Hotel Silence, a novel by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION)

Today I will review Hotel Silence, a novel by Icelandic author Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Regular readers of my blog might remember that I read another book by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttiry, back in August. You can read my review for Ava's novel The Greenhouse here.  The Greenhouse was my first novel by this author and Hotel Silence my second. I do plan to read more of this author. Anyhow, I read Hotel Silence last month. I found it on a shelf dedicated to Icelandic literature in my local library. I keep seeing Icelandic authors in Croatian libraries, so I know I'm not the only one who is interested in reading more Icelandic literature. So far, I have bought a few books by contemporary Icelandic writers and I also pick them up in libraries. It's wnderful. Croatian translations are available. I often make the mistake of looking for translations in English and forget there so many translated works available in my mother tongue. Speaking of translations, I recommend once again this  lovely interview with the author Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir that you can read here (official site of Icelandic Literature Center).  When Auður Ava was asked how she felt about translations of her work, the writer gave an interesting answer that stayed with me (perhaps because I worked as a translator in the past): 

“While much is lost, of course, each each language also offers new possibilities. I've been very fortunate with translators – they have succeeded beautifully in reproducing the rhythms, which is probably the hardest part of a translator's job. 

Naturally, I read Hotel Silence in translation. I will probably never learn Icelandic so I'm grateful for the translation. I believe the original title in Icelandic has something to do with scars, but I guess that Hotel Silence makes sense too (being the place where a large part of the novel takes place). There are a lot of references to scars in the novel, both in their metaphorical and literal sense. So, it would perhaps have been better if the original title was kept. I think the translator of Croatian edition did a great job, at any rate she captured the lyrical prose and I liked her choice of words (not that I can comment further than that not knowing a word of Icelandic myself).

HR Danas pišem ogled za roman Hotel Tišina, islandske autorice Auður Ave Ólafsdóttir. Redovni čitatelji moga bloga možda se sjećaju da sam u kolovozu također pročitala i recenzirala roman Auður Ave Ólafsdóttiry. Ovdje možete pročitati moju recenziju za Avin roman Rosa Candida, ujedno i prvi roman ove autorice koji sam pročitala (što znači da je  Hotel tišina drugi.) Planiram čitati i druga djela ove spisateljice. Pročitala sam roman Hotel Tišina prošli mjesec. Našla sam ga na polici posvećenoj islandskoj književnosti u mojoj lokalnoj knjižnici. Često viđam islandske autore u hrvatskim knjižnicama, pa znam da nisam jedina koja je zainteresirana za islandsku književnosti. Do sada sam kupio nekoliko knjiga suvremenih islandskih pisaca, a čitam ih i posuđujem i iz knjižnica. Predivno je što su tako lako dostupni  hrvatski prijevodi. Često griješim tražeći prijevode na engleskom i zaboravim da postoji toliko mnogo prevedenih djela dostupnih na mom materinjem jeziku. Kad smo već kod prijevoda, još jednom preporučam ovaj lijepi intervju s autoricom Auður Avom Ólafsdóttir koji možete pročitati ovdje (službena stranica Islandskog književnog centra). Kada su Auður Avu pitali što misli o prijevodima svojih djela, spisateljica je dala zanimljiv odgovor koji mi je ostao u sjećanju (možda zato jer sam i sama radila kao prevoditeljica):

“Iako je mnogo toga izgubljeno, naravno, svaki jezik nudi i nove mogućnosti. Imao sam veliku sreću s prevoditeljima – lijepo su uspjeli reproducirati ritmove, što je vjerojatno najteži dio posla prevoditelja.

Naravno, čitala sam Hotel Tišinu u prijevodu. Vjerojatno nikad neću naučiti islandski pa sam zahvalna na prijevodu. Čini mi se kako  izvorni naslov na islandskom ima veze s ožiljcima, ali pretpostavljam da i Hotel Silence ima smisla (jer je mjesto na kojem se odvija veliki dio romana). U romanu ima puno referenci na ožiljke, kako u metaforičkom tako i u doslovnom smislu. Dakle, možda bi bilo bolje da je originalni naslov zadržan. Mislim da je prevoditeljica hrvatskog izdanja ipak odradila odličan posao, u svakom slučaju uhvatila je lirsku prozu i svidio mi se njezin izbor riječi (nije da mogu dalje komentirati ne znajući ni riječ islandskog).

RELATED BOOK REVIEW, THE GREENHOUSE (AKA ROSA CANDIDA) 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (born in 1958)

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir is an award winning novelist, playwright and poet. She worked as a professor of art history and a director of university Art Museum. From what I found online, she is currently a full time writer. 

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir je nagrađivana spisateljica romana, kazalištnih predstava i pjesama. Radila je kao sveučilišna profesorica povijesti umjetnosti i kao ravnateljica sveučilišng Muzeja za umjetnost. Po onome što sam uspjela pronaći na netu, trenutno se bavi isključivo pisanjem. 

HOTEL SILENCE, BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION,  3/5

WHAT I LOVED THE MOST ABOUT HOTEL SILENCE

Let's start with the positives, shall we? Hotel Silence is a poetically written novel filled with literary quotes. I enjoyed the intertextuality and the lyrical prose. The novel opens with protagonist Jonas, who is a divorced, sad and isolated man. Jonas' thoughts were often interesting and as mentioned, I enjoyed the intertexuality he brought to the text, i.e his reflections on different works of literature and philosophy. That part of the novel was exactly my cup of tea. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading Jonas' conversations with his daughter and mother. 

“Sorrow is like a piece of glass in the throat,” she says.

― Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Hotel Silence

ŠTO MI SE NAJVIŠE SVIDJELO U ROMANU HOTEL TIŠINA

 Počnimo s pozitivnim, hoćemo li? Hotel Tišina je poetski napisan roman ispunjen književnim citatima. Uživala sam u intertekstualnosti i lirskoj prozi.. Roman nas u samom početku upoznaje s glavnim likom Jonasom, koji je razveden, tužan i izoliran čovjek. Jonasova razmišljanja su često bila zanimljiva i, kao što sam spomenula, uživala sam u interteksualnosti koju je unio u tekst, odnosno u svojim razmišljanjima o različitim književnim i filozofskim djelima. Taj dio romana bio je po mome ukusu Nadalje, uživao sam čitajući Jonasove razgovore s njegovom kćeri i majkom.

ONCE AGAIN, I STRUGGLED TO CONNECT TO THE CHARACTERS

As much as I enjoyed the lyrical prose, I struggled to connect to the characters (especially with the protagonist Jonas). If you read my review for The Greenhouse/ Rosa Candida, you'll see that I had exactly the same problem with that novel as well. 

PONOVO SE NISAM MOGLA POVEZATI S LIKOVIMA

Koliko god sam uživala u lirskoj prozi, nisam se mogla povezati s likovima (osobito s protagonistom Jonasom). Ako pročitate moju osvrt na roman Rosa Candida, vidjet ćete sam imala identični problem i sa s tim romanom.

WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST OF HOTEL SILENCE? + THE BASIC PLOT OUTLINE

The protagonist Jonas, the protagonist of Hotel Silence,  is a divorced middle aged man who decides to kill himself but wanting to spare his daughter (whom he loves despite learning she is not his biological daughter) the sad sight, Jonas travels to some remote post-war country where he stays in hotel named Silence. This place is basically a beaten up hotel that Jones names himself and that he starts to enjoy and appreciate. That's basically the start of this  novel filled with sadness and sorrow: “At our latitudes people mostly kill themselves in the spring. People can’t bear the idea of the earth renewing itself. Of everything starting anew except themselves.”

TKO JE GLAVNI LIK ROMANA HOTEL TIŠINA? + KRATKI OPIS RADNJE ROMANA

Glavni lik je Jonas, razvedeni sredovječni muškarac koji se odluči ubiti, ali želeći svoju kćer (koju voli unatoč tome što je netom saznao da nije njegova biološka kći) poštedjeti tužnog prizora, Jonas putuje u neku udaljenu ratom uništenu zemlju  gdje odsjeda u hotelu Tišina. Ovo mjesto je u osnovi pretučeni hotel kojemu se Jones naziva i u kojem počinje uživati. To je u osnovi početak ovog romana ispunjenog tugom i tugom.

WHERE DOES THE NOVEL TAKE PLACE?

So, one part of the novel takes place in Iceland, the other part takes place in this unnamed country that was devastated by a war. The first part of the book where Jonas is Iceland felt too long and the second part where Jonas is in an unnamed country felt too predictable. It is very hard to make anything of this unnamed post war country because it is described in the broadest of terms. Valuable historical sights (such a historical mosaic) in the hotel are mentioned, but there aren't enough clues to guess what country it could be. 

GDJE SE ROMAN ODVIJA? 

Dakle, jedan dio romana odvija se na Islandu, drugi dio u ovoj neimenovanoj zemlji uništenoj ratom. Prvi dio knjige u kojem je Jonas na Islandu bio je predugačak, a drugi dio u kojem je Jonas u neimenovanoj zemlji bio je previše predvidljiv. Vrlo je teško dokučiti o ovoj neimenovanoj poslijeratnoj zemlji jer je opisana bez nekih posebnosti. Spominju se neke vrijedne povijesne znamenitosti, kao npr. povijesni mozaik u navedenom hotelu, ali nema nekih pojedinosti po kojima bi se moglo zaključiti o kojoj se zemlji radi. 

I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF POST WAR COUNTRY...

 Having grown up in the bloodshed that was the nineties, I found this invoking of war tragedies without explaining it further in bad taste. None of the characters in this post-war country came to life for me. In fact, they seemed stereotypical. The tales of their suffering could have been copied from any war news report, it was too generic to make me believe it and quite frankly it seemed a bit emotionally manipulative. Like the graphic photographs of dead bodies that are all over the news, the graphic descriptions were probably there to earn someone a profit, not because of some humane reasons. Now, this 'shock' effect is not something I never enjoy in any book. 

...BUT I UNDERSTAND WHY THIS PLACE IS RELEVANT FOR THE STORY

When Jonas arrives to this unnamed postwar country, his personal misery is contrasted with tragedy on a larger scale. Surrounded by such devastation, Jonas realizes that his own life is not such a tragedy. I understand how the author wanted to show Jonas' being inspired by the bravery of people living in a post-war country and it makes sense in the terms of the plot. Nevertheless, I still think Ava could have done a better job describing this place. 

NIJE MI SE SVIDIO OPIS ZEMLJE OPUŠTOŠENE RATOM

Možda i zbog toda što sam doslovno odrasla u krvavim devedesetima,  to pozivanje na ratne tragedije, a bez dodatnog objašnjena bi nazvala neukusnim. Nijedan od likova u ovoj poslijeratnoj zemlji mi nije oživio. Zapravo, djelovali su stereotipno. Priče o njihovoj patnji mogle su se kopirati iz bilo kojeg izvješća  koja se mogu naću u ratnim vijestima. Priče su bile previše općenite da bih u njih povjerovala ilii se sa njima saživljela. Iskreno, te priče djelovale su mi uglavnom manipulativno na emocijalnoj osnovi. Poput detaljnih fotografija mrtvih tijela koje su svuda u vijestima, zorni opisi stradanja vjerojatno su tu da bi netko zaradio, a ne iz nekih humanih razloga. Taj šok efekt je nešto što mi se neče svidjeti u nijednoj knjizi. 

...ALI RAZUMIJEM ZAŠTO JE TO MJESTO BITNO ZA PRIČU

Kada Jonas stigne u ovu neimenovanu  ratom uništenu zemlju, njegova osobna bijeda je u suprotnosti s tragedijom većeg razmjera. Okružen takvom devastacijom, Jonas shvaća da njegov vlastiti život nije takva tragedija. Razumijem kako je autorica željela prikazati Jonasovo nadahnuće hrabrošću ljudi koji žive u poslijeratnoj zemlji i to ima smisla u smislu radnje. Svejedno i dalje mislim da je Ava mogla bolje opisati ovo mjesto.

THE COMPARISON OF THE GREENHOUSE AND HOTEL SILENCE

This was my second novel by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, the first one being The Greenhouse (Rosa Candida in Croatian translation). Now, that I think of it, I enjoyed the lyrical prose in that one as well. If I compare the two novels, they are quite similar apart from the age of the protagonist. While the protagonist of The Greenhouse is a young man, the protagonist of Hotel Silence is a middle aged man. Both of them were/are close to their mothers, but despite of it, they are isolated and depressed individuals. The mother character in Greenhouses dies tragically, while the mother character in Hotel Silence is present but she is slipping away due to old age and dementia. However, both novels feature some well written dialogues between the mother and the son that shed light into their relationships. That's definitely something I enjoyed in both novels and wanted to see more of. I wished author wrote more dialogues like that or DID anything really to portray the characters she describes. I felt we only got fragments of characters and I wasn't quite sure what to make with them. Maybe that is her writing style, but I still wish the author would reveal more about her characters.

USPOREDBA ROMANA ROSA CANDIDA I HOTEL TIŠINA

Ovo je bio moj drugi roman Auður Ave Ólafsdóttir, prvi je bio Rosa Candida (u hrvatskom prijevodu). Sad kad razmislim, uživala sam i u lirskoj prozi i u tom romanu. Ako usporedim ta dva romana, oni su dosta slični osim po godinama glavnog junaka. Dok je protagonist Rose Candide mladić, protagonist Hotela Tišina je muškarac srednjih godina. Oba glavna lika su bliska sa svojim majkama, ali su unatoč tome izolirane i depresivne osobe. Lik majke u romanu Rosa Candida tragično umire, dok je majčin lik u Hotelu Tišina prisutan, ali izmiče mu/nam (i čitatelju i glavnom liku) zbog starosti i demencije. Međutim, oba romana sadrže neke dobro napisane dijaloge između majke i sina koji su rasvijetlili njihove odnose. To je definitivno nešto u čemu sam uživala u oba romana i čega sam željela  vidjeti više. Voljela bi kada bi  autorica napisala više ovakvih dijaloga ili napravila bilo što da dočara likove koje opisuje. Osjećala sam da nam je dala samo fragmente likova i nisam baš bila sigurna što bih trebala napraviti sa njima. Možda je to njen stil pisanja, ali svejedno bih voljela da nam otkrije više o likovima. 

THE PROTAGONIST THAT REMAINED A MYSTERY TO ME

Unfortunately, Jonas (just like the young protagonist of novel The Greenhouse) remained a mystery to me. Like the protagonist of Greenhouse, Jonas doesn't really have close friends. Both of them have a daughter (in Jonas' case not a biological one) with whom they establish a relationship despite them being generally depressed and isolated. Both protagonists seem to be apologetic towards women but at the same time see them (possibly primarily?) as sexual objects. The only exception would be the women they are related to (both of them are close to their mothers and daughters but struggle in their romantic relationships). The similarities do not end there. Both of these protagonists are perfectly ready to help someone when an opportunity arises, but otherwise they are quite passive and withdrawn.

Jonas helps women in this post war country by fixing a house for them, but that doesn't really tell us a lot about what kind of men is he. Why is he doing it? It is only because he has nothing else to do or is there some other reason? Does he genuinely want to help or does he want to impress these women? I mean it's fine if he does it to impress them, but it would be nice to know more about it. What are his romantic interests? It is hard to make sense of them. At the start of the novel, Jonas reads a diary he wrote as a young man and it is mostly composed of him thanking to various young ladies who have slept with him. He marked them with initials and doesn't reveal anything more about them- almost like he didn't feel anything for them at all. We don't really learn that much about his failed marriage expect the fact that his wife admits that his daughter wasn't his but she decided to pin it to him because he spoke of death on their first date and that stroke her as serious and a good foundation on a marriage.

Like with the protagonist of The Greenhouse, I was frustrated with knowing so little about Jonas. There is this young widow Jonas connects with, but what is really going on with them? If Jonas likes her, why does he sleeps with that random actress that appears in the hotel and then disappears only to appear again for the purpose of being Jonas' one night stand? Generally speaking, Jonas doesn't seem that anti-social once he gets into this post-war country, so why was he so lonely in Iceland? If there was any character development in this novel, I failed to see it. I understand that Jonas might be depressed but on overall I found it hard to connect with his character. Yes, depression can be terribly alienating and I appreciated how the author showed that yet she doesn't really reveal when did Jonas become depressed. Was he always this way? Was it why his marriage failed? Oh, so many questions! I remember wondering if the protagonist of Greenhouse was suffering from autism or something that would explain his actions. I wondered the same about Jonas. Depression alone doesn't explain it.

GLAVNI LIK MI JE OSTAO NEDOKUČIV

Nažalost, Jonas (kao i mladi protagonist romana Rosa Candida) mi je ostao misterij. Poput glavnog junaka tog romana, Jonas zapravo nema bliskih prijatelja. Obojica imaju kćer (u Jonasovu slučaju ne biološku) s kojom uspostavljaju prisan odnos unatoč tome što su općenito depresivni i izolirani. Čini se da se oba protagonista često ispričavaju ženama, ali ih u isto vrijeme vide (možda prvenstveno?) kao seksualne objekte. Žene sa kojima su u rodu su izgleda jedina iznimka. Oba glavna lika u ovim romanima su bliska s majkom i kćeri, ali imaju problema uspostaviti romantičnu vezu. Sličnosti tu ne prestaju. Primjerice, obojica su posve spremni pomoći nekome kada im se ukaže prilika, ali su inače prilično pasivni i povučeni.

Jonas pomaže ženama u ovoj poslijeratnoj zemlji popravljajući im kuću, ali to nam zapravo ne govori puno o tome kakav je on čovjek. Zašto to radi? Je li to samo zato što nema što drugo raditi? Želi ih impresionirati ili doista želi pomoći? Mislim u redu je i ako ih želi impresionirati, ali bilo bi lijepo znati više o tome zašto Jonas nešto radi. Koji su njegovi romantični interesi? Teško ih je shvatiti. Na početku romana Jonas čita svoj dnevnik koji je pisao kao mladić i uglavnom se sastoji od zahvaljivanja raznim mladim damama koje su spavale s njim. Označio ih je inicijalima i ne otkriva ništa više o njima – gotovo kao da prema njima uopće ništa ne osjeća. O njegovom propalom braku zapravo ne doznajemo puno, saznajemo samo da mu njegova supruga priznaje da kći nije njegova, ali je odlučila to njemu prišiti jer je pričao o smrti na njihovom prvom spoju i to joj se činilo ozbiljno i kao dobar temelj za brak.

Kao i s protagonistom romana Rosa Candida, čitajući ovaj roman bila  sam frustrirana što sam tako malo znala o Jonasu. Postoji ta mlada udovica s kojom se Jonas povezuje, ali što se zapravo događa s njima? Ako se Jonasu sviđa, zašto spava s tom slučajnom glumicom koja se pojavi u hotelu, a zatim nestane da bi se ponovno pojavila u svrhu Jonasove veze za jednu noć? Općenito govoreći, Jonas ne djeluje toliko antisocijalno kad uđe u ovu poslijeratnu zemlju, pa zašto je bio tako usamljen na Islandu? Ako je u ovom romanu bilo ikakvog razvoja likova, nisam ga uspjela doživjeti. Razumijem da bi Jonas mogao biti depresivan, ali općenito mi je bilo teško povezati se s njegovim likom. Da, depresija može biti užasno otuđujuća  te učiniti čovjeka usamljenim i izoliranim od svijeta. Doista cijenim kako je autorica to pokazala, ali zapravo nam ne otkriva kada je Jonas postao depresivan. Je li uvijek bio ovakav? Je li zbog toga njegov brak propao? Oh, toliko pitanja! Sjećam se da sam se pitala pati li protagonist romana Rosa Candida od autizma ili nekog drugog stanja koje bi objasnilo njegove postupke. Isto sam se pitao i za Jonasa. Depresija sama po sebi to ne objašnjava.

MUSTARD SWEATER: HERE, PENCIL SKIRT: HERE, BOOTS: HERE, LEG WARMERS: HERE, BAG: HERE, LEATHER JACKET: HERE

A PLOT THAT IS TOO CONVENIENT TO BE CREDIBLE AND UNDEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS

Another thing both novels share is a plot that is very convenient for its protagonist. The main character Jonas arrives to a post war country and suddenly everything works out for him and for everyone who decides to be his friend as well. The protagonist of The Greenhouse does the exactly the same thing. He flees Iceland and suddenly it is easy for him to make sense of everything. I understand that travel can be a positive thing. Travelling can improve one's mood, help us to fight routine and raise our creativity. However, it is hardly a magic switch. 

The writing in both The Greenhouse and Hotel Silence was quite poetic and beautiful at times, so I get the appeal of this book. Unfortunately, that's was the main appeal I could find in Hotel Silence for myself personally. I didn't find any humour in this book, not even the dark one. There were a few sentences that seemed wise, but they were not funny. Maybe some will find dark humour in it, I personally didn't. This is a dark book, though. I respect that the author wanted to write about suicide and depression for these are important topics. That being said, shouldn't these important topics be discussed a bit more? If we have a protagonist who decides to kill himself can we at least know something concrete about him? Something more than a collection of uncollected thoughts? 

If only we could have more dialogues. There is one excellent line from the book that stayed with me. Jonas' daughter calls him and says: 'Dad, don't believe everything you think.' I found that line so ingenious. Depression often plays tricks on one's mind, so in a way a suicidal person shouldn't trust his mind (and that voice that wants to end it all). I wish we learned why Jonas' daugher said that? Was she suspecting her father Jonas might kill himself? I thought that was such a precious moment and I regretted that this father-daughter relationship wasn't explored more (or any relationship for that matter).

ZAPLET I RADNJA KOJA NIJE UVJERLJIVA I VEZE KOJE NISU RAZVIJENE

Još nešto što oba romana dijele su zaplet i radnja koje su previše zgodne za svog protagonista da bile uvjerljive. Protagonist stiže u poslijeratnu zemlju i odjednom mu sve polazi za rukom i svima koji mu odluče biti  prijatelji također sve odjednom kreće od ruke. Protagonist romana Rosa Candida radi potpuno istu stvar. Bježi s Islanda i odjednom mu je lako shvatiti sve što se događa u njegovom životu, odjednom se čini da mu je sve jasno. Stil pisanja u oba romana bio je ponekad veoma poetičan i lijep, tako da mi je jasno zašto je ova knjiga mnogima privlačna. Nažalost za mene, stil pisanja (i to samo onda kada je poetičan) je glavna privlačnost koju sam mogla naći u Hotelu Tišina. U ovoj knjizi nisam pronašla humor, čak ni onaj mračni. Možda neki u njoj i nađu tak mračni humar, meni osobno i nije bila smiješna.  Ipak je to mračna knjiga. Poštujem što je autorica htjela pisati o samoubojstvu i depresiji jer su to važne teme. No, baš s obzirom na važnst teme, ne bi li se o ovim važnim temama trebalo malo više raspravljati?

Ako imamo protagonista koji se odluči ubiti, možemo li barem nešto konkretno znati o njemu? Nešto više od zbirke nesabranih misli? Kad bismo barem mogli imati više dijaloga. Ostala mi je jedna izvrsna rečenica iz knjige. Nazove ga Jonasova kći i kaže: 'Tata, ne vjeruj svemu što misliš.' Smatrala sam da je ta linija tako genijalna. Depresija često izigrava nečiji um, pa na neki način suicidalna osoba ne bi trebala vjerovati svom umu (i tom glasu koji želi sve to stati na kraj). Voljela bi da smo saznali zašto je to njegova kćer rekla. Naslućuje li Jonasova kćer što njezin otac planira?  Mislio sam da je to tako dragocjen trenutak i požalio sam što ovaj odnos oca i kćeri nije više istražen (ili bilo kakav odnos u tom smislu).

WHAT I WROTE ABOUT THE GREENHOUSE (ROSA CANDIDA) THAT COULD BE APPLIED TO THIS NOVEL AS WELL 

I don't regret reading this novel but I can't say I immensely enjoyed it either. If slow paced books with a puzzling protagonist doesn't put you off, there is every chance you might enjoy this one. If you like well defined endings and characters, this is not a book for you.. The descriptions are quite beautiful. Recommendations can be tricky to give, but if you enjoy lyrical and poetical prose, you will probably find something for yourself in this novel. 

ŠTO SAM NAPISALA O ROMANU ROSA CANDIDA, A ŠTO VRIJEDI I ZA OVAJ ROMAN 

Nije mi žao što sam pročitala ovaj roman, ali ne mogu reći da sam  iznimno uživala u njemu. Ako vas spore knjige sa zbunjujućim protagonistom ne odvrate, sva je prilika da ćete uživati u ovom romanu. Ako volite dobro definirane završetke i likove, ovo nije knjiga za vas. Opisi  su prilično lijepi. Preporuke je teško dati, ali ako volite lirsku prozu, vjerojatno ćete u ovom romanu pronaći nešto za sebe.

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT  THE NOVEL HOTEL SILENCE

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of this book. Good fiction should make you buy the story. I bought neither the story nor the characters. Maybe this book isn't about the story, maybe it is not about providing us with questions and answers about its characters. Maybe it is a novel in only the broadest of terms and one shouldn't complain too much of the lack of plot. I don't know. It is not that this novel doesn't have its perks. It do see why many would (and do) find Hotel Silence appealing (and why it was voted the best Icelandic novel of 2016) but to me personally its cons (the absence of plot and characterization) are a bit stronger stronger than its pros ( poetical prose plus some interesting thoughts and dialogues). That doesn't mean that I won't read more of Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. I plan to continue exploring the works of this author. 

ZAVRŠNE MISLI O ROMANU HOTEL TIŠINA

Nisam sigurna kako se osjećam oko završetka ove knjige. Dobra fikcija bi vas trebala natjerati da povjerujete u priču. Nisam povjerovala ni priču ni likove. Možda ova knjiga nije o priči, možda nije o tome da nam daje pitanja i odgovore o njezinim likovima. Možda je to roman samo u najširem smislu i ne treba se previše žaliti na nedostatak radnje. Ne znam. Nije da ovaj roman nema svojih kvaliteta.  Nije da ne vidim zašto bi mnogima Hotel Tišina bio i jest privlačan (i zašto je proglašen za najbolji islandski roman 2016.), ali meni osobno njegove mane (odsutnost radnje i karakterizacije) su jače od njegovih prednosti (poetski proza plus neke zanimljive misli i dijalozi). To ne znači da neću više čitati Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Planiram nastaviti istraživati djela ove autorice.

As always, thank you for reading, visiting and commenting. Take care!