The Glass Hotel

I liked everything about The Glass Hotel. Very easy to read and you just don’t want to put it down. Complex and multidimensional characters. Fascinating reading about Ponzi schemes and their impact on people and the ease with which people can be corrupted. And a great ending. Loved this book and highly recommend it for a really good read.

Good read and well written and whilst not as good as sea of tranquility or station 11 Its a great book from a brilliant author.

Interesting but muddled. Very difficult to keep hold of all the characters and,in the end, to care much about them

I enjoyed this book for the story and the sheer exquisiteness and unique talent of its writing. It's got that reflective and deep quality without being obnoxious and whilst remaining very readable. Read this on holiday or while you are in a low phase and it will float you away.

Read this before sea of tranquility although not essential. EMSM is an excellent story teller - a real page turner: far fetched in some parts but always engrossing with well fleshed out characters.

And now working my way through her catalogue which is also fantastic

St John Mandel writes such beautiful, flowing prose that reading her work is always a pleasure. Her latest novel is cleverly structured and gripping, but alas it’s insubstantial. None of the characters are particularly convincing or interesting and I suspect that I shall have forgotten the book before long. There are some implausibilities too. That said, it bounces along and is fun while it lasts, and one shouldn’t ask for more.

Emily St John Mandel’s last novel was the excellent Station Eleven, which completely enthralled me after I picked up by chance while on holiday. I have, therefore, been eagerly awaiting her next novel, although there is always the associated worry that the new one might not match up to my high expectations. Well, there were no issues on that front. It may have been six years since Station Eleven was published, but it was well worth the wait.I had been struck by the fact that while her previous four novels had all seemed very good, they were also markedly different from each other, as if she is determined to defy genre. That applies equally to the Glass Hotel which combines a number of different themes, and crosses several genres.The principal character is Vincent, a young woman whom (apart from a very brief opening chapter) we first encounter as a troubled teenager in the early 1990s. Her mother had disappeared, presumed drowned in the seas off Vancouver Island. We also meet Paul, her older half-brother, who has his own challenges, principally in the form of substance abuse.The story follows Paul as he studies finance at the University of Toronto (although really, he just wants to write and play music). After a disastrous encounter with a rock band that is on the cusp of breaking through, Paul almost becomes a recluse, but hooks up again with Vincent and her best friend Melissa to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium.Five years later, Vincent is established as a bar attendant in a luxurious hotel on the remote island in British Columbia where she had grown up. Paul, following one of his periods of detox and rehab, has just returned there, and is also working at the hotel. Late one night, one of the few guests is suffering insomnia, and spends most of the night in the bar, sitting by the Hotel’s signature picture window. Having briefly left his seat, he returns to find that someone has written a threatening message on the glass. It soon becomes apparent that the ‘someone’ is Paul, and his employment there ends that night.Vincent’s own employment at the hotel ends a couple of nights later when she leaves in company with a wealthy guest, who is, as it happens, its owner. He is head of a successful finance house, and within weeks, they are living together as husband and wife. Vincent does her best to fit in with life in the exalted circles in which she now moves, but never relinquishes her grasp on the realities of life. That is just as well, because within a few years that new lifestyle will come to an end in the most dramatic manner.The characters are all finely drawn, and very plausible, with their respective emotions (and especially their resentments against each other) being completely convincing. As always with her books, there is a very cleverly managed interlacing of storylines. What goes around definitely seems to come around, but this does not hamper the reader’s complete acceptance of the story.This book might not be quite as spectacular in its impact as Station Eleven, but it is just as powerful and haunting.

"Glass Hotel" by Emily St. John Mandel is an extraordinary novel that skillfully weaves together themes of illusion, deception, and the fragility of human connections. From the very first page, Mandel captivates the reader with her exquisite prose and masterful storytelling.One of the standout features of this novel is the seamless way in which Mandel navigates through different timelines and locations. Her narrative effortlessly transitions between the remote wilderness of Vancouver Island, the bustling streets of Manhattan, and the eerie, surreal setting of a luxury hotel. This fluid movement not only enhances the story's richness but also adds depth to the characters' experiences and emotions, making the reader feel intimately connected to their journeys.The character development in "Glass Hotel" is truly remarkable. Mandel has a rare talent for creating complex, multifaceted characters who are both deeply flawed and profoundly human. Vincent, the enigmatic bartender turned trophy wife, is a particularly compelling protagonist. Her evolution throughout the novel is handled with great sensitivity and insight, making her both relatable and unforgettable. Likewise, Jonathan Alkaitis, the financier whose Ponzi scheme sets the plot in motion, is portrayed with a nuanced blend of charisma and moral ambiguity.Each character's arc is intricately linked with the central themes of the novel, and Mandel's exploration of their inner lives is both poignant and thought-provoking. The secondary characters, too, are vividly drawn and contribute significantly to the novel's immersive quality."Glass Hotel" is a testament to Emily St. John Mandel's extraordinary ability to craft a narrative that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant. Her deft handling of time and place, combined with her deep empathy for her characters, makes this novel a compelling and unforgettable read. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates literary fiction at its finest.

Tenía expectativas altas después de ver la serie de tv Station Eleven, que me pareció excelente. Antes de eso no conocía a la autora. Esta novela, aunque la historia me pareció menos interesante que Station Eleven, no me decepcionó en absoluto.

Loved the book! Emily has become one f my fav writers after Station 11

Li o best seller Station eleven, que adorei, mas não gostei deste. Esperava algo diferente. Ou vc vai adorar ou vai detestar.

Station eleven is one of my favourite books of all time. But this one just never quite grabbed me.No one writes like Emily St. John Mandel. That's why I pre-order this book as soon as I could. But I'm immensely unsatisfied with this book.Perhaps my expectations were too high. The characters were confused and lonely, and the story was a series of vignettes and memories of struggles and ghosts. But, the characters didn't seem real to me…This is a simple story made too complex in an effort to have everyone's lives overlap. Mandel has shown that each character's actions are the result of the actions of someone else. Everyone's story intersects through a Ponzi scheme and the story jumps back and forth in time to explore lives prior to and after the collapse of the scheme.I feel like I missed the point… Every time we got close to something interesting on the plot, the narrative would move away to something mundane and the time jumps seamed to brush over important moments…The writing on the glass window; why was everyone so upset about it? I don't get it…