1. The White Hotel

2. D. M. Thomas born 27 January 1935 The White Hotel 1981; short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1981 Controversy: as some of its passages are taken from Anatoly Kuznetsov’s Babi Yar, a novel about the Holocaust Studied Russian, retained a lifelong interest in Russian culture and literature Was a student of English in Oxford Wrote 17 novels, poetry, translations, one play.

3. D. M. Thomas

4. Group Questions 1. Why is the first section titled „Don Giovanni?” What is the main tension between the form and the content of the chapter? 2. What is the function of tragic events (landslide, fire, etc.) in „The Gastein Journal”? 3. What is the fiction of postcards in „The Gastein Journal”? 4. Interpret the train as a symbol in the novel! 5. How does Freud read Frau Anna’s case?

5. Group Work 1. What is the function of repetitions in the novel? Collect episodes and symbols that reappear in the „The Health Resort”! 2. What is the function of Lisa’s letter to Freud in the novel? 3. Compare the endings of the six chapters! Can we read them as 6 different stories? 4. What is the function of the mutation of names in the novel? Think about Lisa’s name, for instance! 5. What is the role of the last chapter („The Camp”)? Does the novel have a „happy ending”?