Claire Messud

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Review: The Two Hotel Francforts by David Leavitt

HotelFrancfortAuthor Claire Messud’s response was direct and to the point when an interviewer said that he thought Nora, the main character in Messud’s recent book, The Woman Upstairs, was someone he wouldn’t want as a friend.

“For heaven’s sake, what kind of question is that?,” she retorted. “Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? Would you want to be friends with Mickey Sabbath? Saleem Sinai? Hamlet? Krapp? Oedipus? Oscar Wao? Antigone? Raskolnikov? Any of the characters in The Corrections? Any of the characters in Infinite Jest? Any of the characters in anything Pynchon has ever written? Or Martin Amis? Or Orhan Pamuk? Or Alice Munro, for that matter? If you’re reading to find friends, you’re in deep trouble. We read to find life, in all its possibilities. The relevant question isn’t “is this a potential friend for me?” but “is this character alive?” ‘’

The spat came to mind after finishing The Two Hotels Francforts by David Leavitt.

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