Explanation of The Novel's Title
The title of Ali Smith’s novel Hotel World acts as a metaphor for life’s passage of time and the moments which escape us all too quickly. A hotel everyday, every hour, every moment is checking in a new guest or “life” just as quickly as one is checking out. In titling her novel Hotel World, Smith not only gives reference to the homogeneity imposed on society through hotel corporations, but as well emphasizes an impermanent or indefinite state in life. The question then arises of what life would be if we were mere observers, watching countless lives check in and out of this same predetermined world, this hotel world. Does the presence or absence of those we love then shape the moments that mould our world?
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