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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1982)
The White Hotel D.M. Thomas The White Hotel is a strikingly original, nightmarish portrait of the life, death and dreams of a European Jewess early in the 20th Century — composed of letters, verses, diaries and Freud's own case history of her D M Thomas plays a subtle variation on a theme by Freud, suggesting what the Holocaust might have done to one of his more attractive hysterics "Do not be put off by the very explicit sexual passages they are vital A searing, complex, disturbing study of fantasy, truth, cruelty, love and death," wrote London Sunday Express literary critic Graham Lord "There is no other novel to my knowledge which resembles this in technique or ideas It stands alone ” commented Graham Green on Thomas's best-seller But the originality of the The White Hotel takes it toll on the reader Perhaps more than any book written about the Nazi holocaust, The White Hotel communicates the true horror of the extermination through the story of a single life When it was first published in London in January 1981, The White Hotel went unnoticed, selling just 2.000 copies But its muimmiiii] American publication in March brought Thomas instant acclaim — a tide that eventually reached the British shore The White Hotel actually started as a poem, b><t Thomas found he couldn't end it to his satisfaction Then, searching for something to read on a flight to the United States, he picked up Babi Yar, Anatoli Kusnet sov's book about the wartime atrocities at Kiev This horrifying account of the Holocaust connected immediately in his mind with his poem Thomas didn't even make the trip to the United States — he just sat down and finished The White Hotel D M Thomas is Donald Michael Thomas, born in 1935 in Cornwall, England. At the age of 18, he entered the military where he was forced to learn Russian so he could listen to and report on Russian tank maneuvers across the East German border This exper ience led to a long-lasting inter est in Russian literature The works of Bulgakov, Turgenev, Pasternak and Pushkin opened up a new world for this working class boy from a small mining town After his discharge from the army, Thomas won a scholar ship to Oxford where he studied English, then went on to a teacher-education course Graduating with honors in 1958, ITfftf ZED I M i WELCOME TO THE OAKWAY CINEMA Visit Eugene’s largest and finest theatre at prices you can afford. See the BEST in movies for only $2.00! The Oakway Cinema is located in the ‘‘Oakway Mall’’ on Coburg Road across the street from Thunderbird Motel & Holiday Inn. Please call 342-5351 for schedules and movies showing at Eugene’s Finest Theatre K ' OPKWAV Ph. 342-5351 & CINEMA ' OAKWAY MALL ..IMIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Thomas taught secondary school English in Devon before becoming a lecturer, and then head of the English Department at Hereford College of Educa tion In 1978, Hereford College closed and Thomas turned to writing full time Eager to ex periment with different forms, he turned to writing novels He wrote two, Birthstone and The Flute-Player, the latter which will continued on page 8b witk special guest =Missing Persons^ Friday, April 16 8 pm Lane Co. Fairgrounds *8.50 Tickets on Sale Now at Everybody’s Records A DOUBLE TEE Production The ultimate in sight and sound. Now, re recorded in new digital stereo. IWIXSIA WALT I )ISNt:VS • FANTASIA KVsl I *S HU 1 'H'l< -IS \! x SI >1 k V K IfS i ■ *Fl H J i s'|i to hi "'hi g~% /*(Uffi i I II \l! IrtSi • \ SI W ''ll W ' X H SI 11 k V K v ■ *Si " v ‘1 i 11A HAMS K* ^ f^jn rriRiO tj . WSrllRAl «UWim,U .-W( ,i\\! X « SiUh-Vk \|.m l\l \\ Ml Alii I ‘ »\H1 I WU'1 \MU *1 »" * Mf» ZZ |,M kl I ! \x| blft 4-U I SWIM \1 MSIMJtl. FK I\v* • IV M ClISK ‘ ‘i • *k" W W\l \V VII I tf'SI N 11<M *< v 1 >• \> <£ M2HM A 57 «T v*Ut* Niven CNTN NOW PLAYING 2nd WEEK! Hi Mom and Dad Now about my allowance