Name: Hotel Iris
ISBN: 9781846554032

小川洋子

Hotel Iris

Eva Ströberg

Hotel Iris - Yoko Ogawa
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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There is always something about Japanese literature that has that ethereal, dreamlike quality about the story. Is it because of they (the authors) have different imaginations? Different perspective and point of views for sure.
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I have read Ogawa’s book before - The Memory Police - and this was equally strange and somehow I like Hotel Iris better
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It’s about a 17-year old girl named Mari, who lives in a seaside small town in Japan with her mother, running a small inn together. Her days were filled mostly with chores and she had hardly any friends and social life outside the hotel, that until she met elderly man, that she became fascinated with. This man, a loner, lives in an isolated island that could only be reached by the ferry. 
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The book has all of the vibes of Nabokov’s Lolita, but in a different tone, since it’s a different place and culture. Mari, who had never had boyfriend before and never knew what a (healthy) relationship vs an elderly man who was rumoured to kill his young wife.
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Nevertheless, I was charmed by this book and Ogawa wrote so pleasantly and easy to follow, so it’s a like from me
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