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A review by kingdamian345
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
challenging
dark
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I just didn’t get it, I think. I’m sure there’s something very profound, but my god, definitely not worth rereading. I also think it wasn’t nearly as funny as it was meant to be. I don’t think I like a single character. Long story short, If you want to read Irving, don’t start here
Edit: two days after finishing the book I just can’t stop thinking about it. This might be a classic “all the pretty horses” situation where it just takes a while to sink in, but there are parts that I genuinely can’t stop thinking about, mostly revolving around Win Berry. I still don’t think it’s as good as Garp (or “horses”, for that matter), but I don’t think it’s a 2 star book by any means. I do think that John Irving thinks Vienna is a lot more interesting than it actually is, in both this book and Garp, those are the sections I’ll be skimming on reread
Edit: two days after finishing the book I just can’t stop thinking about it. This might be a classic “all the pretty horses” situation where it just takes a while to sink in, but there are parts that I genuinely can’t stop thinking about, mostly revolving around Win Berry. I still don’t think it’s as good as Garp (or “horses”, for that matter), but I don’t think it’s a 2 star book by any means. I do think that John Irving thinks Vienna is a lot more interesting than it actually is, in both this book and Garp, those are the sections I’ll be skimming on reread