Een wat verlopen hotel aan de Engelse kust dondert naar beneden. Niet alle gasten overleven het.

Onder de gasten een klagende dominee en zijn dochter die goed onder zijn plak zit, een paar gezinnen met kinderen, wat stelletjes.

He always typed his sermons because his writing was so bad that he could not read it. Nor could he always read his own typing, for that, too, was inexpert

De eigenaar van het hotel trekt zich min of meer voltijds terug in zijn kamertje vol met stapels papier, en laat het runnen van de zaak aan zijn vrouw over. Al snel ontstaan er spanningen tussen de gasten onderling en sommige gasten en de uitbaatster.

I see I’ve said nothing about fish. I’m allowed everything except kippers, but I don’t think plaice agrees with me very well, nor haddock, unless cooked with plenty of butter. Crab and lobsters are not verboten which is very convenient, as I expect you get plenty of them and so many people can’t eat them.

Het boek beschrijft de zeven dagen die vooraf gaan aan de landslide en gedurende die periode wordt steeds duidelijker dat er nice en not-so-nice gasten aanwezig zijn. Maar wie gaan het overleven?

white lotus + parasite, the book

4,5e ster.

well written, inventive, funny, and has about 25 main characters that you remember and are invested in, which is a feat in itself

also the fact that this was written in the 40s is astounding

I really enjoyed this read. It had a rather slow start which was likely intentional. You literally get to play God. A tragedy has happened with many casualties. You then view the lives of those touched by the tragedy over the preceding week. Three author takes the onus of presenting each character with all warts and all and at the end, you judge who survives and who dies. It's an absorbing read, every character is drawn sharply do that you can make your judgement logically. You feel invested in the underdogs and despise the despicable. Highly recommended!!