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n_a001's review
It was really boring honestly, I might start it again another time in life
sireno8's review
2.0
An interesting premise for a novel that didn't work for me. Some of White's imagery is wonderful and he keeps his usually ornate style in check. I also liked his thumbnail sketches of the various literary lions who are Crane's contemporaries. The tone of it is also accessible and appealling. However, the novel's constantly shifting focus made the stories difficult to follow because the points of view are too similar. The attempt to imitate Crane's style felt contemporary and false and all period jargon felt really "explained". Any kind of conflict was inside the characters and not between them. But at the base of it, I just didn't get the appeal of the boy who seems to bring out pity and/or lust in everyone he meets - in spite of having syphillis and bad teeth.
ruthiella's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I actually had two copies of this book and I don’t know why. It was OK. The novel is a book within a book with the dying American author, Stephen Crane, dictating his would-be final novel to his lover. The novel is supposed to be a companion to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, only it is about a boy prostitute and a tragic love affair he has with a married man. The story is based possibly on Crane’s real life encounter with such a person.
I don’t know anything about Stephen Crane and this book didn’t even make me curious about reading his works. I generally don’t like literary ventriloquism or historical fiction with historical personages as main characters. There was some interesting writing about NYC at the turn of the 20th century which I did appreciate.
I don’t know anything about Stephen Crane and this book didn’t even make me curious about reading his works. I generally don’t like literary ventriloquism or historical fiction with historical personages as main characters. There was some interesting writing about NYC at the turn of the 20th century which I did appreciate.
ladyhighwayman's review
4.0
Hotel de Dream is a fictional novel about real life author Stephen Crane. Told during his last days, Crane starts dictating a story he's always wanted to tell: The Painted Boy. Based on an actual painted boy he met a few years earlier, it's the story of a boy and a married man who's obsessed with him.
The story is told from Crane's point-of-view as he lay dying, sometimes reflecting back to the time when he knew the boy; it is also told from the point-of-view of Crane's 'sort of' wife Cora. And then, of course, we get to read the story that Crane dictates to Cora. So, Hotel de Dream is a story within a story, and I loved that.
The ending blew me away. Or, I should say, both endings blew me away. If you know what happened to Crane, then you can probably figure this isn't a happy book. However, it wasn't Crane's death that made it sad, it's what happened after, to his story. I almost felt sick when I read it.
Of course, The Painted Boy was never a real story, but it felt like it was. It was more compelling than the 'real' story.
Hotel de Dream is a fantastic piece of historical fiction that I just stumbled across. I never heard of it before, but once I read the synopsis, I knew I absolutely had to read it. It was beautifully written, and while it felt a bit stuffy at some points, I knew it was worth it. And it was.
The story is told from Crane's point-of-view as he lay dying, sometimes reflecting back to the time when he knew the boy; it is also told from the point-of-view of Crane's 'sort of' wife Cora. And then, of course, we get to read the story that Crane dictates to Cora. So, Hotel de Dream is a story within a story, and I loved that.
The ending blew me away. Or, I should say, both endings blew me away. If you know what happened to Crane, then you can probably figure this isn't a happy book. However, it wasn't Crane's death that made it sad, it's what happened after, to his story. I almost felt sick when I read it.
Of course, The Painted Boy was never a real story, but it felt like it was. It was more compelling than the 'real' story.
Hotel de Dream is a fantastic piece of historical fiction that I just stumbled across. I never heard of it before, but once I read the synopsis, I knew I absolutely had to read it. It was beautifully written, and while it felt a bit stuffy at some points, I knew it was worth it. And it was.
invertible_hulk's review
5.0
Out in paperback: 10/14/2008!
After the near-atrocity that was 2007's Chaos collection, White returns with a fantastic novel: a novel that shows he might be through with trying to prove his (quickly waining) relevance to gay fiction, and instead embracing his age and his status of a (albeit, unknown) literary icon.
Hotel de Dream runs with the myth that Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage -- once wrote a short story based on an (non-sexual) experience he had had with a teenage male prostitute, as a sort of companion piece to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets; he supposedly presented this story to a friend of his, and was told 'this is the best material you've ever written; and if you don't destroy it now, you will never have a career', and thus he threw his story into the fire. White expounds on this concept -- giving voices to Crane, Crane's wife, the boy whore, and a married man who is in love with the boy. Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and a few other historic icons pop in from time to time as well.
This is one of the best novels White has produced in nearly a decade.
After the near-atrocity that was 2007's Chaos collection, White returns with a fantastic novel: a novel that shows he might be through with trying to prove his (quickly waining) relevance to gay fiction, and instead embracing his age and his status of a (albeit, unknown) literary icon.
Hotel de Dream runs with the myth that Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage -- once wrote a short story based on an (non-sexual) experience he had had with a teenage male prostitute, as a sort of companion piece to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets; he supposedly presented this story to a friend of his, and was told 'this is the best material you've ever written; and if you don't destroy it now, you will never have a career', and thus he threw his story into the fire. White expounds on this concept -- giving voices to Crane, Crane's wife, the boy whore, and a married man who is in love with the boy. Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and a few other historic icons pop in from time to time as well.
This is one of the best novels White has produced in nearly a decade.
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