Hotel World

Infobox Book |
name = Hotel World


image_caption =
author = Ali Smith
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
genre = Modernist novel
publisher = Anchor Books
pub_date = 15 January 2002
media_type = Print (Paperback
pages = 256 pp (first edition, paperback)
isbn = ISBN 0385722109 (first edition, paperback)

"Hotel World" is an extremely difficult modernist novel by Ali Smith portraying the stages of grief in relation to the passage of time. Ali Smith born in Inverness Scottland now living in Cambridge England, is the winner of both the Scottish Arts Council Book Award (2001) and the Encore Award (2002).

Plot introduction

There are five characters, two relatives, three strangers, but all female. There is a homeless girl, a hotel receptionist, a hotel critique, the ghost of a hotel chambermaid, and the ghost’s sister. These women tell a story. And it is through this story that unbeknowest to them their lives and fate intersect, the catalyst to their story: the Global Hotel.

Explanation of the novel's title

The title of Ali Smith’s novel Hotel World acts as a metaphor for life’s passage of time and the moments which escape us all too quickly. A hotel everyday, every hour, every moment is checking in a new guest or “life” just as quickly as one is checking out. In titling her novel Hotel World, Smith not only gives reference to the homogeneity imposed on society through hotel corporations, but as well emphasizes an impermanent or indefinite state in life. The question then arises of what life would be if we were mere observers, watching countless lives check in and out of this same predetermined world, this hotel world. Does the presence or absence of those we love then shape the moments that mold our world?

Plot summary

Hotel World is divided into five sections. The first section, “Past” tells the story of Sara Wilby's (the hotel chambermaid) ghost. Once dead, Sara’s soul and body become separate. The soul remembers nothing; the memories deteriorate as it speaks. Roaming the earth, the soul tries to find out exactly how long her deathly fall took. The physical body recalls moments and memories of her life and death, but feeling bitter and depressed does not like to talk about it. The soul convinces the body to tell the story of Sara’s life, their life. Sara was one of two daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Wilby, who are referenced little in the novel. She had a younger sister, Clare. Sara was a swimmer and had won many metals. She worked at Global Hotel as a chambermaid and accidentally fell to her death in the hotel’s dumbwaiter. She fell in love with a girl in a watch shop where she took her watch to get fixed. She watched the girl from outside the shop several times before her death, but never developed the courage to talk to her. Her parents and sister never found out she was gay.

The second part, "Present Historic", is about a homeless girl begging for money outside the Global Hotel. She sits there every day and is seen by the thousands of people that go by, but still remains unnoticed. Her name is Elsepeth, but is mostly referred to as Else. Else keeps an eye on another younger homeless girl who sits across from her and waits for the right moment to take her money. Else talks about random memories that come to mind, mainly from her youth. We learn she had or has a boyfriend named Ade whom she was or is in love with. However, she defines love as being only sexual intimacy. We also learn she was abused at the age of fourteen by an older man, a friend of her mother’s, Mr. Whitelaw. It is in this section that, Lise, the hotel receptionist, offers her a stay for one night at Global Hotel free of charge, “no strings” attached (57). Else is hesitant but finally accepts and stays at the hotel. She takes a bath and enjoys the privacy of her own room. Uncomfortable in that environment, she leaves the room that same night.

The “Future Conditional”, the third section of the novel, is about the hotel receptionist, Lise. She talks of a form she is filling out and how the form asks questions about herself. She says that if she could sit up and find a pencil “she would” (119) write “I am a sick person.” (91) Nonetheless, she never really gets around to filling out the form because her unnamed disease seems to weaken her body and extract all energy and self will. She wants to remember and tell a story about when she worked at the Global Hotel, but cannot seem to recall. The story is told but remains “unremembered” (119) in Lise’s memory. She describes a day at work in the hotel. How she sat in reception and watched the clock on her computer change minute to minute. How she let the homeless girl sleep in one of the vacant rooms in the hotel and risked getting fired. How she saw Duncan, the elevator boy, walk with his head down and not say a word to anyone. How all the hotel staff “discuss how it must have been like to be there. They discuss suicide. They discuss love. They implicate Duncan.” (106) Duncan had been the only one present during Sara Wilby’s accident. When the “unremembered” story finishes, Lise is asleep. Her mother Deidre walks in and watches her daughter sleep. Deidre seems sad and concerned for her ill daughter. She loves Lise, and for the first time in the novel, relates love with genuine affection and care for an individual’s well being rather than sexual intercourse.

The fourth part is “Perfect” with its far from perfect character Penny. Penny is the first customers we meet, who actually pays for a night at the Global Hotel. She is a hotel critique and is expected to spend the night in the hotel in order to write a review on it. However, she ends up spending very little time in the hotel. Instead, the night of her stay, she walks around the project areas with Else. Through her dialogue and thoughts we find Penny to be a superficial hypocrit. Penny spends so much time speaking with Else and engaged in meaningful conversatios. when Penny decides to go back to the hotel, she asks Else, knowing she was homeless and poor, for money to take a cab. The section ends with Penny writing her review of the Global Hotel. After spending alomost no time in her hotel room, Penny hypocritically writes "World Perfect awards the Global Chain nine out of ten. Effortless style and an efortless visit. A superior stay." (181)

The fifth section of the novel titled “Future in the Past,” is entirely Clare’s memories on the life and death of her sister Sara. The entire section is one complete sentence. It is Clare’s stream of consciousness connected with moments in which she speaks to her dead sister. She remembers how Sara used to care for her as a little girl. How Sara was an excellent swimmer but came short .49 sec to make it to the next level. She pondered on exactly how long Sara’s fall was. She spoke of the way her father wanted to erase all memory of Sara, while all she wanted was to conserve everything reminiscent of Sara. The section demonstrates Clare’s love for her sister, showing how much she misses her. In this section Clare deals with her grief by upholding and praising Sara’s life rather than focusing on her actual death and the fact that she is no longer present.

“Present” is the title of the last part of the novel. Here, though it is not certain, Sara’s soul is speaking once again. She speaks of several ghosts such as the ghost of Mrs. M Reid the ghost of Diana princess of Whales, the ghost of Dusty Springfield, popular singer of the 1960’s, and others. She then goes on to describe the activities of several people she currently observes, such as woman to large to fit in the swimming pool cubicle, and the girl from the watch shop who now wears Sara’s watch on her own wrist and plans on calling her one day. She contrasts the dead with the living as to encourage people to take full advantage of life while they still have it. Unlike the first section where she thirsts for a breath of life, in this closing section she seems content in accepting her death.

Characters in "Hotel World"

Hotel World is told from the perspective of five different women who as fate would have it cross paths and in doing so affect each other’s lives through moments spent together. Each character is unique in that they each signify a different stage of the grieving process, a theme prevalent throughout the entire novel.

Sara Wilby – a teenage hotel chambermaid who has fallen to her death in a hotel elevator shaft. She is the daughter to her parents Mr. and Mrs. Wilby, and also older sister to Claire. In the first section of the novel the reader is presented with thoughts from the dead physical body of Sara and as well thoughts from Sara’s soul. It is Sara’s soul that desperately longs to feel, to remember, to live again. It is these longings that convey a sense of Sara’s soul’s denial that her life is over and that these little moments of life she yearns for cannot simply be relived. The dead physical body of Sara, unlike the soul does possess memory of her life, however wants nothing more than to be done living. The thoughts from Sara’s physical body convey sentiments of isolation, another part in the first stage of the grieving process.

Elspeth Freeman – an older homeless woman suffering from tuberculosis, she daily sits on the streets begging the people passing by to “spare some change.” When first introduced to the reader, Elspeth is referred to only as Else. In giving a homeless woman this name a comment is made about society’s view on the homeless. The implication is that society sees homeless people as just something “else,” they are just someone “else,” a part of the world not worth anyone’s time, consideration, or compassion. The character of Else suffered from sexual abuse by an older wealthy man of the name Mr. Whitelaw when she was just 14. That experience defines how she knows the feelings associated with love and also built up a growing anger within her. This anger affects her self view, world view and influences her thoughts of unworthiness. These are especially evident when she receives the opportunity to spend the night in the Global Hotel. The character of Else signifies anger, the second stage in the grieving process.

Lise – a receptionist for the Global Hotel, Lise was responsible for inviting Else, the homeless woman, to spend a night there. She as well was present at the hotel the day of Sara Wilby’s death. When introduced in the novel Lise is filling out some type of emotional survey as to describe her feelings and personality. However Lise’s memories escape her, she is not well, and it is as though Lise’s mind and body are deteriorating as the moments pass. Lise’s current state mirrors that of someone suffering from post trauma depression. Although technically still alive and breathing, Lise seems to have given up on living. In doing so she has lost her grasp of reality and the memories that have filled her life. While her mother, Diedre attempts to reinvigorate her daughter through poetry, nothing can seem to cure Lise’s lifeless state. The character of Lise then signifies depression, the fourth step in the grieving process.

Penny – A reporter and journalist, Penny is a paying guest to the Global Hotel, there to review its services. During her stay she encounters both Sara Wilby and Else. In crossing paths with Sara in the hotel, Penny takes the opportunity to help her try to get screws out of the wall. Through this simple task Penny sees it as a way for herself to “be remembered as the nice person who helped the teenage chambermaid do whatever it was she was doing” (138). Later on that evening Penny finds herself roaming the streets with the homeless woman Else. Penny tries to elicit conversation with Else. However failing to break the ice, she ends up sharing her own stories. At the end of the night Penny is compelled to give Else a blank check, as if to further her own personal image to that of a truly good person. Eventually canceling the check and reviewing the Global Hotel in a fake and overtly perfect manner, Penny’s concern appears as one for reputation and not substance. These two instances, the first with Sara and the latter with Else, show Penny’s need for bargaining, that is the idea that “If I do this or make this happen, then in return that will be done, etc.” The notion of bargaining signifies the third stage within the grieving process.

Clare – the younger sister to Sara, Clare is not entirely introduced until the last section of the novel. This last section appears as a stream of Clare’s consciousness, showing her innermost feelings and revealing how she deals with the loss of her older sister. Clare shares memories and little moments that stand out in her mind. Through these emotional retellings and giving voice to her sister’s life Clare comes to terms with her loss. Clare beautifully accepts the tragedy as one of the moments that will shape her life, and through this final acceptance holds dear to the hope that “wherever you are now I know you will be keeping us me & mum & dad safe” (220). Clare’s character signifies the final stage in the grieving process, that of acceptance.

Duncan – employee of the Global Hotel, he was the sole witness to Sara’s death. As the novel’s only dominant male character, Duncan appears in each story within the novel. He too is moved to an emotional state of depression after witnessing the tragedy. Including Duncan in each of the novel’s stories, Smith seems to imply that these stages of grief may affect mere observers too, that these stages are not exclusive to family or close personal friends of those who have died.

Major themes

Grief

The sudden death of Sara Wilby transforms this novel into a healing process. It both signifies and addresses each stage in grieving. Generally, the mourning period is characterized by five distinct stages. The first is that of Denial and Isolation consisting of thoughts such as “this can’t be happening to me.” The second stage known as Anger, voices sentiments such as “Why is this happening to me? Who’s to blame for this?” The third stage, Bargaining, is when one is willing to sacrifice something of their own, as to account for the bad thing not happening. Fourth, Depression takes place, where an overwhelming sadness consumes one’s life. Finally, the fifth stage, sometimes the hardest yet most gratifying, is that of Acceptance. Once gained, an individual comes to peace with what’s going to happen or will happen. Present in every section of her novel, these stages are depicted through Smith’s careful characterization. Each character, unique in their own circumstance, reveals sentiments of this mourning process. Using such distinct personalities for each stage, Smith implies that grief or mourning is universal, there is no correct way to deal with loss or pain or tragedy. This process is inclusive of all members of society. In confronting the fifth stage of Acceptance, Smith juxtaposes thoughts of holding on to the moments that are no longer there, or letting go, and in doing so giving acclaim to one’s life, acknowledging that one has lived rather than died.

Passage of Time

In one moment one life has ended. In one night a woman’s status has changed. In six months depression deteriorates the mind. And through the course of time, a sister’s acceptance is gained. All these individual experiences characterize moments endured by Smith’s characters in her novel Hotel World. The experience of these moments and the passage of time that they represent express the theme that time truly is of the essence. Just as quickly as these moments shape a life, they leave a life too, never returned. Why then don’t we live when given the chance, and why is it that in dying one never feels more alive? Smith addresses these questions through her formal writing choices. Her sentence structure or complete lack of structure, the immediacy she imparts on her text, the words she chooses to forget, and the way she structures her novel’s chapters as grammatical tenses of time all connate the sense that time is passing. Moments pass by, memories are made then forgotten, people continue to check in and out, and time is the only thing keeping track. “What a life. What a time. What I felt. Then. Gone.” (3).

ocietal Acceptance

Smith’s choice to use such unique personalities for her story’s characters gives her novel the undertone of being a comment on society. The lack of societal acceptance for those different than the mainstream arises within every section of her novel. Sara for example, the hotel chambermaid who has plummeted to her death, is homosexual. Else, a woman invited to spend a night inside the Global Hotel, is homeless. Lise, once a receptionist for the Global Hotel and now victimized by depression, slowly deteriorates into a state of nothingness. There is an obese woman ostracized at her local pool because she is too large to fit inside the dressing room cubicle. In each of these situations Smith seems to be begging the question of why are these ones suffering in society. Small choices made by Smith such as the name of “Else” for the homeless woman implies society’s attitude toward the homeless. The homeless are viewed merely as something else, something to be overlooked, and something not worthy to be counted as part of actual society. Her choice to make Sara a homosexual and then having her as the only character to literally die implies a barrier society may still hold against the homosexual community. However, Sara’s character gains closure of her death, her family and sister in particular achieve acceptance of this loss, and the story of Sara pulls the novel together. In doing this, Smith gives the impression that if society continues to “kill” or “cast-out” those seen as different, they may be killing the very thing pulling our world together.

Homogenous Society

Smith explores the idea of a homogenous society by focusing her plot around the world of a hotel. A hotel corporation implies a sense of sameness. Regardless of location, the service provided, the architecture of their buildings, and the ideal life they attempt to sell, hotel corporations all mimic each other. Forcing a false reality on its visitors, hotels act as a pause in time. Continually checking in and out, guests never achieve a sense of permanence in their stay, thus never find a home in a hotel. While hotels strive for homogeneity, there is nothing real or pure behind their corporations. Smith is not only critiquing this but also commenting that if homogeneity was achieved in actual society there would be no purity left.

Hierarchal Society

Setting her entire novel around staying in a luxurious hotel, Smith implies there is a hierarchal structure to society. When in a hotel there are guests and then the people who serve them, there are not just rooms but double rooms, suits, presidential suits, all these characteristics seem to contribute to the idea that there are different levels present in a hotel and ultimately society. These different levels then impose classes among its “guests,” inherently creating divides. These divides are portrayed specifically through the characters of Else and Penny. Else a homeless woman asked to stay the night in the Global Hotel never feels at ease. Penny a paying guest to the Global Hotel is completely bored in her stay. Through these characters specifically, Smith connotes that hotels represent hierarchy present in society.

Literary significance and reception

Acclaimed as a truly inventive novel, Hotel World received much praise for its unique storyline and distinct formal choices. Garnered as a rare novel filled with hope and despair, Hotel World’s characters, linguistic choices, and thematic elements are what have set it apart as a genuinely modernist piece of literature.

Allusions and references

Ali Smith includes several quotes and short poems at the start of the book. These are significant and supportive to the themes present in the novel.
*Muriel Spark says “remember you must die” meaning people should appreciate life to its full potential because it will one day end. This quote wonderfully ties into the theme about the passage of time. It is also important because it is reminiscent of Smith’s recurrent “remember you must live”.

*William Blake describes “Energy” as being “eternal delight”. Ghosts are often thought to be the body’s energy which is never eliminated. A ghost, or any form of life after death, is thus viewed as eternally delightful because they will persist forever.

*Edwin Muir’s poem that speaks about the “unfriendly universe” is significant because it also ties into the theme of the passage of time. It describes "the miracle” as being the point where people are able to let go.

Awards and nominations

*Shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction 2001
*Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2001
*Received the Scottish Arts Council Book Award 2001
*Received the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award 2002
*Received the Encore Award 2002

Theatrical adapations

Recently adapted to the stage by Kidbrooke secondary school and performed at Greenwich Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007.

Publication history

*2001, United States, Anchor Books ISBN 0385722109 , Pub date January 15, 2002, paperback
*2001, United Kingdom, Penguin Books, ISBN 0140296794, Pub date 25 April 2002, paperback

References

*cite web | title=Prize list | last= | first= | work=ContemporaryWriters.com | url=http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth91&state=index%3Ds#prizes | date= | accessdate=