Scan barcode
A review by situationnormal
The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina García
4.0
Compared to Dreaming In Cuban, another book of Garcia's that I've read, The Lady Matador's Hotel is bizarre. Garcia likes to use ghosts and elements of magical realism in her writing, but The Lady Matador's Hotel only uses this in a few sections. Instead, Garcia relies on a large cast of characters, none of which the reader gets to know too well, but all with their own agendas and their own quirks.
The characters come from many different countries, different upbringings, and different careers, and each is tied to the group by the titular hotel. Garcia does not shy away from making each character seem horrible and beautiful at the same time. Each character is both sympathetic and demented, and the writing is straightforward enough to showcase this, but lyrical enough to take away the starkness of the contrast.
I love Garcia's writing, and I was a little disappointed to reach the end of this book, although I was satisfied with the way the ending of each chapter (which was written as newspaper clippings, or television transcripts) tied each to the main story, and the way the end of the book followed this trend.
Garcia also has fun in this book playing with gender roles. The Lady Matador, herself, garners a lot of attention for her profession, which is traditionally masculine, but all of the women in the book have masculine qualities and seem more powerful than the men in their lives. The main male characters, on the other hand, are pushed around by their mothers and wives, and have a gentleness about them, including the ex-military man who is vulnerable, at least in his sleep. None of the characters, however, seems unbelievable. As every person is both "feminine" and "masculine" each of the characters in Garcia's book is, too, in a way that most authors shy away from.
The characters come from many different countries, different upbringings, and different careers, and each is tied to the group by the titular hotel. Garcia does not shy away from making each character seem horrible and beautiful at the same time. Each character is both sympathetic and demented, and the writing is straightforward enough to showcase this, but lyrical enough to take away the starkness of the contrast.
I love Garcia's writing, and I was a little disappointed to reach the end of this book, although I was satisfied with the way the ending of each chapter (which was written as newspaper clippings, or television transcripts) tied each to the main story, and the way the end of the book followed this trend.
Garcia also has fun in this book playing with gender roles. The Lady Matador, herself, garners a lot of attention for her profession, which is traditionally masculine, but all of the women in the book have masculine qualities and seem more powerful than the men in their lives. The main male characters, on the other hand, are pushed around by their mothers and wives, and have a gentleness about them, including the ex-military man who is vulnerable, at least in his sleep. None of the characters, however, seems unbelievable. As every person is both "feminine" and "masculine" each of the characters in Garcia's book is, too, in a way that most authors shy away from.