The Glass Room - comparison with Visitation (Spoilers Allowed) (Oct 2017)

[Hugh]

We chose this book partly because our other October read Visitation is a similar story, focusing on a building as it passes through the turbulent history of 20th century central Europe. So I thought we should create a separate space for anyone who has read both to allow a free discussion of the comparison.

[Jill]

I’m only on page 157 of the Glass Room, but I feel like the writing is very different in these two books. When I read Visitation I almost felt as though I was entering another world completely. Jenny Erpenbeck’s writing, at least in Visitation and The End of Days, is almost poetic and has an otherworldliness about it which I love.
The Glass Room is interesting so far but feels very similar to many other novels written about this time period so far.

[Hugh]

For me Visitation is much more meditative and profound...

[LindaJ^]

I am almost finished with Glass Room. It seems to me to be a straight forward historical novel. I did not get the same sense of place as I did with Visitation. The emphasis in the Glass Room is on the characters rather than the place. While I am enjoying the Glass Room, I have not been drawn into the book as I was with Visitation. I agree, Hugh, that Visitation is much more meditative and profound. The Glass Room lacks the complexity and layers of Visitation.

[LindaJ^]

Here are some reviews and other things about the book I found --
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gla...
http://rickyyates.com/villa-tugendhat...

[Lily]

LindaJ^ wrote: "Here are some reviews and other things about the book I found --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gla...."

I don't get a viable site from this link. Did you find one to which it led?

Sorry, Linda. Discovered I just have to strip the final punctuation from your links and they work just fine.

[Lily]

LindaJ^ wrote: "Here are some reviews and other things about the book I found --.....
http://rickyyates.com/villa-tugendhat......"

I really enjoyed the pictures here.

[Hugh]

Thanks Linda - there is some overlap with the links I posted on the background/general no spoilers thread, which is really a better place for them...

[Beverly]

While I am only up to page 99 in The Glass Room, I definitely feel a difference in the two books.

I agree with what was been said about Visitation being more profound and meditative and felt much more drawn into the time and place. I actually could feel the changes in the seasons and the love of the land.

Another difference I am feeling is that in Visitation it always felt like a "home" to me - there was a warmth about the house. The house to me in The Glass Room feels "cold". While I understand it architectural showcase, it does have a "homey" feel - everything about seems staged.

I do not know if this will turn by the time I am finished with The Glass Room, but I felt that the "house" in Visitation was definitely as much a "character" as the inhabitants of the house.

With The Glass Room, the house feels less of a "character" but just a place and the people characters would be the same no matter where they lived.

[LindaJ^]

Hugh wrote: "Thanks Linda - there is some overlap with the links I posted on the background/general no spoilers thread, which is really a better place for them..."

Yes, it is the apropriate place and where I thought I had put them. When I saw your links, I wondered what happened to mine! Now I know. I’ll move any you have not linked and delete the entry when I am accessing GR with a device other than my phone!