The Hotel New Hampshire

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Summary: Fascinating characters but living in a debauched world.
Review: John Irving is too good of a writer to waste such fine characterizations in such a poorly thought out world. Granted there is a relationship between the Berry's and their sexual (and incestuous) miscapades. I enjoyed the wonderful manifestations of Sorrow and the ridiculousness of Suzie the Bear. Unfortunately all the characters are drawn down into a world of pornographers, lesbianism, incest and prostitution. Falls so far short of A Prayer for Owen Meany, I got to wonder if the same author wrote both.

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Summary: How unusual
Review: I was first introduced to John Irving's work my senior year in high school. I was required to read "A Prayer for Owen Meany." Naturally, I was surprised at how funny and complex the novel was, since I "had" to read it. Then I read "The Hotel New Hampshire." I found the book very funny at times, but then all of a sudden so sad and yet so very sweet. Although, I couldn't relate to the eccentric Berry family I did find peace of mind while reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read. I am now a true John Irving fan.

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Summary: Get obsessed and stay obsessed
Review: I just read this book for the second time. I read it previously, about 15 years ago. I enjoyed it at the time, but have to admit at 21 I was more impressed with Garp. A couple of years ago I read "A prayer for Owen Meany". Never have I read a better novel. I just recently read "Owen Meany for a second time. And was equally as impressed as the first time. It is, by far, my favorite novel. From the first time I read it, the biggest thing I remember about "The Hotel New Hampshire" was the line "Get obsessed and stay obsessed". It was very inspirational to me at the time. But recently (because Sorrow comes in so many forms) I felt a need for inspiration, I decided to read it again. I hardly remembered it from the first time, but have to say that "Owen Meany" may no longer be my favorite novel. It's ashame that it had to end. Thanks to John Irving, for helping me to keep passing the open windows. Dave

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Summary: Irving = Divinity
Review: I was going to compare Irving's writing to fudge, but it's more like divinity. His books are so rich that I can only consume one at a time. I read The World According to Garp a long time ago and loved it. Immediately after reading it, I attempted The Hotel New Hampshire and just couldn't get into it! At that time I thought that "Garp" was just a fluke - a great book, but I was NOT an Irving fan. A few years later (on the recommendation of a friend), I read A Prayer for Owen Meany and was mesmerized! Again, I tried to read another Irving immediately afterwards, but "Cider House Rules" was just too much, too soon. It's been five years since I read "Meany" and I just finished The Hotel New Hampshire. What a great read - I am now a confirmed Irving fan! I will not attempt to read another of his books for a few years, though. His writing is rich, sweet and all-consuming - just like divinity!

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Summary: Keep passing the open windows!
Review: This in my opinion is one of the best books I have ever read.Through the trials and tribulations of a family of extrodenary people. This novel makes you laugh cry one page after another. It is many say Irving at his very best. You travel first to pitureusqe Maine then to dreary New Hampshire then on to timely Vienna and follow a Bear Named State O maine, a Austrian named Freud (no not THE Freud) and a family of wondrful Characters.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly Irving's Best
Review: As hard as it might be to select a "best" John Irving book, this may be it. To become part of this family and live the crazy, laughable, sad life they live is truely an experience everyone should enjoy. If you enjoyed "Garp", you'll love this book

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Summary: A humorous book with many laughs
Review: The book, The Hotel New Hampshire, is one of the best I've read. His style in writing is very amusing. It's not always the situations that makes you laugh, but also his way of "putting the words". This is a book about an American family with a father who has big dreams. He wants to own a hotel. The dream comes true, in Austria. In Wienna the family meets crazy events and crazy people, and come into crazy situations. Also they have some tragedies within the family, so the book isn't just hilarious, but you feel compassion with the familymembers. It's one of many I've read with John Irving, and certainly not the last.

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Summary: One rock steady writer
Review: Irving is one of those people who can't seem to miss the mark when it comes to good solid writing. I actually bought this book at a yard sale because I liked the cover and this is one time I can definitely judge a book by its cover! I fell in love with each and every member of the Berry family and even New England in the course of reading this incredible book. I laughed out loud, wiped tears from my eyes and smiled inwardly the whole time. The only other book that had this much impact on me was a collection of short stories by the author Jackson McCrae titled "The Children's Corner." I am looking forward to reading more of Irving's works. He is the most mature, sensitive and realistic writer I have ever encountered. I get bored easily with books. If a book doesn't grab me in the first 10 pages or so, I set it aside. I carried 'The Hotel New Hampshire' with me everywhere for 3 days until I finished it then felt like old friends had moved away. This Book is a journey well worth taking and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to travel through real peoples lives

Rating:
Summary: One of Irving's Best-- And that's saying something
Review: I love the writing of John Irving, because he successfully pulls off that quality that made Shakespeare a genius: the ability to create characters who are lifelike and complicated. Irving's characters are always part of a world that is different, and simpler, than the world we see around us. Due to growing up in isolation, they develop in different ways. Yet, they seem realistic, because their oddness is a natural reaction to the unusual living circumstances.

In the Hotel New Hampshire, which I would place third on my list of Irving (behind A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules), the narrator chronicles the story of his family. The parents met at a hotel called Arbuthnot by the Sea, and there are five children: Frank, Franny, Jon (the narrator), Lily, and Egg (from oldest to youngest). The family is nourished by the dreams of the father, balanced with the abilities and genius of the various family members.

As with all his books, Irving tells us the whole story, beginning with the parents of Father and Mother, and continuing until the youngest children are in their forties. The children are kind of like the ones in "The Royal Tennenbaums," and the book actually shares a lot of themes with the popular movie.

Things they have in common:
--Both involve an incestuous relationship between an athletic brother and his beautiful sister; in both cases, the brother is the initiator
--Both involve a misfit family of brilliant children who turn to each other for understanding
--In Tennenbaums, the children become a Tennis player, a businessman, and a writer. In Hotel, the children become a weightlifter, a businessman (agent), and a writer.
--Both involve a father who is selfish, and who lives for an extended period of time in a hotel.
--Both involve one of the grown children attempting suicide.

Interesting.

Irving employs other trademark devices, including referencing classic literature (in this case, the Great Gatsby and Moby Dick). There are also odd sexual experiences, some of which are involving a group of whores who live in the Second Hotel New Hampshire in Austria.

One thing that bothered me was that one character spends a good deal of time dressed in a bear suit, and there are many instances of people mistaking her for an actual bear. This seems impossible to me.

For all the strong images in the book, the two that lingered in my mind between the two readings (which must have been a period of several years) were the image of Earl, a bear who earned a living for his trainer Freud, and the consummation of incestuous love between two of the main characters.

Rating:
Summary: Food for thought...
Review: Homosexuality, interracial relationships, and of course incest. What do all of these things have in common? The Berry Family. Narrated by the middle child, John Berry, "The Hotel New Hampshire" tells the story of a dysfunctional family that starts its story in "plain-but-good" Dairy, New Hampshire.

Their lives are filled with sorrow, joy, sex, and violence; yet through all this they are one of the most personable and intimate families that a person may ever chance to come upon. The unity and togetherness that this family portrays is quite inspirational; in spite of their obvious faults, the Berry family sets an idealistic standard for every family in America (and Vienna) in the way that they stay together during the worst times of their lives.

Overall, Irving's creation of a fictional family with real problems, real values, and real morals to be learned is nothing short than a work of genius. "You have to keep passing the open windows."