Name: Hotel Iris
ISBN: 9788429750461

Yôko Ogawa

Hotel Iris

Yōko Ogawa

A tale of twisted love from Yoko Ogawa—author of The Diving Pool and The Housekeeper and the Professor. In a crumbling seaside hotel on the coast of Japan, quiet seventeen-year-old Mari works the front desk as her mother tends to the off-season customers. When one night they are forced to expel a middle-aged man and a prostitute from their room, Mari finds herself drawn to the man's voice, in what will become the first gesture of a single long seduction. In spite of her provincial surroundings, and her cool but controlling mother, Mari is a sophisticated observer of human desire, and she sees in this man something she has long been looking for. The man is a proud if threadbare translator living on an island off the coast. A widower, there are whispers around town that he may have murdered his wife. Mari begins to visit him on his island, and he soon initiates her into a dark realm of both pain and pleasure, a place in which she finds herself more at ease even than the translator. As Mari's mother begins to close in on the affair, Mari's sense of what is suitable and what is desirable are recklessly engaged. Hotel Iris is a stirring novel about the sometimes violent ways in which we express intimacy and about the untranslatable essence of love.

A Novel

Sarah Sammis

Sage

** spoiler alert **
           17 year old Mari first meets 60(?) year old "Translator" in Hotel Iris, an inn where she works as a receptionist for her mother. 

There's lots of BDSM - fun! But sandwiched between this and the fleeting tender moments shared by our protagonist and the Translator are some really fucked up things. Like the Translator slathering oil in a suggestive manner on his tongueless nephew on the beach and invoking jealousy in Mari. Or Mari fucking said nephew, and then asking him to show her his cavity of a mouth. She says she felt dizzy when she stared into it. Or the part where she imagines the old man strangling his (long dead) wife with the scarf he uses to "punish" Mari and enjoying it. 

The man tortures her but they never actually have sex. As far as I know he never takes his cock out, or even changes out of his suit (other than the beach scene). The first scene was hard to read. You root for the protagonist - oh my god get out of there holy fuck - and then you realise that she actually LIKES it when he forces her to eat carpet and ties her up with cords. 

Yes, consensual non-consent. We know. 

What is this genre? The Lover, Tampa, Lolita... Several others - you know the drill, older person and young person, lust ensues, lots of fucking + detailed descriptions of genitals touching orifices/genitals touching genitals, and then one of them dies or goes away and their lives are changed forever.

Great book. I need more.

Sage Lee

Sara Bow

Also das war ja mal ein Level an perversität, dass echt too much war.. mir wurde teilweise echt schlecht beim lesen. Ich hoffe nie wieder lesen zu müssen, wie ein Mensch dem anderen mit dem Mund Socken anzieht oder darüber nachdenkt ihm den Schweiss aus den Achseln lecken zu wollen BAH

In a crumbling, seaside hotel on the coast of Japan, quiet, seventeen-year-old Mari works the front desk as her mother fusses over the off-season customers. When, one night, they are forced to eject a prostitute and a middle-aged man from his room, Mari finds herself drawn to the man's voice, in what will become the first gesture of a long seduction. Mari begins to visit the mysterious man at his island home, and he initiates her into a dark realm of both pain and pleasure. As Mari's mother and the police begin to close in on the illicit affair, events move to a dramatic climax. By the author of The Housekeeper and the Professor

Olivera Mitić

This felt very disturbing all throughout, even though nothing too horrific happens. 

3.5/5

Chelsey

4/5 ⭐️ a short novella about the contrasts between pain and pleasure, love and hate. I appreciated the author’s no nonsense, honest, and straightforward way of writing. It was an interesting exploration of a young girl and older man trope from the young girl’s perspective, and how she is uncomfortably immature yet accepting of the circumstance the entire time. The pain gives her pleasure in a way that is freedom and release from the monotony and powerlessness of her daily life. Is there power in voluntary submission?

Maia Feruzi

I was honestly beyond shook when reading this book. I didn’t realize it was erotic literature until it was too late lol I was only reading it because I liked the author Yoko Ogawa. I read her horror anthology Revenge and quite liked it. I view Ogawa’s writing style as darkly lovely and one that easily paints an image in your head in the most calming way. 

Reading her stories always feels like sinking into a place of the unexpected. It’s subtle casual surprises that startle and thrill me at the same time. Conversations and thoughts with such stark contrast to the previous scene or to what I originally knew about that character, she takes twist to a whole new level. 

Reading this book certainly gives you a whole new understanding of the terms BDSM, dominance and submission. The sexual play and tension that happen between this 17 year old novice and 70 year old man are chilling to read. Although some parts made me deeply uncomfortable I couldn’t stop reading nonetheless. I felt like I was entering into the mind of a submissive, falling into a black hole of dark pleasure, peeking out behind a curtain and viewing a world I’d only ever heard things about. 

The story moves quickly, it’s a short read of only 250 pages but there are certain sections of that story that seem to take place over eons. This piece screams duality from the story structure to the characters evolutions. I hated it and loved it at the same time. 

If you’ve been looking for something to shake your reading list up, this is it. 

Hotel Iris

Reviews

Highlights