Marty reviewed The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass-and-cedar palace on the northernmost …
A sprawling exploration of delusional characters
3 stars
Content warning Set against 'Station Eleven', slight spoilers for both ahead
A slow and meandering exploration of an assortment of characters' lives falling between awkward, delusional and detestable. Meandering also, unfortunately, in the worst way. Unlike Station Eleven, which used its early shifting view-points to introduce a broad range character perspectives and juxtaposed social dynamics for a relatively early narrative subversion such a thing never occurs here.
And where Station Eleven continued to ever narrow towards its ultimate strands of storytelling, reigning in its scope to keep up tension, no such attempt is made here. As a book it feels less tight, more mundane - which may indeed be the intention and part of the appeal for some.
That being said, the actual word-smithing of St. John Mandel I find continuously evocative and occasionally bleakly poetic. While I personally feel like the prose here tries to punch above its weight for poignant observations it also, at times, manages to evoke an undercurrent of rage against systematic issues over solely individual choices which is appreciated.
Ultimately, having also read Station Eleven without any prior knowledge on content or context, I would hesitate to recommend this book over it, though I recognize my strong impression of the former may have colored my expectations here.
NB The audiobook read by Dylan Moore is a treat, perhaps my preferred way of experiencing the book.