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Monday, Apr 3, 2000 4:00 PM UTC

Do not disturb

The author of "Interpreter of Maladies" checks in with great fiction about hotels.

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Topics: J.D. Salinger, Readers and Reading, Books,

A home away from home. A refuge, a respite. And best of all, room service. Here are some first-class scenes and stories set in hotels worth visiting.

“Lovers of Their Time” by William Trevor (in “The Collected Stories”)

A doomed affair, circa 1963, between a middle-aged British travel agent trapped in a miserable marriage and a young shopgirl looking to settle down. The two begin to tryst during their lunch hour in a marble bathroom in London’s Great Western Royal Hotel, where, after making love, they sit together in a giant tub, miraculously undisturbed.

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger (in “Nine Stories”)

Salinger’s classic takes place in a Florida hotel, over the course of a single afternoon. Up in Room 507, Muriel Glass polishes her nails and speaks to her mother on the phone. Out on the beach, her husband, Seymour, lies on the sand in his bathrobe, takes a little girl into the ocean and kisses the arch of her foot. From three spare scenes, we apprehend an entire tragedy.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Chapters 27-32)

“Le grand moment” of the novel: Humbert Humbert whisks Lolita out of Camp Q and into the Enchanted Hunters, “that venerable place full of perspiring philistines and period objects.” Outside on the porch, Quilty’s onto the seduction-in-progress. By morning, Humbert discovers that he is not even Lolita’s first lover.

“To Room Nineteen” by Doris Lessing (in “Stories”)

Susan Rawlings, a frustrated housewife seeking freedom from her family, repeatedly escapes her house in suburban London to spend a few solitary hours doing absolutely nothing in a shabby hotel near Paddington Station. A chilling portrait of the terrors of depression.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Has any man pined as profoundly, and as pathetically, as Gustav Aschenbach? Beautiful descriptions of the Lido in its glamorous heyday, and of Tadzio, the world’s most beautiful boy.

Eloise by Kay Thompson (Drawings by Hilary Knight)

Confessions of a pint-size eccentric who lives with her nanny, her dog and her turtle in Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel. Highlights: Eloise combing her hair with a fork, wearing an egg cup on her head. To quote our impish guide, “Merci and charge it please.”

Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri is the author of "Interpreter of Maladies: Stories." More Jhumpa Lahiri.

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Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

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  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

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