Hotel (novel)

Hotel (novel)

Hotel is a 1965 novel by Arthur Hailey. It is the story of an independent New Orleans hotel, the St. Gregory, to regain profitability and avoid being assimilated into the O'Keefe chain of hotels. The St. Gregory is supposedly based on the former "Roosevelt Hotel,"which was later known as the The Fairmont Hotel New Orleans.

Characters

* Peter McDermott, manager
* Warren Trent, proprietor
* Christine Francis, secretary to Warren Trent
* Aloysius Royce, administrative assistant to Warren Trent
* Curtis O'Keefe, owner of the O'Keefe chain
* Dorothy "Dodo" Lash, O'Keefe's starlet companion
* Albert Wells, aging hotel guest
* The Duke and Duchess of Croydon, guests in the Presidential Suite
* Ogilvie, house detective
* Julius "Keycase" Milne, hotel thief
* Herbie Chandler, villainous Bell Captain

The novel was adapted into a movie in 1967, and later into a television series.

The main character is Peter McDermott, the general manager with a "past" who is trying to redeem himself. Although the lead man, he is only the first among equals as he tries to put out several fires at the same time: The Hotel's unpayable (and unrenewable) mortage is due on Friday, necessitating its sale; the Duke and Duchess of Croydon are hiding out in the hotel from their responsibility for a gruesome hit-and-run accident; a hotel thief is operating in the building; a group of teen-aged boys create a major "incident" that is aggravated by the fact that they are the sons of the local banker, car dealer, and other town notables. All of these crises are resolved, some more expeditiously than others, and mostly to Peter's satisfaction, although he has to share the spotlight with the perpetrators and others listed above.

The multiple-plot line of Hotel is handled using an interesting modular format. The story is set over a period of five weekdays, Monday through Friday, featuring several events (and "leading characters") each day. This makes for a somewhat disjointed narrative, whose redeeming features are the inherent interest of most of the subplots, and the fact that "multiple causation" is common in the real world. No "channel-surfing" is necessary because the book does it for you.

Hailey's meticulous research means that he is big on telling details, especially regarding the dark side of the hotel: Meg Yetmein, the cleaning lady, "gets hers back" by smuggling out steaks under her clothing toward the end of her shift; Tom Earlshore, the fired bartender, does much the same by "skimming" liquor. There are other, deeper, darker secrets that aren't fit to reveal to a family audience. But there is a lot of good here as well: A super-conscientious furnace man helps solve the Hotel's most important mystery, and the building's most neglected and long-suffering guest steps forward to the financial rescue of the Hotel.

A very similar book "Chowringhee" was written by the Bengali author Mani Shankar Mukherjee three years back in 1962. It was set in the Chowringhee neighbourhood in Kolkata and became an instant hit. It achieved a cult status and was later made into a film starring Uttam Kumar and Supriya Devi.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hotel Novel Restaurant La Mamma — (Аннеси,Франция) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 69, Av. De Fra …   Каталог отелей

  • Hotel (film) — Hotel is a 1967 film adaptation of the novel Hotel written by Arthur Hailey. The film stars Rod Taylor, Catherine Spaak, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Rennie, and Melvyn Douglas.PlotPeter McDermott involves himself not only in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Hotel (disambiguation) — A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short term basis.Hotel may also refer to:In music: *Hotel (band), a Power Pop band from Birmingham, Alabama circa late 70s to early 80s * Hotel (album), by Moby * Hotel (song),… …   Wikipedia

  • Hotel Rwanda — Theatrical release poster Directed by Terry George Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Hôtel Château De Castel Novel — (Варец,Франция) Категория отеля: 4 звездочный отель Адрес: Route D obj …   Каталог отелей

  • Hotel Savoy — is the name of several notable hotels, as well as various other things:Hotels*Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires *Hotel Savoy, Florence *Hotel Savoy, Jersey *Hotel Savoy, Prague *Hotel Savoy, Rome *Savoy Hotel, LondonOther*Hotel Savoy (novel) a novel by… …   Wikipedia

  • Novel — Novel …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hôtel Chelsea — Hotel Chelsea 40° 44′ 40″ N 73° 59′ 48″ W / 40.74445, 73.9968 L’Hotel Chelsea est un hôt …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hotel Excelsior — occupied number 112/113, Königgrätzer Straße (today’s Stresemannstrasse ) on Askanischen Platz in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. It was once one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in Europe but its destruction during World War II… …   Wikipedia

  • Hotel de Rambouillet — Hôtel de Rambouillet L’hôtel de Rambouillet tire son nom de Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet fille d’une Italienne du nom de Savelli et d’un diplomate français, Jean de Vivonne, marquis de Pisani (a) qui y tint un salon littéraire de …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”