One of John Irving’s odder novels (and that’s saying a lot) is “The Hotel New Hampshire.” It’s disturbing in parts, and features a lot of odd characters, unusual events, and a few pithy catch-phrases. (“Keep passing by the open windows” and “Sorrow floats” are two of them — but you really need the context to fully appreciate them.)
A movie was made from it, starring Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster. I eagerly sought it out, both because of the name and its promise of Nastassia Kinski (a subject of my adolescent fantasies) as Susie The Bear. And it was… interesting. Not a great commercial success, but an odd little movie.
Now, a New Hampshire entrepeneur is opening his own Hotel New Hampshire (with John Irving’s blessing). It probably helped that it’s going up in Durham, New Hampshire, home of Irving’s alma mater, the University of New Hampshire.
But I wonder if they’ll have a trained bear and a flatulent dog in residence…
Funny, I was just telling somebody about that book. It’s the only one I liked by Irving. Hated the movie. Read the book several times, the first time when I was in my teens. There was much hoopla about Garp, but the HNH was so much better, with it’s strange characters and bizarre stories.
I have also acquired two dogs that have the same talent that Sorrow had…the ability to pass gas in any and all situations.
I live in the town next door to durham, and although i saw that building going up, I thought they were student apartments. I see now that I am now able to get my local news here at wizbangblog. 🙂
I thought “Hotel New Hampshire” was brilliant. Unfortunately, I picked up a few other Irving books hoping to find a similar combination of odd but touching characters in meaningful situations showing personal growth. I was rather disappointed.
But I’ll probably wade through his latest, anyway. It’ll keep me from feeling the need to read Harry Potter for a while longer.
I always liked A Prayer for Owen Meany. HNH was good as well. I used to read all of his stuff, although Meany was the last.