Review: The Hotel New Hampshire – John Irving
January 1, 2007 | Filed under Reviews
I’ve read a lot of Irving’s novels, but I have to say that this is by far the most morally and ethically shocking of them all. It takes a lot to shock me…but believe me, this novel shocked me! I really think that it would shock anyone though, with its heavy emphasis on rape, incest, and general lewdness. Yes, you heard me right, incest.
The narrator of the story (John) has an ongoing crush on his older sister, the rambunctious and opinionated Franny. This crush is drawn out from childhood to adulthood, with both John and Franny encouraging liaisons amongst the other in a vain attempt to deny their attraction to each other. In one of the final shocking scenes (the most morally disturbing in my view), they finally consummate their mutual lust and love for one another, in a long and drawn-out sex scene.
Rape too, plays a big part in this novel. Franny was gang-raped at the age of fifteen (orchestrated by the boy she was in love with), yet for the rest of novel, she, and those around her, simply refer to the entire episode of her life as her being ‘beaten up’. The almost horrifying thing is, she never tries to press charges for this, even when those around her encourage her to, to have justice done. To Franny, she would always simply have been ‘beaten up’, and she would forever shelve this incident away in the back of her mind.
The main plot of the novel circles around the chronicles of one family as they move from place to place, in a vain attempt to create a busy and acclaimed family hotel, which is always dubbed ‘The Hotel New Hampshire’, no matter where it’s situated, whether it be in New Hampshire, Vienna, or Maine. Like all of Irving’s novels, this novel spans the period of over twenty years, from the conception and birth of the five children, to the deaths, suicides and physical maimings of several of the family.
It isn’t a cheerful book, there are no scenes that make one laugh out loud, cry with joy, or be filled with faith and trust in humankind. Instead, one is more likely to cry with despair and renounce life altogether, if this is the type of society one can expect to find themselves in in the future. It is a thoroughly depressing and morally corrupt book…but to Irving’s credit, it is so well-written that it is hard to put down. The pros almost balance out the cons…but not quite.
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