Readers Group Diary July

Hotel World by Ali Smith, Waterstones, Deansgate

Time: 11.30 -1.30, Sunday, 24th June

Setting: - The Reading Room

Coffee and pastries provided!

General Comments

This novel touched a lot of chords and generated much discussion, about both style and themes. There was, inevitably, a particular focus on bereavement and memory, the kind of inconsequential things people often do want to know, or remember after a traumatic loss, and the way in which memory can be quite random.

Despite the experimental narrative style and structure people spoke of it as a 'good read' and felt carried along by the rhythm of the voices. We unanimously found the use of voice very effective. Helen said that the novel would work brilliantly well as a radio play, though she found that the fifth section slowed her down as a reader when she wanted to speed up/feel more involved. Though the rhythm is fast here it actually has to be read slowly. She felt that this section belonged in a different place in the novel but did say that she would have to read it again. Loreto felt that the fifth section should stay where it was; and Karl said that he found the ending of it very moving and thought that this was the real end of the novel. This led to a discussion about the effectiveness of the omniscient voice in the final section. Most people preferred the sections in which there was a strong sense of the character's voice, but also agreed that it was important thematically to have a sense of life moving on after the final disappearance of the ghost who narrates the first section.

There was a brief discussion about Ali Smith as a Scottish writer and the sense of voice in the Scottish novel; contrasting particularly male and female writers; James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, WN Herbert, Jeff Torrington, Tom Leonard etc as opposed to A L Kennedy, Muriel Spark, Jackie Kay, Ali Smith. It was agreed that the women seemed to stand in a different relation to Scottishness, but no conclusions were drawn! The poetic quality of voice was favourably contrasted with that of previous Orange Prize-winner Ann Michaels, because it was felt that it was not an over-riding voice which drew attention to its own poetic style - it remained convincingly grounded in the experiences and perceptions of different characters. John singled out a passage on p.7 (Hurry up…..woooohooo I am today) as an instance of craftsmanship in which the wistful 'wispiness' of voice contrasted sharply with the concrete nature of what it was actually saying - about colour & feet etc. Hilary said that what she always admired about Ali Smith's writing was the economy and intensity of the narration.

This led to a discussion about the end of the third section, where the perspective switches from Lise to Deirdre. People unanimously found this intensely moving. Helen said that it said everything about mothering and mother-love, and Hilary pointed out that most of it was said in the three short sentences which form the penultimate paragraph on p.122. Pauline made a comparison with Jackie Kay's Trumpet at this point, but it was generally felt that the balance of emphasis was subtly different - on love itself more than loss.

Kate said that the love of the dead girl for the girl selling watches was beautifully evoked and the sense of awakening to her own sexuality very powerful. She liked the fact that it was given full value in the novel and yet treated as just a part of the life of the novel without being made a central issue.

People very much enjoyed the constant subtle shifts of tone, from poignant to humorous and disturbing. Loreto said that it worked on so many levels she would have to read it several times. Helen felt that it was very bleak in places - the sense of the ghost disintegrating and undergoing a further death was quite horrific, and for her the sense of the words disappearing was very disturbing. She noted that words created a connection to the world and to a sense of self in the novel. This led to a brief discussion about Alzheimer's and how, when the basic nouns go, you know you're in trouble. The portrayal of the ghost was interesting to most people - is this an existentialist view of the afterlife? Pauline, Loreto, Hilary and Karl felt that it was very positive about life and the overlooked aspects of life that form, as Helen said, a kind of shared consciousness. Is it a kind of anti-novel - deliberately avoiding a focus on cause and effect, the usual dramatic and plotting devices, in favour of the apparently inconsequential and overlooked? Kate said that it was more true to life, memory and grieving than novels with a traditional story, and compared it to novels by Joyce and Woolf.

Most people liked the way that different characters reflect upon and play with language. They felt that this works because it evokes the different ways in which each character is alienated from language and the world, and is not simply authorial 'cleverness'. Once or twice people were divided - some finding it less convincing that the connection between the sisters (first and fifth sections) was played out linguistically, while others found this particularly moving and effective. Helen especially liked the way in which the hotel and the metaphor of the hotel as a corporate 'global' body was worked through the narrative - that there were different levels and ways in which this could be read.

Towards the end of the discussion I passed round a sheet of paper in case people wanted to add anything they felt had been left out. Not everyone chose to do this, but the comments were as follows:-

Karl: A compulsive read - life affirming in that one must value the everyday things, but troubling because of the randomness of life.

Hilary: I personally love the way Ali uses her descriptive words so well, covering so much in such a short space and yet one can read it so easily. I have enjoyed her short stories in the past and look forward eagerly to her next novel.

Loreto: I am enjoying what I have read of this book and feel that there is a depth to be uncovered with a second reading. I love the melancholy, poetic feel.

John: I admire Hotel world more than I like it. I feel that it's the novel of a story writer; some brilliantly written stories joined together in a rather unnatural way - by symbolism rather than plot eg symbols of the world, globe, world publication, hotel world, global hotel.

Helen W: brilliant voice - couldn't fault it, but I do feel the novel suffers a bit from authorial manipulation, isn't quite as organic as I'd like it to be - probably because it's images and ideas-led. Also I do have problems with the central literary project of "deconstructing significance" since I feel that to create a novel is essentially to make an act of significance (signification?). The significances Ali Smith attempts to deny are actually made in the process of the creation of this novel - i.e. the central theme seems artificial and disingenuous.

Helen: I thought that although some of the devices were slightly heavy-handed the language was beautiful; I loved the subtle shifts and the pared down narration and would read it again for that.

In Conclusion

There was a very positive feeling about the novel - time ran out and there was still a lot more to say. People said they were glad they had read it. They were not put off by the experimental approach, and thought that while it was the least conventional of the novels nominated for the Orange Prize it was also the most thought-provoking and the one they were most likely to read more than once.