Hotel du Lac......what a find !

15 years ago

HOTEL du LAC by Anita Brookner........what a find.

While reading the thread on books you are enjoying this month I discovered this gem.

Having never heard of it, I quickly did a search and decided to get a copy.

I am now half way through it and am thoroughly enjoying it.

What a gifted writer Ms. Brookner is.

She certainly is an amazing wordsmith and I have to admit retreating to a dictionary for many words she used!

Thank you RP for being such a great resource.

First the MAISIE DOBBS series, now this.

My bookshelf runneth over !

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Comments (14)

kathy_t
15 years ago
That's quite an endorsement! If you weren't a long-time RPer, I'd have to suspect you were a relative of the author. ;^) It's good to see someone finding such enjoyment in a book, yoyobon. It's what we're all seeking. I will most definitely be checking on this title. -- Kathy
dido1
15 years ago
Anita Brookner was hot property about 20 or so years ago. She was very popular and, for Hotel du Lac, I think she won the Booker Prize (when it was simply the 'Booker').

Dido
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lemonhead101
15 years ago
Oh, I am so happy that someone else loved Hotel du Lac like I do... I read it ages ago, and reread it every so often, and the magic is still there...

She has lots of other books out there, but this one is my ultimate favorite Brookner...
yoyobon_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Lemonhead.....if you were to suggest the next best Brookner novel, which one would it be?

I've finished Hotel and really enjoyed it.
However, next time I am going to keep a pad of paper next to me and jot down all the words she chooses to use which I find unusual.
This book was loaded with them !
veer
15 years ago
yoyo, I don't want to put you off and yes, Hotel du Lac was considered very good. It is just that many of her books follow the same theme. Rather colourless spinster of a certain age, with a dull job, who goes abroad (eg S of France) floats about, possibly meets an unsuitable man . . . comes home, wiser but sadder.
sheriz6
15 years ago
Hotel du Lac has been sitting in my TBR pile for ages, perhaps it's time to move it up to the bedside table!
yoyobon_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Veer....I value your input very much.
As I read reviews of her other books I had the same feeling that they were all similar.

If I were to want to read just one more, which one would you suggest?
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Actually, Vee has a very good point bc a lot of Brookner's stories *are* like as she describes... I know I have completed other Brookner novels, but heck if I can remember them. I do know that Hotel du Lac is my favorite, but that might be because I live in a semi-arid environment and that book is set by a rainy lake (not very common around here)... :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Anita Brookner Wikipedia link (incl. books)
annpan
15 years ago
Martin recommended this book when I mentioned that I never read any of the Bookers. So it is on my Rountuit list.

Question... What is a Rountuit?
Answer... When I get around to it!

Why haven't you posted recently, Martin? Are you building another bookcase?
vickitg
15 years ago
I, too, have been wondering where Martin has been.
mariannese
15 years ago
I found only one Anita Brookner among my books, A start in life. I suppose that I have read it but can't remember any of it. The opening sentence: "Dr Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature". Sounds very much as if it will continue on the lines vee describes. I must re-read it to find out.
martin_z
15 years ago
>wavesHi there. Been busy, and also rebuilt my computers. So I had some login problems again, which I've just managed to sort out.

Hotel du Lac did indeed win the Booker; a lovely understated novel which saw off Empire of the Sun by J G Ballard and Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes, among others.

You may be interested to know that there is a very fine TV dramatization of the book, starring Anna Massey. Unfortunately, it's only available in the UK, it seems.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hotel du Lac
yoyobon_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Martin !
I checked Amazon.com here and the VHS and the DVD are both available. However the DVD states "region 2"....is that the US???
( pardon my lack of knowledge about this ...)
Amazon lists it up there with other choices such as A MONTH BY THE LAKE and MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA.

It would be enjoyable to watch.
martin_z
15 years ago
Region 2 is UK and Europe.

Region 1 is the US.

Some players (like mine) are multiregion, or can be hacked to be multiregion.

Hotel du Lac......what a find !

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