven. In those works, what she lacked in story she made up for with beatiful language.
Astute and lovely review. Time to send a few to The NY Times magazine or something at that level and see if they'll supplement your income. Seriously.
Do not do that survey that Deepen provided above. It’s a scammy marketing ploy to trick you into allowing to receive direct marketing phone calls and messages from sellers.
I just finished the book and I think it’s a beautiful work of art. Who are the crossover characters with Station Eleven? It’s been a while since I read that one and I don’t remember.
Hi David! I know people like spotting these things for themselves, so I'll put this under a spoiler tag:
(view spoiler)
There may be more crossovers that I've since forgotten as I read this nearly six months ago now.
(view spoiler)
There may be more crossovers that I've since forgotten as I read this nearly six months ago now.
I love your review, especially the Oz-Kansas comparison. Somehow Station Eleven has a kind of magical realism vibe to it, even thought it definitely isn’t a magical realism novel. This doesn’t have that, but it does have all the other elements that make Emily’s writing great.
I would not stand Station Eleven and had to put it away to not waste more time. Can i expect something different from this?
Thank you for this review. I really didn’t know what I thought when I finished the book and this helped me clarify my muddy thinking on this book.
Hi Hanan, if you mean my comment at Message 28 above, I think you may need to view it via the Goodreads website (not the app) to see behind the spoiler tag.
Great review. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, not least, because of the Canadian content. I was confused by who was talking in the first person at the end of the book when the scandal is revealed. Anyone know who that was?
Hi J. Do you mean Chapter 10 - "The Office Chorus"? If so, I think the answer is there in the chapter heading: the first person 'we' is meant to represent all of Alkaitis' employees, speaking as a collective. It's not any character in particular.
Another excellent review Marchpane! I recently enjoyed Station 11 and I love the idea of sliding door or parallel lives so I'll pick this one up now, sooner than later.
Yes! I read “Station Eleven” years ago & remember little other than loving it. Is Miranda from “The Glass Hotel” the comics author/shipping exec in “Station Eleven”? When she appeared in the book I had a blip of deja vu...
Iris wrote: "Yes! I read “Station Eleven” years ago & remember little other than loving it. Is Miranda from “The Glass Hotel” the comics author/shipping exec in “Station Eleven”? When she appeared in the book I..."
Oh wow! I think you're right! I'm just reading this now, was feeling a bit confused about that bit.
Ty :D
Oh wow! I think you're right! I'm just reading this now, was feeling a bit confused about that bit.
Ty :D