The Basque Hotel

by Robert Laxalt

This novel is the first volume in Laxalt's highly acclaimed Basque-family trilogy. It tells the story of Pete, the son of a Basque immigrant, and his coming of age in Depression-era Carson City. Pete’s immigrant parents run the Basque Hotel, bed and meals, whiskey and wine in Prohibition time for sheepherders and town characters. Pete is indifferent to his heritage except for disquiet about his parents’ ignorance of such American traditions as Christmas trees. Pete, too prone to dreams, undergoes his rites of passage—cruelty and kindness, disillusionment, love and terror, pathos and hilarious adventure, and finally, a cautious understanding of his world.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, 20th Century, France

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

Laxalt was a Basque-American writer whose work was especially well received in the ranching areas of Nevada and adjacent states, and led to creation of several "Basque Festivals" in those areas. Laxalt also served as a consultant to the Library of Congress on Basque culture, and helped start the Basque Studies program at the University of Nevada.

Laxalt founded the University of Nevada Press, which published almost all of his books written after 1964. Laxalt was chosen along with Walter Van Tilburg Clark to be the first writer inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

(English below) Con este libro te enamoras del pequeño Pete, de su familia y su Carson City. Pete es un niño descendiente de vascos que regentan un pequeño hotel en Carson City, Nevada. Desde la mirada del niño, iremos conociendo cómo es su día a día a través de las estaciones del año. Una historia muy bien contada que hace que conozcas cómo vivían estos inmigrantes y sus descendientes, cómo se adaptaban a su nuevo país y cómo mantenían sus propias costumbres.

El pastoreo de ovejas, las montañas, la enfermedad y la Gran Depresión son ejes fundamentales en la novela.

Tal vez, he echado algo de menos que hubiera más referencias vascas pero de todas formas he disfrutado mucho de su lectura. Muy recomendable y se lee en un suspiro.


(English)

With this book you'll fall in love with little Pete, his family and his Carson City. Pete is a boy of Basque descent whose family runs a small hotel in Carson City, Nevada. From the perspective of this child, we'll get to know what their day to day is like through the seasons of the year. Very beautifully written, it makes you want to know more and more about how these immigrants and their descendants lived, how they adapted to their new country and how they kept their own culture.

Sheep herding, mountains, illness and the Great Depression are key themes in the novel.

I've may missed more Basque references but anyway I really enjoyed reading it. Highly recommended, you'll read it in a breeze.

[Emily G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pete is a young boy of a Basque immigrant family living in Carson City, Nevada, during the Depression. Growing up, he experiences adversity and adventures. Pete is reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in early Nevada days. The novel is told from Pete’s innocent childhood perspective. The novel provides a good insight of the Basque lives in Nevada.

[SuzAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strengths were the setting - vivid but spare, not overly described - and also the boy's point of view: a believable child's perspective.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved his rich descriptions, they played like a movie to me. I may be biased since I am from Reno, NV.

[The Irish Lass Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book. I love reading books from local authors.

[TheBruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age that has many experiences in the development of wisdom.