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Alexei Sayle's latest book reminds me of this game.
The Husband's Secret Liane Moriarty. Mar 06, Howard rated it liked it Shelves: Dating Woman's perfect Tinder date with 'The One' shattered by five simple words They had been messaging for a while and she thought she knew him pretty well - but she was very, very wrong. Most Read Most Recent. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. It also reads like a fairytale of Sayle's own literary career. Unhappy and overweight, she hires a personal trainer who lures her into joining the martial arts class he runs.
The contents of the box make it look like any other London novel - two sisters, their wacky friends, one gym and a gastropub. But once you start reading, it all gets stranger, grander and funnier. Harriet is an overweight invisible mender with a much prettier sister. Her life changes when she meets a personal trainer called Patrick who teaches her an obscure martial art that involves jumping out of trees and having stones thrown at you.
Alexei Sayle's highly enjoyable novel, The Weeping Women Hotel, is the comic's tour de force, says Frank Cottrell Boyce. Weeping Women Hotel has ratings and 28 reviews. Nick said: Plenty of this novel - based around a woman called Harriet who loses weight and gains conf.
It's all a bit disturbing but it works for Harriet, who sheds pounds, gains confidence and becomes extraordinarily beautiful. Sayle's account of Harriet's transformation is exhilarating and convincing enough to make you wish you too were in a slightly masochistic relationship with an air-headed ninja. The novel raises interesting questions about how stupid beliefs can sometimes get big results - Scientology comes to mind, or the Third Way.
It also reads like a fairytale of Sayle's own literary career. Like Harriet, he just seems to keep getting better - more supple, more confident and more violent. This is a funny, frightening book which is also refreshingly bonkers. In terms of technique it's a big step forward from his last novel, Overtaken. It's meticulously plotted and persuasive and even has a nice line in nature description. But every now and then old Alexei stops the action, puts on his boots and stamps all over someone. He is not shy about naming names.
There's a pair of hateful children called the Yentob twins. There's a fraudulent South American guru-novelist called Paulho Puoncho.
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Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Weeping Women Hotel by Alexei Sayle. Weeping Women Hotel 3. The novel raises interesting questions about how stupid beliefs can sometimes get big results - Scientology comes to mind, or the Third Way. It also reads like a fairytale of Sayle's own literary career.
Like Harriet, he just seems to keep getting better - more supple, more confident and more violent. This is a funny, frightening book which is also refreshingly bonkers. In The novel raises interesting questions about how stupid beliefs can sometimes get big results - Scientology comes to mind, or the Third Way. In terms of technique it's a big step forward from his last novel, Overtaken. It's meticulously plotted and persuasive and even has a nice line in nature description.
But every now and then old Alexei stops the action, puts on his boots and stamps all over someone. He is not shy about naming names.
There's a pair of hateful children called the Yentob twins. There's a fraudulent South American guru-novelist called Paulho Puoncho. Sometimes it's hard to know what the target is. I couldn't, for instance, figure out what Warbird - a charity that rescues talking birds from war zones - was supposed to be. But somehow the more disproportionate and undeserved the anger is, the funnier it is; the gratuitous rants give the book an unpredictable, hectic pace.
Published April 1st by Not Avail first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Weeping Women Hotel , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Plenty of this novel - based around a woman called Harriet who loses weight and gains confidence following her getting involved with an obscure martial art taught by her personal trainer - was perfectly readable, and rather enjoyable too.
I appreciated numerous points of reference which were cleverly observed, and the cast of characters was certainly interesting. It was, however, a somewhat silly premise, written in a sense that involved quite a lot of over the top daftness and unbelievable event Plenty of this novel - based around a woman called Harriet who loses weight and gains confidence following her getting involved with an obscure martial art taught by her personal trainer - was perfectly readable, and rather enjoyable too.
It was, however, a somewhat silly premise, written in a sense that involved quite a lot of over the top daftness and unbelievable events. Though I was able to not take all this too seriously and become put off as a consequence, it prevented me from ever really seeing the book as more than just a bit of a laugh.
Sayle does write quite a lot of witty stuff here, but there is also plenty which missed the mark for me. Aug 23, Emma rated it did not like it. Maybe not the very worst book I have ever read, On one level, it was readable, in that I didn't struggle to finish it and there were some genuinely funny bits, particularly the Paul Coelho jibes.
Other running jokes, notably the whole tiresome 'soup, swoop, loop-de-loop' thing, were just plain silly and repeated ad nauseam. I felt the book was populated by caricatures, rather than characters with real motivations, and so didn't care a hoot about them. There was also no discernible p Maybe not the very worst book I have ever read, There was also no discernible plot, more a series of vignettes. And so much else remained unresolved - for instance, there's much hinting that things are going downhill for Helen, the abominable sister, with her sudden bout of gluttony and half-developed relationship with Julio, then the book ends with no conclusion about her whatsoever.
Ditto the ridiculous Toby. Ultimately I could see no justification for hailing Sayle as 'our finest modern satirist', as the backcover blurb pretentiously claims. There is a huge difference between satire and piss-taking. Satire has something significant to say about society and human nature, about what interests and motivates people; piss-taking does not. What, ultimately, does this novel tell us, other than some charities tend to support obscure causes and squander money and I don't even think that's particularly true and martial arts aren't always based on sound philosophy?
Jan 06, Graham Hughes rated it liked it. Then again, the plot is a little thin and contrived, and the sheer bombardment of wackiness and extreme behaviour can be a bit wearying at times — As a fan of Alexei Sayle in general, and having enjoyed Barcelona Plates and The Dog Catcher, I was looking forward to reading The Weeping Women Hotel. Then again, the plot is a little thin and contrived, and the sheer bombardment of wackiness and extreme behaviour can be a bit wearying at times — perhaps it could have benefitted from a few semi-serious, more believable passages.
In the end, it was a bit of a relief to finish it, although it had made for an entertaining diversion. I have had a sneaking regard for Alexei since I saw him doing stand-up in the Spa Cente in Leamington 25 years ago. I'm afraid I found Weeping Women rather disapointing.
Harriet, a north London theatrical seamstress, is heavily overweight and signs up for the local gym.
She devlops an abusive relationship with one of the instructors, Fake martial arts and the Namibian mafia both feature prominently in what is ultimately a rather depressing novel, albeit in a comic vein. I was very curious to know where this was heading. Nowhere, as it turned out, but it was an entertaining ride. May 25, Colin rated it liked it Shelves: Alexei Sayle is better known as an English standup comedian. The plot is quitedaft how a fat woman take up martial arts. There loads of humour ouobservations about London and its inhabitants.