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A review by crufts
The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Electric Hotel tells the story of Claude Ballard, a French pioneer of silent films who has been "pickling himself for thirty years" in his vinegar-scented rooms at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles.
One day, a young film-history student pursuing a PhD (Martin) visits him to ask about his lost masterpiece, the film The Electric Hotel. The film was only showed once before it was taken down by technology patent lawsuits from Thomas Edison.
How did Claude arrive at that grand opening premier night, and what happened afterwards? And what was his relationship with the star of the film, Sabine Montrose? As Claude is interviewed by Martin, the past he has tried to pack away begins to unspool again, and his remembering forms the main plot of the book.
The author's use of language is impeccable. While reading, I filled two double-sided index cards with quotes of beautiful and evocative metaphors, similes, and other phrases. Emotions are described in vivid physical detail.
Dominic Smith also has a talent for spectacle, using explosions, gunfire, dramatic stunts and other eye-catching events to dramatize the personal dramas between the characters.
When it comes to describing the technical details of machines and tools used in filmmaking, the author includes just enough detail to make it feel real, but not so much that we start to get bored.
— As a nice little detail in a book about the silent film era, all dialogue is formatted like this, using em dashes rather than quotes.
— This lets you enjoy imagining the book itself as a silent film.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I'm not able to give it full marks due to a few minor and subjective flaws. Firstly, I felt that the unity and pace of the book was disrupted by the detailed asides into the lives of the side characters, such as the stuntman Chip Spalding or Claude's producer Hal Bender.
Secondly, there was a little too much extraneous detail at times when the author had already established enough of an atmosphere for a scene.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book and was keen to know what would happen as I read along. I recommend it!
One day, a young film-history student pursuing a PhD (Martin) visits him to ask about his lost masterpiece, the film The Electric Hotel. The film was only showed once before it was taken down by technology patent lawsuits from Thomas Edison.
How did Claude arrive at that grand opening premier night, and what happened afterwards? And what was his relationship with the star of the film, Sabine Montrose? As Claude is interviewed by Martin, the past he has tried to pack away begins to unspool again, and his remembering forms the main plot of the book.
The author's use of language is impeccable. While reading, I filled two double-sided index cards with quotes of beautiful and evocative metaphors, similes, and other phrases. Emotions are described in vivid physical detail.
Dominic Smith also has a talent for spectacle, using explosions, gunfire, dramatic stunts and other eye-catching events to dramatize the personal dramas between the characters.
When it comes to describing the technical details of machines and tools used in filmmaking, the author includes just enough detail to make it feel real, but not so much that we start to get bored.
— As a nice little detail in a book about the silent film era, all dialogue is formatted like this, using em dashes rather than quotes.
— This lets you enjoy imagining the book itself as a silent film.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I'm not able to give it full marks due to a few minor and subjective flaws. Firstly, I felt that the unity and pace of the book was disrupted by the detailed asides into the lives of the side characters, such as the stuntman Chip Spalding or Claude's producer Hal Bender.
Secondly, there was a little too much extraneous detail at times when the author had already established enough of an atmosphere for a scene.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book and was keen to know what would happen as I read along. I recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
Content warnings for the relationship between Claude Ballard and Sabine Montrose, and for the gory scenes of war.