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Blue Hotel
Nous sommes au bord de la voie ferrée, dans un hôtel du Nebraska, en 1898. C'est dans cet hôtel que se fabrique l'Amérique, et des Américains qui donc n'en sont pas encore, s'y rencontrent. Il y a le Suédois, l'homme de l'Est, le père irlandais, le jeune fils, et l'incontournable cow-boy. Ils improvisent une table et jouent aux cartes. Mais c'est en fait leur devenir qu'ils jouent.
86 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1896
55 people are currently reading
1842 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Crane
1,436 books1,018 followersStephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American novelist, poet and journalist, best known for the novel, The Red Badge of Courage. That work introduced the reading world to Crane's striking prose, a mix of impressionism, naturalism and symbolism. He died at age 28 in Badenweiler, Baden, Germany.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 124 reviews
November 29, 2019
A brief update,
while reading this story, I was not aware of this fact. Now I came to know that this story was one of the two stories recommended by Hemingway to every young writer. So an additional star from my side to this story...As I reread it quickly after knowing about such a recommendation, to check if I missed something there or not!
-----------------------------------
As they say, Stephen Crane's fiction is typically categorized as representative of Naturalism, American realism, Impressionism or a mixture of the three.
Through this story of Crane, I tried to understand what the meaning of "Impressionism" was.
This was a different sort of story for me. I can say a distinguishing one!
I have a mixed feeling for it.
First I was flowing with the story, It was a smooth effusion. The writing was good and the plot of suspense was fabricated very nicely, since the very beginning. I could feel an unrestrained expression of the emotion of five men inside a hotel, playing cards and then a disorderly outburst or tumult was felt by me through the characters of this story.
Everything was perfect.
But when I was reaching towards the end, my mind got embroiled into a state of commotion and confusion, the story took a different kind of turn and though things happened similarly as I was expecting but in a very unsubmissive manner!
And for that moment, I did not really get the purpose of this story. Maybe my mind was not receptive to it.
But then there was a final para of the story where it was stated that...
"Every sin is the result of a collaboration."
and then I heard one of the five men, saying...
"Well, I didn't do anything',did I ?"
And this way, Just after reading the final line of this story I found that it was a great story with a message!
while reading this story, I was not aware of this fact. Now I came to know that this story was one of the two stories recommended by Hemingway to every young writer. So an additional star from my side to this story...As I reread it quickly after knowing about such a recommendation, to check if I missed something there or not!
-----------------------------------
As they say, Stephen Crane's fiction is typically categorized as representative of Naturalism, American realism, Impressionism or a mixture of the three.
Through this story of Crane, I tried to understand what the meaning of "Impressionism" was.
This was a different sort of story for me. I can say a distinguishing one!
I have a mixed feeling for it.
First I was flowing with the story, It was a smooth effusion. The writing was good and the plot of suspense was fabricated very nicely, since the very beginning. I could feel an unrestrained expression of the emotion of five men inside a hotel, playing cards and then a disorderly outburst or tumult was felt by me through the characters of this story.
Everything was perfect.
But when I was reaching towards the end, my mind got embroiled into a state of commotion and confusion, the story took a different kind of turn and though things happened similarly as I was expecting but in a very unsubmissive manner!
And for that moment, I did not really get the purpose of this story. Maybe my mind was not receptive to it.
But then there was a final para of the story where it was stated that...
"Every sin is the result of a collaboration."
and then I heard one of the five men, saying...
"Well, I didn't do anything',did I ?"
And this way, Just after reading the final line of this story I found that it was a great story with a message!
May 11, 2018
A link to the online free story is available here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Bl...
Ernest Hemingway's favorite two stories by Stephen Crane were The Blue Hotel and The Open Boat. The latter I like very, very much, but The Blue Hotel not at all. Not by a long shot! It is about five men fighting. Then a sixth gets involved. Men behaving as immature boys can become dangerous.
Yes, there is a grain of truth in the point made, but the same message could have been imparted in a much better way.
I like how Hemingway writes, but his macho attitude can become too much. This is the guy who loves bullfights. So actually, it doesn't surprise me in the least that he likes this story by Crane.
Don’t bother reading it. It is a waste of your time.
Ernest Hemingway's favorite two stories by Stephen Crane were The Blue Hotel and The Open Boat. The latter I like very, very much, but The Blue Hotel not at all. Not by a long shot! It is about five men fighting. Then a sixth gets involved. Men behaving as immature boys can become dangerous.
Yes, there is a grain of truth in the point made, but the same message could have been imparted in a much better way.
I like how Hemingway writes, but his macho attitude can become too much. This is the guy who loves bullfights. So actually, it doesn't surprise me in the least that he likes this story by Crane.
Don’t bother reading it. It is a waste of your time.
January 16, 2024
This short-story is not for me.
May 16, 2016
"Every sin is the result of a collaboration," says Stephen Crane (1871-1900) in this short (38 pages) , but transcendent and unforgettable novella. If you've never read Crane - forgotten today - start here. Coming from a family of Methodist clergy, he rebelled early and became an atheist. He went into the world, saw it and realized too much. Can you ever get rid of the burden of religion?
Starting as a freelance journalist, and seldom with any money, he covered troubles in Mexico and Cuba, explored the low-life of NYCs Bowery and traveled to the west. These were the days of derring-do -- and stark individualism. Flouting convention, he lived w a lively married woman (Cora Taylor) who wrote and also ran a brothel, Hotel de Dream (hmm, Ten Williams?), in Florida. Exploring Crane gave me a lit "high."
Out in Nebraska, in a hick town, the Palace Hotel is painted light blue. "It stood alone on the prairie, and when the snow was falling the town two hundred yards away was not visible." During a blizzard, "screaming and howling," three strangers arrive by train. Only two survive the fright and pathos of a brutal night. For the dead man there's no escape, for Crane sees us as victims in an indifferent universe. Did Crane have a premonition? Written in 1899, he was dead a year later, age 28, of TB.
No detail of plot can suggest the preciseness of Crane's sensibility. Without sentiment, he writes with relaxed objectivity--and detachment-- yet always with intensity. I think of film director John Ford, at his visual best, but Crane is not merely cinematic. He's also painterly. Today, I see from some young GR reviews that they miss the hyperbole of "special Tarantino effects" -- because these readers lack imagination. The murder here is told in one line: The long blade of a knife "pierced [the body] as easily as if it had been a melon." And then everyone goes home.
Bullying & control; self-expression & self-sacrifice -- all lead to challenging self-awareness. I urge, especially Euro GRs, to read this young American writer who, for less than 8 years, had a celebrity profile. In London, he was welcomed by Joseph Conrad and Henry James...and then he died, w Cora by his side, at a spa in Germany. Consider the unwritten works. Cora returned to Florida and opened another sporting house. I like her.
Starting as a freelance journalist, and seldom with any money, he covered troubles in Mexico and Cuba, explored the low-life of NYCs Bowery and traveled to the west. These were the days of derring-do -- and stark individualism. Flouting convention, he lived w a lively married woman (Cora Taylor) who wrote and also ran a brothel, Hotel de Dream (hmm, Ten Williams?), in Florida. Exploring Crane gave me a lit "high."
Out in Nebraska, in a hick town, the Palace Hotel is painted light blue. "It stood alone on the prairie, and when the snow was falling the town two hundred yards away was not visible." During a blizzard, "screaming and howling," three strangers arrive by train. Only two survive the fright and pathos of a brutal night. For the dead man there's no escape, for Crane sees us as victims in an indifferent universe. Did Crane have a premonition? Written in 1899, he was dead a year later, age 28, of TB.
No detail of plot can suggest the preciseness of Crane's sensibility. Without sentiment, he writes with relaxed objectivity--and detachment-- yet always with intensity. I think of film director John Ford, at his visual best, but Crane is not merely cinematic. He's also painterly. Today, I see from some young GR reviews that they miss the hyperbole of "special Tarantino effects" -- because these readers lack imagination. The murder here is told in one line: The long blade of a knife "pierced [the body] as easily as if it had been a melon." And then everyone goes home.
Bullying & control; self-expression & self-sacrifice -- all lead to challenging self-awareness. I urge, especially Euro GRs, to read this young American writer who, for less than 8 years, had a celebrity profile. In London, he was welcomed by Joseph Conrad and Henry James...and then he died, w Cora by his side, at a spa in Germany. Consider the unwritten works. Cora returned to Florida and opened another sporting house. I like her.
April 10, 2023
In my opinion, it's a little better than Stephen Crane's The Open Boat but still not enough to make me a fan of his.
May 7, 2018
[anobii, Apr, 2016]
The Hateful … Five
Fort Romper, Nebraska, fine Ottocento. Inverno. Vento gelido e cumuli di neve. Sala del Palace Hotel. Scully, il padrone dell’albergo, osserva compiaciuto suo figlio Johnnie e i tre nuovi clienti giocare ad High-Five. Se apri la porta, vento e neve irrompono con rombo da tempesta. L’enorme stufa al centro del locale regala però il giusto tepore per un’atmosfera rilassata. Ma un'accusa di baro riserva sempre sviluppi sinistri …
Il Wyoming, con la stessa neve, la stessa stufa e i suoi … Hateful Eight, è poco più ad ovest. Quando la tormenta ti regala una pausa, potresti anche sentire Daisy Domergue cantare … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWzHT7...
The Hateful … Five
Fort Romper, Nebraska, fine Ottocento. Inverno. Vento gelido e cumuli di neve. Sala del Palace Hotel. Scully, il padrone dell’albergo, osserva compiaciuto suo figlio Johnnie e i tre nuovi clienti giocare ad High-Five. Se apri la porta, vento e neve irrompono con rombo da tempesta. L’enorme stufa al centro del locale regala però il giusto tepore per un’atmosfera rilassata. Ma un'accusa di baro riserva sempre sviluppi sinistri …
Il Wyoming, con la stessa neve, la stessa stufa e i suoi … Hateful Eight, è poco più ad ovest. Quando la tormenta ti regala una pausa, potresti anche sentire Daisy Domergue cantare … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWzHT7...
May 5, 2024
“The Blue Hotel” 1899) is one of several works recommended to a young writer by Ernest Hemingway. In fact, it is one of only two short stories so recommended, the other being “The Open Boat,” also by Steven Crane (see my review embedded in my review of David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.”). This was available free online from PinkMonkey.com, which, as the blurb says is “a ‘G’ rated study resource for junior high, high school, college students, teachers and home schoolers.”
This is the story of a man known only as “The Swede,” who, along with two other men, “The Cowboy” and “The Easterner,” get off the train in Romper, a small town in Nebraska. The town’s main building is the Palace Hotel, named “The Blue Hotel” because of its paint job. The owner, Pat Scully, who runs the hotel with his son Johnnie, puts up these gentlemen for the night and notices that the Swede seems preoccupied with what he has come to expect of the West, namely violence, and is obsessed with the possibility of getting killed. The other men attempt to dissuade him from that, saying that there hasn’t been any such thing in Romper within memory. The Easterner wonders what the Swede is frightened of, and concludes,
“Oh, I don’t know, but it seems to me this man has been reading dime-novels, and he thinks he’s right out in the middle of it- the shootin’ and stabbin’ and all.” “But,” said the cowboy, deeply scandalized, “this ain’t Wyoming, ner none of them places. This is Nebrasker.” “Yes,” added Johnnie, “an’ why don’t he wait till he gits out West?” The traveled Easterner laughed. “It isn’t different there even- not in these days. But he thinks he’s right in the middle of hell.”
To pass the time, the Swede engages in a game of High Five, a trick-taking card game; the Cowboy, the Easterner and Johnnie are other players. The Swede accuses Johnnie of cheating, and there ensues a fight in which both participants are injured but the Swede bests Johnnie. After the fight, the Swede leaves the hotel and makes his way to another bar, gets drunk and bothers a group at a table. He particularly bothers a man who turns out to be a gambler and card sharp; when he accosts the gambler, the gambler produces a knife and stabs the Swede, killing him.
In a short epilogue, some months later the Cowboy and the Easterner are talking about how the gambler only got three years’ sentence for killing the Swede. The Easterner then confesses that he had seen Johnnie cheating and stood by and just let Johnnie and the Swede fight. He ends by saying, “We are all in it! This poor gambler isn’t even a noun. He is kind of an adverb. Every sin is the result of a collaboration. We, five of us, have collaborated in the murder of this Swede.”
This is a quick (32 pages) read, and one is struck by the irony of the Swede’s turning out to have righteous anger at Johnnie’s cheating, only to be killed by a cheating card player. Additionally, there is the overriding moral issue regarding the culpability of those who allow immoral acts to go on without intervening. I really enjoyed this story, and I believe I can see why Mr. Hemingway recommended it.
May 5, 2024 A quick addition to my review to say that I found out that this story had been adapted into a TV program, part of a series from the mid-1970's on PBS called "The American Short Story." Each episode was introduced by Henry Fonda. I found out that this entire series, some 17 of them, is available via a Google search with the specific entry "(name of story) video." Of course, the film is somewhat grainy and there are no subtitles for my ancient eyes.
This one is a quite faithful adaptation of "The Blue Hotel," with David Warner as The Swede, in a very creditable performance. The "action," if you will, is largely discussion and times becomes somewhat boring, but the increasingly emotional and aggressive relationships certainly come through. The only difference with the story is that in the TV program, all of the action takes place in the hotel, as opposed to the final scenes of the story being situation in another hotel. Worth pursuing.
This is the story of a man known only as “The Swede,” who, along with two other men, “The Cowboy” and “The Easterner,” get off the train in Romper, a small town in Nebraska. The town’s main building is the Palace Hotel, named “The Blue Hotel” because of its paint job. The owner, Pat Scully, who runs the hotel with his son Johnnie, puts up these gentlemen for the night and notices that the Swede seems preoccupied with what he has come to expect of the West, namely violence, and is obsessed with the possibility of getting killed. The other men attempt to dissuade him from that, saying that there hasn’t been any such thing in Romper within memory. The Easterner wonders what the Swede is frightened of, and concludes,
“Oh, I don’t know, but it seems to me this man has been reading dime-novels, and he thinks he’s right out in the middle of it- the shootin’ and stabbin’ and all.” “But,” said the cowboy, deeply scandalized, “this ain’t Wyoming, ner none of them places. This is Nebrasker.” “Yes,” added Johnnie, “an’ why don’t he wait till he gits out West?” The traveled Easterner laughed. “It isn’t different there even- not in these days. But he thinks he’s right in the middle of hell.”
To pass the time, the Swede engages in a game of High Five, a trick-taking card game; the Cowboy, the Easterner and Johnnie are other players. The Swede accuses Johnnie of cheating, and there ensues a fight in which both participants are injured but the Swede bests Johnnie. After the fight, the Swede leaves the hotel and makes his way to another bar, gets drunk and bothers a group at a table. He particularly bothers a man who turns out to be a gambler and card sharp; when he accosts the gambler, the gambler produces a knife and stabs the Swede, killing him.
In a short epilogue, some months later the Cowboy and the Easterner are talking about how the gambler only got three years’ sentence for killing the Swede. The Easterner then confesses that he had seen Johnnie cheating and stood by and just let Johnnie and the Swede fight. He ends by saying, “We are all in it! This poor gambler isn’t even a noun. He is kind of an adverb. Every sin is the result of a collaboration. We, five of us, have collaborated in the murder of this Swede.”
This is a quick (32 pages) read, and one is struck by the irony of the Swede’s turning out to have righteous anger at Johnnie’s cheating, only to be killed by a cheating card player. Additionally, there is the overriding moral issue regarding the culpability of those who allow immoral acts to go on without intervening. I really enjoyed this story, and I believe I can see why Mr. Hemingway recommended it.
May 5, 2024 A quick addition to my review to say that I found out that this story had been adapted into a TV program, part of a series from the mid-1970's on PBS called "The American Short Story." Each episode was introduced by Henry Fonda. I found out that this entire series, some 17 of them, is available via a Google search with the specific entry "(name of story) video." Of course, the film is somewhat grainy and there are no subtitles for my ancient eyes.
This one is a quite faithful adaptation of "The Blue Hotel," with David Warner as The Swede, in a very creditable performance. The "action," if you will, is largely discussion and times becomes somewhat boring, but the increasingly emotional and aggressive relationships certainly come through. The only difference with the story is that in the TV program, all of the action takes place in the hotel, as opposed to the final scenes of the story being situation in another hotel. Worth pursuing.
Want to read
May 24, 2024One of Ernest Hemingway's Recommneded 16 Novels for Young Writers: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/ernest-h...
April 16, 2018
5 uomini e una stufa
Sono stata indotta alla lettura di questo racconto da Ernest Hemingway (indirettamente :), che lo aveva messo in pole position nella lista delle 16 letture necessarie per un aspirante scrittore. http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/er...
E’ indubbiamente scritto benissimo. La qualità del racconto sta nel risultare avvincente senza peraltro mettere in scena altro che 5 uomini, dei quali non si sa nulla: vengono caratterizzati in modo molto vivido in un solo episodio. Il centro dell’azione è lo Svedese (o forse Olandese), il cui comportamento squilibrato movimenta la giornata di parecchie persone nel paesino del Nebraska dove si trova l’albergo azzurro. Il fascino del racconto sta nell’essere irrisolto, cioè, non vengono svelate le ragioni dell’assurdo comportamento dello Svedese: questo attrae l’attenzione del lettore e trattiene il racconto nella memoria. Nonostante gli indiscussi meriti, non posso dire che mi sia piaciuto particolarmente, ma posso ritentare con The open boat. Però, se Ernest lo consiglia caldamente, vale la pena che lo leggiate.
Sono stata indotta alla lettura di questo racconto da Ernest Hemingway (indirettamente :), che lo aveva messo in pole position nella lista delle 16 letture necessarie per un aspirante scrittore. http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/er...
E’ indubbiamente scritto benissimo. La qualità del racconto sta nel risultare avvincente senza peraltro mettere in scena altro che 5 uomini, dei quali non si sa nulla: vengono caratterizzati in modo molto vivido in un solo episodio. Il centro dell’azione è lo Svedese (o forse Olandese), il cui comportamento squilibrato movimenta la giornata di parecchie persone nel paesino del Nebraska dove si trova l’albergo azzurro. Il fascino del racconto sta nell’essere irrisolto, cioè, non vengono svelate le ragioni dell’assurdo comportamento dello Svedese: questo attrae l’attenzione del lettore e trattiene il racconto nella memoria. Nonostante gli indiscussi meriti, non posso dire che mi sia piaciuto particolarmente, ma posso ritentare con The open boat. Però, se Ernest lo consiglia caldamente, vale la pena che lo leggiate.
October 10, 2011
I read this three times in the past week for school. The first time I read it, I was bored. I was all, let's hurry up and get to the point already. Well, "The Blue Hotel" doesn't work like that.
The second time I read it, I noticed some of the subtly beautiful descriptions that Crane uses. I saw the blue paint of the Palace Hotel, felt the snowstorm in Fort Romper, and felt like I was losing at High-Five to Johnnie. Crane's writing is so delicate that you don't even realize you're reading.
The third time I read it, I got it. I was so disturbed by the implications that I couldn't get to sleep. It's not a scary or spooky story in any respect, but it hits deeper than you expect it to.
The second time I read it, I noticed some of the subtly beautiful descriptions that Crane uses. I saw the blue paint of the Palace Hotel, felt the snowstorm in Fort Romper, and felt like I was losing at High-Five to Johnnie. Crane's writing is so delicate that you don't even realize you're reading.
The third time I read it, I got it. I was so disturbed by the implications that I couldn't get to sleep. It's not a scary or spooky story in any respect, but it hits deeper than you expect it to.
November 10, 2019
Una tormenta di neve, un hotel caldo e accogliente, un gruppo di persone che gioca a carte e una parola di troppo che scivola durante il gioco. Il destino a volte trova strade diverse per arrivare alla meta e questo è il modo per esprimerlo di Crane. Un racconto bello, intenso, una scrittura pulita e asciutta. Da leggere.
March 27, 2008
Put down that copy of "The Red Badge of Courage," and opt for "The Blue Hotel" instead. Crane, one of our greatest American writers, wrote in a time of Dreiser and James, and his style certainly conflicts with their beautiful, multi-clause prose. Crane had an affinity for characters that liked the less-glamorous side of life, almost like Hemingway before Hemingway, and "The Blue Hotel' contains all the elements of masculine sin. But his plot is not what drives his stories, it is writing style. For writers told to cut down on the lyricism and adverbs, a good model would be Crane.
July 6, 2015
had to read it for literature class... it was boring, both the book and the class.
January 17, 2022
L'hotel azzurro è il racconto emblema del naturalismo americano, forse una delle opere più famose di Stephen Crane. Più adatto a prendere spunto per un adattamento cinematografico che a deliziare il lettore, ripetitivo, le scene di combattimento corpo a corpo descritte nello specifico fanno pensare più ad uno scarabocchio creativo che ad un racconto fatto e finito. Ciò che secondo me è rilevante notare è la capacità d'uso del linguaggio, sfruttato da Crane per rappresentare l'interiorità dei suoi personaggi e riflettere i loro stati d'animo. Associare il colore sgargiante di un hotel alle gambe di un airone nell'acqua e il sangue alle luci rosse del saloon è qualcosa che solo un abile scrittore riuscirebbe mai a concepire.
August 18, 2024
This didn’t impress me that much and is nowhere as good as “The Open Boat”, though it does have its points of interest in setting and mood,
October 15, 2020
Onvan : The Blue Hotel - Nevisande : Stephen Crane - ISBN : 2867463211 - ISBN13 : 9782867463211 - Dar 86 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 1896
July 5, 2013
I saw this on a list of Hemingway’s recommended reads. As a bonus, I found a free e-book version of it at Book depository.
It is a short story; guests shelter in the blue hotel during a snowstorm with the owner and his son. This is a tale of men; women feature only as side points. The perfect shelter is flawed because one of the men, the Swede, is described as: “One might have thought that he had the sense of silly suspicion which comes to guilt. He resembled a badly frightened man.”
It is clear that he has a death wish. He misconstrues things almost deliberately; he does everything he can to provoke the men in their warm asylum, eventually accusing the hotel owner’s son of cheating at cards. The resulting fistfight ends with the son badly beaten and the Swede exultant. The owner makes him leave. He has lost control of his own environment and we have seen earlier how it was his.
The women appear to look after the son “…carried their prey off to the kitchen, there to be bathed and harangued with that mixture of sympathy and abuse which is a feat of their sex…”
Writing short stories is a lost art. There are so many layers in these forty pages. Honour, power, control, and perception and the writer makes the reader take sides as well. The reader doesn’t like the Swede; he is harsh and annoying and you almost want to see him get beaten in the fight. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when he moves on to another venue. Unfortunately it is one where he miscalculates, again.
It is a short story; guests shelter in the blue hotel during a snowstorm with the owner and his son. This is a tale of men; women feature only as side points. The perfect shelter is flawed because one of the men, the Swede, is described as: “One might have thought that he had the sense of silly suspicion which comes to guilt. He resembled a badly frightened man.”
It is clear that he has a death wish. He misconstrues things almost deliberately; he does everything he can to provoke the men in their warm asylum, eventually accusing the hotel owner’s son of cheating at cards. The resulting fistfight ends with the son badly beaten and the Swede exultant. The owner makes him leave. He has lost control of his own environment and we have seen earlier how it was his.
The women appear to look after the son “…carried their prey off to the kitchen, there to be bathed and harangued with that mixture of sympathy and abuse which is a feat of their sex…”
Writing short stories is a lost art. There are so many layers in these forty pages. Honour, power, control, and perception and the writer makes the reader take sides as well. The reader doesn’t like the Swede; he is harsh and annoying and you almost want to see him get beaten in the fight. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when he moves on to another venue. Unfortunately it is one where he miscalculates, again.
February 25, 2008
Hemingway said "The Blue Hotel" was the best short story ever written by an American.
It is a beautiful, sad, horrifying story. It's always good to have a collection of Crane's stories. It's even better to have one named after the best one he wrote.
It is a beautiful, sad, horrifying story. It's always good to have a collection of Crane's stories. It's even better to have one named after the best one he wrote.
September 25, 2012
A blah story. My first from Crane.
May 9, 2023
A Swede puts up at a hotel in a Nebraska settlement, displaying some bizarre behavior. The whole story is basically you and the other characters watching this remarkable stranger in stupefaction, like some rare wonder that appears, draws everyone into its madness, and then departs, leaving you feeling extremely annoyed. It’s an absurd and pretty damn funny longish short story, published in 1898.
I’ve noticed Crane is good at anticipating the reader’s thoughts. Just when you glean that the Swede is crazy, Crane makes a reference to the blizzard outside and you realize the hotel patrons are gonna be stuck with this nut. The way the owner of the hotel bends over backwards to appease the Swede, to the detriment of the other guests, coddling the lunatic while taking his anger out on the normal people, is both ridiculous and very true-to-life. That odd combination is what I really liked here. The story was another one of Hemingway’s all-time favorites. My only reservation is a little drunkenness in a character goes a long way. But the irony of the ending is awesome. The Swede should’ve stuck to his dime novels.
I’ve noticed Crane is good at anticipating the reader’s thoughts. Just when you glean that the Swede is crazy, Crane makes a reference to the blizzard outside and you realize the hotel patrons are gonna be stuck with this nut. The way the owner of the hotel bends over backwards to appease the Swede, to the detriment of the other guests, coddling the lunatic while taking his anger out on the normal people, is both ridiculous and very true-to-life. That odd combination is what I really liked here. The story was another one of Hemingway’s all-time favorites. My only reservation is a little drunkenness in a character goes a long way. But the irony of the ending is awesome. The Swede should’ve stuck to his dime novels.
July 20, 2020
“This poor gambler isn’t even a noun. He is kind of an adverb.”
Stop it, right there.
Anyone who writes a sentence like that is someone I am going to read and pay attention to.
Sadly, this is a short story, I could have read far more. But it is a brilliant short story.
It is a profound study of the folly of men. Brilliant, insightful, acute.
“Every sin is the result of a collaboration”
Yes, indeed.
Highly recommended.
Stop it, right there.
Anyone who writes a sentence like that is someone I am going to read and pay attention to.
Sadly, this is a short story, I could have read far more. But it is a brilliant short story.
It is a profound study of the folly of men. Brilliant, insightful, acute.
“Every sin is the result of a collaboration”
Yes, indeed.
Highly recommended.
February 23, 2021
Famously Hemingway recommended this story as one of the great short stories. I beg to differ.
June 18, 2022
Tres cuentos que en común describen situaciones extremas de la vida: la intriga, la supervivencia en la guerra o en el mar. En cada uno, los personajes masculinos reflexionan de diferente manera en el valor de la vida, la amistad, la lealtad, la solidaridad. La descripción de los hechos es magistral y en verdad me sentí en el Hotel azul observando la pelea de Johnnie y el sueco. También sentí el temor de estar en la línea de frente de una guerra en la que la búsqueda de agua, desvela a un verdadero héroe. Y finalmente fue impresionante el viajar en La chalupa buscando la seguridad de la orilla y encontrar una nueva oportunidad de vida.
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February 28, 2023This was interesting for sure
July 19, 2024
3.5 stars bumped to a 4.0.
January 26, 2020
I'm not sure how or why this works, but it does. Gets under your skin, and despite being a short story/novella, stays there.
November 5, 2015
Crane, Stephen. The Blue Hotel
Stephen Crane’s long short story is a much anthologised item, it being typical of his masculine focussed social Darwinism, or survival of the fittest philosophy. Here, a character known simply as The Swede is the focus of the five major players in the story, set in an isolated settlement in The Blue Hotel in Fort Romper, Nebraska. Life is tough in winter in Romper and a man needs all his wits, and probably a handy weapon, simply to survive. The Swede is nervous to the point of hysteria. Pat Scully, the hotel keeper, his son Johnnie, the Easterner and the cowboy are shocked by the Swede’s insistent nervous laughter and his compulsive fear of being murdered. While Scully is out meeting any likely customers from the train, and over a card game, the Swede accuses Johnnie of cheating, which leads to a challenge and a fight outside in the blizzard.
‘Kill him, Johnnie! Kill him!, shouts the cowboy, as the contestants grapple, until finally Johnnie falls. But encouraged by his father he continues, until overpowered at last by the heavier man, and left to ‘the mixture of sympathy and abuse’ of the women. The Swede leaves in triumph for another bar, where he boasts about what he’d done to Scully’s son, but his unwilling audience shun him and his bravado, declining his offer of a drink together. This infuriates the drunken Swede, who threatens a gambler and in a struggle is pierced by a long knife. This ‘citadel of virtue, of virtue, wisdom, power, was pierced as easily as if it had been a melon,’ we are told, and its innocent murderer is, we learn in the final section given the lenient sentence of three years in jail.
There is no moral to the story. Given the setting and the characters it’s a sequence of likely events. Neither the demon drink nor the violence in nature is to blame. Anger, fear, jealousy and the need to impose on others are inescapable. That’s just the way it is.
October 9, 2017
Every sin is a result of a collaboration.
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Well this is my first stephen crane book ever, and i have to say that, the thing that i liked the most in this book,was the writing, it was phenomenal, beyond beautiful.
The story wasn't as good as i expected it to be, it was a little vague, very dense, i was expecting something from the supernatural, i mean let's take a moment and admire the book cover, for horror lovers out there, don't get high hopes for this 😟
There were a couple of descriptions of unimportant characters, i don't know i felt like i was reading in vein, i was hoping to be shocked by the ending considering the beginning was kind of boring, but no, the ending was okay.
Honesty I'm a bit disappointed.
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🌟2.5/5 stars🌟
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Well this is my first stephen crane book ever, and i have to say that, the thing that i liked the most in this book,was the writing, it was phenomenal, beyond beautiful.
The story wasn't as good as i expected it to be, it was a little vague, very dense, i was expecting something from the supernatural, i mean let's take a moment and admire the book cover, for horror lovers out there, don't get high hopes for this 😟
There were a couple of descriptions of unimportant characters, i don't know i felt like i was reading in vein, i was hoping to be shocked by the ending considering the beginning was kind of boring, but no, the ending was okay.
Honesty I'm a bit disappointed.
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🌟2.5/5 stars🌟
January 25, 2018
Read in The Stephen Crane Megapack: 94 Classic Works by the Author of The Red Badge of Courage.
One of Crane's better known short stories. It is well written and even has a message to ponder at the end. Three men, the Swede, the Eastern, and the cowboy, stay at the Palace Hotel. The Swede gets drunk and fights Johnnie, the son of the hotel owner, over a card game. The Swede then ends up in a saloon talking about his fight with Johnnie, and things do not go well for him.
One of Crane's better known short stories. It is well written and even has a message to ponder at the end. Three men, the Swede, the Eastern, and the cowboy, stay at the Palace Hotel. The Swede gets drunk and fights Johnnie, the son of the hotel owner, over a card game. The Swede then ends up in a saloon talking about his fight with Johnnie, and things do not go well for him.
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