''The White Hotel'' is a novel written by the British ( Cornish) poet, translator and novelist

D. M. Thomas Donald Michael Thomas (born 27 January 1935), is a British poet, translator, novelist, editor, biographer and playwright. His work has been translated into 30 languages. Working primarily as a poet throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Thomas's 1981 ...

. It was first published in January 1981 by

Gollancz Gollancz may refer to: * Gollancz (surname), a Polish-Jewish surname * Victor Gollancz Ltd, a former British publishing house, now used as an imprint by the Orion Publishing Group See also * Gołańcz Gołańcz (german: Gollantsch) is a town ...

in the United Kingdom and in March 1981 by

The Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

in the United States. The narrative is told principally in the form of an erotic journal and letters between the female narrator and a fictionalized

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

as well as Freud's case history analysis of the narrator. ''The White Hotel'' won the 1981 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Fiction, the 1981 Cheltenham Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the same year's

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

Development

Thomas wrote some of it in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, where he was living, and at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he was on a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

, and used two typewriters, one in each city.

Summary

Set in 1919, the book's first three movements consist of the erotic fantasies and case history of an imagined female patient of Sigmund Freud, Frau Anna G, a semi-successful opera singer referred to him for

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

and treatment of chronic

psychosomatic A somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder,(2013) second sight. Freud does not consider the possibility that either her erotic journal or her pains might arise from an incident in not her past, but her future. Following inconclusive treatment, Frau Anna G – revealed to be Elisabeth (Lisa) Erdman of Vienna – pursues a moderately successful musical career and marries a Russian Jewish opera singer, with whom she moves to Kiev in the 1920s. When he disappears in a Communist purge, she falls upon hard times and the third movement is set in 1941, when German troops capture Kiev. Lisa and her young son are ordered, along with the city's Jews, to Babi Yar. An other-worldly ("in Palestine or Purgatory", according to the author) epilogue ends the narrative.

Awards and nominations

*1981 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Fiction *1981

Cheltenham Prize The Cheltenham Prize is awarded at the England, English Cheltenham Literature Festival to the author of any book published in the relevant year which "has received less acclaim than it deserved". Past winners *1979: Angela Carter for ''The Blood ...

*1981

(shortlist)

Legacy

A number of efforts have been made to make the novel into a film, which some have described as unfilmable or unadaptable. These have included attempts by Bernardo Bertolucci with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

, by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

with Isabella Rossellini, by

Simon Monjack Simon Mark Monjack (9 March 1970 – 23 May 2010) was an English screenwriter, film director, producer and make-up artist. He was the husband of American actress Brittany Murphy. Early life Monjack was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, to a Je ...

with

Brittany Murphy Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Fras ...

, and by

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

with Nicole Kidman. In 1992, London artist

Maty Grunberg Maty Grunberg (Hebrew מתי גרינברג) born 1943, is an Israeli sculptor and known also for his Artist Books. Biography Maty Grunberg was born in Skopje, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia. In the year 1948 M.G. immigrated to Israel with hi ...

created a portfolio titled "Don Giovanni" (woodcuts, limited edition); text - "Don Giovanni", the opening poem of the book. In August 2018,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

broadcast an adaptation of

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

's screenplay, produced by Jon Amiel, producer of Potter's earlier '' The Singing Detective'', with author Thomas's reminiscences about the book's publication and various film proposals. The BBC production starred

Anne-Marie Duff Anne-Marie Duff (born 8 October 1970) is an Irish actress and narrator. She is an accomplished theatre actress and has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. She has also received acclaim and awards for her television and film work. After ...

as Lisa and Bill Paterson as Dr Probst. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' published a piece on the book in April 2020.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Clute, John and John Grant. ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott R ...

''. New York:

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 1997. . * Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

''. New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1995. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White Hotel, The 1981 British novels 1981 fantasy novels Novels about the Holocaust The Holocaust in Ukraine Victor Gollancz Ltd books Novels by D. M. Thomas Cultural depictions of Sigmund Freud