It’s not 100% like the Grand Budapest but A Gentleman in Moscow.
trcrtps on
when I saw Grand Budapest Hotel it immediately reminded me of *The Unconsoled* by Kazuo Ishiguro. Not the whole book, but in the beginning the MC, Ryder, shows up to a hotel and communicates with the bellhop for what feels like 20 pages.
The bellhop explains that he and the other bellhops of the city (a lovely central European city with a reputation for hospitality) meet weekly at a cafe where they are respected and well-known for setting the standards of hospitality among the city’s hotels by performing their duties as bellhops. They go on about this for a while, and then Ryder meets someone else at the hotel who tells him that it is true the bellhops have a union and meet and respect him as their leader, but she kinda hints it’s because he’s old and they do it out of respect and that times are changing, which to me is reminiscent of the final line about M. Gustave in Grand Budapest Hotel:
> To be frank, I think his world had
vanished long before he ever entered it —
but, I will say: he certainly sustained
the illusion with a marvelous grace!
Sorry for the ramble but when I saw the movie I thought there’s a nonzero chance it was inspired by this character in The Unconsoled.
edit: oh my god, the bellhop’s name is even Gustav. theory confirmed.
Figsnbacon on
When I read The Maid by Nita Prose it made me think of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Not because of the plot but because it was a quirky tragicomedy that was so different from other books I’ve read.
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It’s not 100% like the Grand Budapest but A Gentleman in Moscow.
when I saw Grand Budapest Hotel it immediately reminded me of *The Unconsoled* by Kazuo Ishiguro. Not the whole book, but in the beginning the MC, Ryder, shows up to a hotel and communicates with the bellhop for what feels like 20 pages.
The bellhop explains that he and the other bellhops of the city (a lovely central European city with a reputation for hospitality) meet weekly at a cafe where they are respected and well-known for setting the standards of hospitality among the city’s hotels by performing their duties as bellhops. They go on about this for a while, and then Ryder meets someone else at the hotel who tells him that it is true the bellhops have a union and meet and respect him as their leader, but she kinda hints it’s because he’s old and they do it out of respect and that times are changing, which to me is reminiscent of the final line about M. Gustave in Grand Budapest Hotel:
> To be frank, I think his world had
vanished long before he ever entered it —
but, I will say: he certainly sustained
the illusion with a marvelous grace!
Sorry for the ramble but when I saw the movie I thought there’s a nonzero chance it was inspired by this character in The Unconsoled.
edit: oh my god, the bellhop’s name is even Gustav. theory confirmed.
When I read The Maid by Nita Prose it made me think of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Not because of the plot but because it was a quirky tragicomedy that was so different from other books I’ve read.