دنیای هتل

Five disparate voices inhabit Ali Smiths dreamlike, mesmerising Hotel World, set in the luxurious anonymity of the Global Hotel, in an unnamed northern English city. The disembodied yet interconnected characters include Sara, a 19-year-old chambermaid who has recently died at the hotel her bereaved sister, Clare, who visits the scene of Saras death Penny, an advertising copywriter who is staying in the room opposite Lise, the Globals depressed receptionist and the homeless Else who begs on the street outside. Smiths ambitious prose explores all facets of language and its uses. Sara takes us through the moment of her exit from the world and beyond in her desperate, fading grip on words and senses she gropes to impart the meaning of her death in what she terms the lift for dishes--then comes a flash of clarity: Thats the name for it, the name for it thats it dumb waiter dumb waiter dumb waiter. Blended with hers are other voices: Pennys bland journalese and Elses obsession with metaphysical poetry. Hotel World is not an easy read: disturbing and witty by turns, with its stream-of-consciousness narrators reminiscent of Virgina Woolfs The Waves, its deceptively rambling language is underpinned by a formal construction. Exploring the big themes of love, death and millennial capitalism, it takes as its starting point Muriel Sparks Momento Mori (Remember you must die) and counteracts this axiom with a resolute Remember you must live. Ali Smiths novel is a daring, compelling, and frankly spooky read. --Catherine Taylor