The Hotel Life - Softcover

Montes, Javier

2.82

49 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8494094866 ISBN 13: 9788494094866

Publisher: Hispabooks, 2013

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Featured in Granta's The Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists issue in 2010, Javier Montes blends literary narrative and compelling intrigue to great effect in this novel. A journalist employed to review hotels for a newspaper finds himself unexpectedly playing the voyeur. One day during a check-in, he is given the wrong key and, on entering the room, still unseen by its occupants, he finds himself spying on a porn shoot. Later on that night, the film director-an elegant, enigmatic woman-tells him about the website she runs and its hallmark: hotel scenes. The kinship and attraction he feels toward her nourishes his urge for a new encounter. Following the clues on her site about upcoming scouting sessions, he pursues her through their mirrored hotel-driven lives from one possible shooting location to another. As he continues his unending quest, his daily escapades merge with nostalgic dispatches and a yearning for an unattainable object of desire. This novel confirms Javier Montes as one of the most individual voices of his generation, characterised by a wry sense of humour, a talent for ambiguity, a love of fables and masks and a firm grip on a hectic story that twists like a classic thriller and turns into a dark parable, open to any number of interpretations.

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Review:

Subtle, smart, and agile writing that shifts between different voices, to the intelligent reader s delight. El Cultural, ABC
"The wised-up narrator, a hotel reviewer, is getting through the daysand his life. Fate intervenes and he is given the wrong hotel room key. A porn movie is being filmed. He vacates, only to be later visited by the film- maker, a woman. Curiosity becomes obsession; there is a car chase and a memorable walk through a hotel kitchen. Off beat and so very cool."Eileen Battersby, "The Irish Times
"While it stretches credibility as narrative, the commentary that emerges is all the clearer for it. Montes reminds us that the ultimate pornographic fantasy is that porn should come to life and so no longer involve representation. Fantasies live by their fictitiousness, though, so the voyeur has a certain amount invested in not realizing them."Ollie Brock, "Times Literary Supplement"
"A great deal of The Hotel Life is about atmosphere, and Montes does a nice job of describing the feel of various hotelsand the narrator's downward spiral in them . . . It's quite nicely donea small story, neatly spun out and comes to a nicely disturbing conclusion, too."Michael Orthofer, "The Complete Review"
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"Subtle, smart, and agile writing that shifts between different voices, to the intelligent reader's delight."--El Cultural, ABC

"The wised-up narrator, a hotel reviewer, is getting through the days--and his life. Fate intervenes and he is given the wrong hotel room key. A porn movie is being filmed. He vacates, only to be later visited by the film- maker, a woman. Curiosity becomes obsession; there is a car chase and a memorable walk through a hotel kitchen. Off beat and so very cool."--Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
"While it stretches credibility as narrative, the commentary that emerges is all the clearer for it. Montes reminds us that the ultimate pornographic fantasy is that porn should come to life and so no longer involve representation. Fantasies live by their fictitiousness, though, so the voyeur has a certain amount invested in not realizing them."--Ollie Brock, Times Literary Supplement
"A great deal of The Hotel Life is about atmosphere, and Montes does a nice job of describing the feel of various hotels--and the narrator's downward spiral in them . . . It's quite nicely done--a small story, neatly spun out--and comes to a nicely disturbing conclusion, too."--Michael Orthofer, The Complete Review

About the Author:

Javier Montes was awarded the Jose Maria de Pereda award for his first novel, "Los Penultimos" (The Penultimate), which he followed with "Segunda Parte" (Second Part). Along with Andres Barba he won the Anagrama de Ensayo award for "La Ceremonia del Porno" (Porn Ceremony), and was also one of the co-creators of "After Henry James." In 2010, Granta included him on their list of the best young authors currently writing in Spanish, and his stories have appeared in numerous collections including "Puros Cuentos" (Telling Tales) and "Life in Cities. An Anthology of European Contemporary Writers." He is a regular contributor to publications including ABC, El Pais, Letras Libres, Revista de Libros, Granta UK, Revista de Occidente, Letra Internacional and Arquitectura Viva, and has curated a number of exhibitions, including "Beckett Films" at the CAAC in 2011. Montes has also been a lecturer in Art History at the Spanish College in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea).

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