"The formulation of a scar is a natural part of the biological process, which occurs when a lesion to the skin or other body tissue grows after an accident, illness or surgery. Since the body is unable to create an exact replica of the damaged tissue, the fresh tissue grows with a new texture and properties that differ from the undamaged skin around it."

"Hotel Silence" is a novel about the many faces of pain, the Icelandic title of the book, "ör", translating as "scar". Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir's protagonist Jónas is 49 and has just gotten divorced. Upon leaving him, his ex-wife informed Jónas that their 26-year-old daughter Waterlily is not his biological child. Furthermore, he is forced to helplessly witness how his own mother's health is slowly deteriorating. Heartbroken and unhappy about the state of his professional and personal life, Jónas decides to kill himself, but as he does not want his beloved daughter to find his body, he decides to do it abroad and boards a plan to the cheapest last-minute holiday resort he can find.

This is how Jónas ends up in Hotel Silence. While Ólafsdóttir never mentions the country or city where this hotel is located, the descriptions remind me of Ex-Yugoslavia, maybe Croatia, right after the war: Located at the Mediterranian Sea, formerly known for its beautiful landscapes that were often used as film locations (like the plitvicer lakes?), and torn apart by a conflict in which former neighbours turned against each other, the landscapes becoming death traps due to the many landmines. 

When Jónas arrives, there is a truce, but still there are no other tourists in the area. As Jónas befriends the siblings running Hotel Silence, he starts helping them with the skills he has as a handyman - and becomes a local celebrity known as "Mister Fix". With all the problems the people he meets are already encountering, how can he burden them with his suicide? And, as it turns out, "in the land of death, there isn't the same urgency to die."

While this is a very straightforward story without any gimmicks, Ólafsdóttir does a great job when it comes to character descriptions and juxtaposing Jónas' pain and loneliness with warm, but never condescending humor. It would be far too easy to simply see this as a tale stating that there are always others who have a worse destiny - rather, the author acknowledges the individual character of the sadness that all of her characters are experiencing.

"Do you remember, Dad, when we lay on our tummies over the frozen lake and looked down at the vegetation below the ice?", Waterlily asks Jónas after she aked him over the phone to come back to Iceland. Auður Ava Olafsdóttir wrote this book about how to melt this ice, or, to put it differently, how to grow and live on with scar tissue. For that, she won the Icelandic Literary Award for Fiction 2017.

"I'm not happy." Jónas Ebeneser tells his mother close to the start of this poignant little gem of a book. He's middle-aged, divorced and his ex-wife has just revealed a secret that has shaken his understanding of his own life so far and his understanding of his life is that he is ready for it to be over. That he says these sad, simple words to a mother no longer present or coherent enough to understand them is heartbreaking and it spurs Jónas on to the decision to die. His main concern is how to spare his daughter the pain of finding his body so he packs an almost-empty case and departs for Hotel Silence in a nameless, recently-war-torn country. In the dilapidated hotel run by a harried brother and sister clinging to hope, amongst the ragged population haunted by violence and lingering landmines Jónas finds that his skills as a handyman are much in demand and that his apparently small contributions, fixing showers and building doors, make a world of difference. He begins to wonder whether his life can mean more, offer more, before it ends.

It's a sad story full of melancholy and loneliness but while it is a little too tender to be described as heartwarming it is affirming and not without hope. As Jónas navigates the scarred streets and their scarred residents Ólafsdóttir explores the nature of different wounds and the residue they leave with real tenderness and sensitivity. It's touching and perceptive and manages to understand and portray a real depth and complexity of feeling with a simplicity of language and form more commonly found in poetry. I wouldn't add or take a thing, Ólafsdóttir has mastered the short form and her delicate economy of word and detail really leaves its mark. Beautiful.

This was a quick, but depressing read for me.  So much of it is centered on a man wanting to take his own life, and the aftermath of war.  It took me a bit to get used to the writing style, but once I did I was sucked in.  When I reached the last page, I didn't realize I'd come to the end.  There was very little to wrap up, and I needed more closure with the characters and story.  It left me wanting a resolution, as you don't really learn the outcome for the main characters in the book.  I liked it, but felt more frustrated by the end than anything else.

This is an unusual but compelling read. The story of our main character is interspersed with interesting quotes and flashbacks. We follow the story of a man, lost in middle age, much akin to A Man Called Ove. The writing was absolutely superb and I found myself sneaking away from my other duties during the day to read this wonderful book. It was uplifting, touching, and wonderful.

Hotel Silence is a derelict hotel in a bombed-out city that is just emerging from the shadows of war. The population is cowed, there are shortages and the whole area is mined.

Jonas is an Icelander who has had enough of his life. He chooses the Hotel Silence as a place that he can go to where nobody knows him, taking only the tools he needs to end it all. Once he gets there, what he sees starts to give him new perspective, reinforced by memories of home. As the locals start to depend on Jonas, his plans change drastically.

This is a subtle novel about how exposure to the misfortunes of others can allow us to see our own troubles more clearly. It has charm and deals with serious matters with quite a light touch. In fact I wished for a bit more grit and less lightness, given the circumstances being portrayed.

Hotel Silence is about one man's contemplation of suicide. It is the winner of the 2016 Icelandic Literary Prize (out of 5 nominees) and The New York Times describes it as a delightful and heartwarming novel told with grace, insight, and humor.

I had trouble getting through this story as I found it to be the complete opposite of delightful and heartwarming. The tone was bleak and depressing, the story disconnected, and the conversations sparse. Oftentimes the narration appeared to be a jumble of random thoughts which made it very confusing to read. I had to pause frequently and reread many passages. The storyline did pick up once the main character, Jonas, arrived at the hotel. Jonas now had a purpose which was enough for me to keep reading.

The original Icelandic title of this book is "Scars" which is the underlying theme of the whole book. Scars on one's body, emotional scars, and scars left over from war. When Jónas begins to understand the meaning of those scars, he can come to terms with his own existence. A difficult and exhausting read that will not appeal to everyone.

Rating 5/5

What a beautiful story! What a sweet, sad, poignant, hauntingly beautiful story!

I’ve read shorter stories, and I have read epic fantasy, but few will remain with me as ‘Hotel Silence’ will.

This is the story of loss, of self-discovery, of lost souls, of love, of grief.

This is a story of life.

The protagonist Jonas, an Icelandic man, is a rudderless boat lost on a stormy sea. He wife left him a few months ago and her parting shot was to tell him that the daughter he loves so much is not really his.

Depressed and lonely, he wants to end his life just shy of 50. But he wants to spare his daughter the agony of discovering his lifeless body.

So, on a whim, he takes a trip to a desolate, war-ravaged country and checks into the eponymous Hotel Silence, home to the two caretakers, a little boy, another man and one woman.

Slowly, bit by bit, Jonas rediscovers his purpose in life. He rediscovers the innocent, pure little boy he once was. He learns to love, both himself and the people around.

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir is a truly gifted writer. By design, keeping in with the mood of the story, her writing is devoid of any needless flourishes, but each word beautifully flows into the next, creating a breathtaking mural full of profundity, human suffering, and happiness.

Jonas touches the lives of everyone around him, and everyone around him touches his life, creating a wonderful tapestry of emotions, with a healthy dash of vacant, bleak, hopelessness that is the aftermath of war.

In turns heartrending and uplifting, this is a story like few I have read before, and now I’m eager to read the author’s entire catalogue.

Dear reader, do yourself a favour and pick up this book when you can. You won’t regret it.

I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest evaluation.

I really liked this book and liked the hero Jonas. The book is about a man whose life didn't turn out like he had planned. And he is at a transition in his life and he has no idea what to do. So he thinks of ending his life.

He finds that there are other lives out there for us to live. And they may not be ones that we have envisioned.

I read the book in one day and really enjoyed it.

A pleasure to read. Suicide is so hard to talk about. This book tackles many issues in an easy to read page turner. Whilst at Hotel Silence Jonas is able to spend time evaluating his life and the choices that he has made. This book packs a powerful punch. It conveys its message and asks questions. It is just the right length to keep you gripped throughout. This is a must read book.

I remember this author’s previous book ‘Butterflies in November’ with fondness so was delighted to be given the opportunity to read her latest, many thanks to Grove Atlantic via NetGalley.

I can’t better the publisher’s own synopsis of this book.  A disillusioned middle-aged man puts his own life into perspective by helping others whose suffering is so much greater than his.  A gentle, touching, life-affirming story with some beautiful poetic writing.  I enjoyed it very much.

A deeply moving book filled with life's little anecdotes. It made me re evaluate my life and not just think from my point of view. No matter how dire you think your life may be, there is always someone who is in a lot worst condition than you.

Thank you Netgalley.

?????? what in the world have I wandered into ?????????????

Not sure this is the same book previous reviewers have read.

Even "Bachelor in Paradise" would be preferable to this.

I quit this at 23% according to my Kindle... and mad at myself for wasting that much of my time.
May it gets better, but the first 23% seems to be the rambling muttering "thoughts" of some self obsessed self-pitying fool.

I never found the story and gave up looking for it

Review
TL;DR – Winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize, Hotel Silence is a thoroughly delightful, quirky yet strange (in a good way) novel.

I find it very strange to call this a “novel”. This could very well be the story of your next door, slightly introverted, yet eager to help, middle-aged neighbor because that is exactly how Jonas comes across. The character development for not only the protagonist but for all the characters is flawless. Every character has his or her baggage that they are carrying and it does not come across as though it is forced. The progression of Jonas’s story from contemplation of suicide to arrival in the foreign country to his days spent helping the siblings at Hotel Silence unfolds at a steady pace. The character of Jonas’s mother and daughter make frequent appearances, at appropriate intervals and timings making it a job well-done by the author in terms of giving due weightage to the characters and adding dimensions to the story.

The Positives

At no point did I found the story lagging or struggling to be carried forward on the shoulders of lengthy descriptions of surroundings or moods. That is not to say that the story is fast-paced. But it moves along steadily, like a well-oiled machine. The narration is in first person without losing the perspective and perceptions of the narrator. Reading of diary entries from the past by Jonas is definitely a clever idea to add more dimension not only to the story but to Jonas himself. More on - https://t.co/Wow9xPGDoa

The moral of the story is that we all need a purpose in life in order to keep on going. That message comes across loud and clear. Having said that I felt that the story came to its conclusion hastily and without any real explanation from the main character as to how he might have changed. I gave three stars because the plot is good and the writing is good but I feel it never really develops into its own potential.

Delightful, strange, and surprising at every turn. I've discovered a new favorite writer.

I don't generally put down novels without giving them a real chance but I did not connect to this book at all. I don't  want to give it a star rating because it's not fair to a reader who might be the right audience.

Sometimes getting away from it all can help to provide a better perspective on the problems plaguing your life. For the man determined to end it all in Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir his trip abroad offers him a new outlook on life. 

Jónas Ebeneser is handy with tools and is generally capable enough to fix almost anything - apart from his ended marriage. In the wake of learning that he's not the biological father of his daughter Gudrun Waterlily, compounded with his upcoming fiftieth birthday, his emotions sink low, to the point of him contemplating the best way to end his life. To prevent his daughter from finding his body, Jónas decides to travel abroad to die. Arriving in a recently war-torn country armed with his toolbox, the diaries of his youth, and a change of clothes, Jónas is one of three guests at Hotel Silence where he soon becomes unwittingly involved in fixing the disrepair in the area and helping those in the vicinity of the hotel. In assisting those with scars and trauma from the war, Jónas comes to learn more about himself and is able to place his suffering in a new light.

Emotionally honest and raw, while expressed in a most pragmatic manner, the existential and morbid thoughts expressed would easily resonate with anyone who has spent a fair amount of time contemplating the meaning of life. While the narrative of Jónas's time abroad is fairly linearly presented, the vignettes into his past are offered in a somewhat disjointed manner, sometimes brought on by a passing thought or prompted by a diary entry he reread; though this helps to develop Jónas, he doesn't quite feel like a completed developed character. Interwoven with poetic snippets, the thoughts and experiences Jónas shares throughout the narrative carry a greater significance that is made more relatable to a wider audience. 

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Jonas seems to be a person who really wants to help people even though he went to Hotel Silence to commit suicide.  His thinking,to save his daughter the heartbreak of finding him.  Audur Ava Olafsdottir uses poetry to bring to life all the sayings that Jonas has heard, and for once I could make sense of all the poetry and I could see how it goes with each saying.  In reality Jonas fits with how the typical Icelander thinks.  Audur seems to have hit all the right thoughts at the right time.  I highly recommend this book to my readers and look forward to her next book.

This story had great promise, and had some insightful writing. Overall, though, the storyline was disjointed and difficult to follow. Despite some very good writing, I was left confused and disappointed.