Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Published 1984 · 184 pages · 50,792 words · about 6 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction

How hard is Hotel du Lac to read?

Hotel du Lac scores 72 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 60 out of 100
Brookner employs a sophisticated and precise vocabulary, featuring words like 'inimical,' 'acquiesced,' 'loquacious,' 'vestigially,' and 'hieratic.' While not relying on archaic or invented terms, the language is consistently elevated and literary, requiring a strong command of English and occasional French phrases to fully appreciate its nuance.
Sentence structure: 68 out of 100
The novel frequently uses long, winding sentences with multiple subordinate clauses and parenthetical asides, mirroring Edith's introspective and analytical mind. This hypotactic style, while grammatically sound, demands sustained attention to follow the intricate flow of thought and observation, placing it well above accessible contemporary fiction.
Abstraction: 70 out of 100
Despite a concrete setting, the narrative delves deeply into philosophical and psychological abstraction through Edith's constant internal monologues and dialogues. She grapples with complex themes of identity, love, loneliness, societal expectations, and the nature of happiness, moving beyond simple social observation to explicit theoretical discussions, particularly with Mr. Neville.
Information density: 62 out of 100
The book's density stems from its rich psychological and social subtext rather than a complex plot or numerous external events. Every observation, memory, and interaction is laden with subtle meaning, requiring the reader to actively engage with Edith's interpretations and the unspoken rules of the characters' world, creating a textured reading experience.
Narrative indirection: 70 out of 100
Edith's constant internal monologues and her detailed observations of other characters, often revised as new information emerges, require readers to actively infer motivations and underlying truths. The gradual revelation of her 'unfortunate lapse' and the ambiguous incident involving Jennifer and Alain exemplify how meaning is implied rather than directly stated.
Symbolic density: 75 out of 100
The novel is rich with symbolic elements that extend beyond literal events. The Hotel du Lac itself serves as a sanctuary for women in various forms of exile, while the changing weather and the lake often mirror Edith's internal emotional state. Characters' appearances carry significant meaning beyond their literal descriptions, embodying their personas and underlying truths.
Ironic distance: 78 out of 100
A strong ironic distance is maintained through Edith's sharp, often self-deprecating, internal commentary and her carefully constructed letters to David, which she acknowledges as 'fantasy and obfuscation.' The author's dry, detached tone frequently highlights the gap between characters' outward presentations and their inner realities, particularly in the portrayal of Mrs. Pusey's 'monstrous cosiness' and Mr. Neville's pragmatic philosophy.
Resolution withholding: 85 out of 100
The narrative consistently resists definitive closure, leaving key emotional and relational questions open. The precise details of Edith's past 'lapse' are withheld until late in the book, and her final decision to return to London, rather than accept Mr. Neville's proposal, leaves her future and the nature of her relationship with David deeply ambiguous.
Structural complexity: 68 out of 100
While primarily following Edith's first-person perspective, the novel incorporates significant non-linear elements, most notably the extensive flashback in Chapter 9 detailing her wedding day. The inclusion of Edith's epistolary reflections to David, which often present a curated version of events, adds a layer of subjective interpretation and an element of an unreliable narrator.

How Hotel du Lac is regarded

Hotel du Lac holds a literary regard score of 56 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

Prizes

Where Hotel du Lac sits in Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism

Placed by a full reading of the text (96 passages), not from reputation. Each verdict quotes the passage that earned it. On the axis from myth to irony, Hotel du Lac scores 68 out of 100. A second mythos, comedy, pulls at it with a weight of 0.25. About the map of stories.

Mode: Low Mimetic
I am a householder, a ratepayer, a good plain cook, and a deliverer of typescripts well before the deadline
Symbol: Formal
Where they saw luxury goods, she saw only houses of detention.
Mythos: Irony iv (tragic pathos; comic resolution refused) (irony iv)
crossing out the words ‘Coming home,’ wrote simply, ‘Returning.’
Genre: Novel + Confession
My dearest David (she wrote),

Where the story of Hotel du Lac takes place

  • Hotel du Lac, Lake Geneva, late September to October (early 1980s) (1982 to 1984), the main setting
  • Vienna and London: Edith's childhood among the Schaffner women (1950 to 1955)
  • Suburban London: the aborted wedding day and Edith's affair with David (1982 to 1984)

5 things that are true of Hotel du Lac, with the passage for each

  1. Mrs Pusey's birthday party reveals that she is seventy-nine.

    is seventy-nine! I know this because she had a birthday two days ago and we were all invited to celebrate it.

  2. Edith, Jennifer and Monica are all revealed to be thirty-nine years old.

    Jennifer, like me, is thirty-nine, although her curious combination of plump body and expressionless face makes her seem no older than fourteen.

  3. Edith abandons her wedding by asking the driver to carry on past the Registry Office.

    ‘Would you take me on a little further, please? I’ve changed my mind.’

  4. Mr Neville proposes marriage over lunch at Ouchy.

    ‘I think you should marry me, Edith,’ he said.

  5. At six in the morning Edith sees Mr Neville leave Jennifer's bedroom in his dressing gown.

    she was just in time to see Jennifer’s door open and Mr Neville, in his dressing gown, emerge.

Scenes in Hotel du Lac that Frye would name

21 sightings of Frye's terms in the text. The strongest:

Anagnorisis, passage 96
Of course, she thought. Of course. Edith sees Neville emerging from Jennifer's room and recognises the truth about him and about the marriage on offer, which turns the ending.
Anagnorisis, passage 67
And then she saw, in a flash, but for all time, the totality of his mouse-like seemliness. A sudden recognition of Geoffrey at the Registry Office triggers her flight from the wedding.
Eiron, passage 2
I sign anything that is put in front of me; I never telephone my publisher Edith's self-deprecating catalogue is the eiron's modest, ironic self-presentation.
Pharmakos, passage 69
She was condemned out of hand, of course. Penelope and Mrs Dempster expel Edith as the offender and send her into exile to atone to society.
Alazon, passage 19
Of course, I have everything delivered Mrs Pusey's refrain is the braggart's grandiose self-presentation, with her age and her husband's life left unexamined.
Pharmakos, passage 72
‘Mais je n’ai rien fait! Je n’ai rien fait.’ The boy Alain is made scapegoat for Mrs Pusey's imagined violation of Jennifer, though the truth is more ambiguous.

Books that share these scenes with Hotel du Lac

About the author

Anita Brookner