Back in 5th Grade, I was sure I wanted to be an architect. Coming home from school, I would usually spend the afternoon alone at the little balcony above our living room where I kept a steel desk and a wooden drafting board, a can of fine-tip pens and sharpened pencils, and a pile of square-ruled sheets scavenged from my dad’s office. When I wasn’t trying my hand at drawing floor plans, my imagination would likely be at work on the renovation of some Baroque interior I found in the pages of Architectural Digest. “Simplicity is beauty,”
my brother taught me. And in those adolescent years my tastes were already attuned to the sleek geometry of modern buildings. Architecture was a portal to the future, and the future—back in the 90’s, at least—looked like a glass cube.
But it was not the future that drew the first outlines of the modern home. Years before the Nazis stormed the streets of Czechoslovakia, a wealthy Jewish couple commissioned German visionary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to build them a house that would challenge tradition. And the resulting Villa Tugendhat—with its steel frames and plate-glass walls—was not only a defiance against old conventions, it was the statement of an emerging design revolution. Now, more than half a century after the Tugendhat family left their iconic home, best-selling author Simon Mawer conceives a sweeping tale that imagines the lives that danced, played, loved and wept inside that early masterpiece of modern design.
What the reader will soon observe when reading The Glass Room is its elaborately sensual writing. Mawer’s prose carries a strong feeling of arousal, an atmosphere so evocative of the very moment of seduction. It’s a curious divergence from the cold composure of the house that inspired the title. But with the various affairs consummated behind its naked walls, the house itself eventually transforms into a theatre that’s never in lack of a hot blooded cast. And taking center stage (and the roles of the original Tugendhat couple) in this passionate tragedy is Viktor and Liesel Landauer—the dazzling, young tycoons whose eager embrace of modernity is further roused by the charismatic architect Rainer von Abt and his dream to “take Man out of the cave and . . . give him a glass space to inhabit.” Abt is hired to realize the dream and the hopeful newlyweds soon settle in their avant-garde abode: Der Glasraum.
But Man had less-hopeful plans in mind. Still haunted by the ghosts of the Great War, Europe soon drifts into another conflict and Viktor—threatened by the tensions surfacing both inside and outside the glass house—is forced to flee with his family to save them from the horrible implications of his Jewish origin. Over several decades, the house is left to a series of characters—each one bringing in a piece of history, and each one leaving with a new sense of awakening—until the inevitable return of its original masters.
There’s a popular saying that went through my head as I read the novel: “Make Love, Not War.”
And it’s a great slogan. But as more steamy scenes are enacted inside the Glass Room, I found myself growing more interested about the war and less about the actors making love. In more than one occasion, I simply muttered: “Wait, don’t say it. Let me guess . . . They’re having sex again.” Thankfully, the book’s many pages of brilliance are not confined to acts that take place between the sheets. In Mawer’s skillful hands, this emphatic play of bliss and misery comes out beautifully poetic—and just barely voyeuristic.
The Glass Room
Other Press (2009)
Villa Tugendhat was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
I’d like to thank Susan Wolf of Other Press for sending me a copy of this book.
mark,
thanks for your thoughtful review of The Glass Room. I do want to read this one, but the reviews have been very mixed it seems. I guess it is one of the books that I will just have to try for myself.
Incisive review, Mark David, as clear and sharp as the glass house itself.
Great review! I’ve been looking for this book. Is it available in Manila? Where?
@diane: yes, I imagine the reviews would be mixed on this one
Personally I think it deserves being a finalist for the 2009 Booker Prize. But as I’ve said in the review, the frequent occurrence of love scenes in the story kind of put it off for me. It came to a point when I somehow felt those scenes were no longer integral to the story. But still, I can see how others might fall in love with it because it does have a good plot and the writing is just beautiful.
@Suko: Thanks for dropping by. I should admit to you that I rewrote this review at least around 20 times over the course of three weeks, but I still couldn’t feel like I’ve expressed my feelings about the book as precisely as I wanted. But I’m very glad that you appear to have understood what I was trying to say
@The Literary Stew: Oh unfortunately I haven’t seen it at bookstores yet. My copy was sent by the publisher for review. I’ve seen another book by Other Press at National Bookstore before, so if this ever comes out in Manila I’m guess it’ll be at National Bookstore. I do hope Fully Booked and Powerbooks sell it. If I ever find it, I’ll let you know.
David: I can see that the title, the Glass House, would suggest a bit of voyeurism
with the sexy love scenes! Excellent review!
Haha! That’s an excellent observation Harvee
Now I remember that I intended to note that in the review—that it sounds interesting how a house that’s supposed be transparent to the outside world happens to be a place of secrets. But I just got tires of composing and forgetten all about it. The book, I remember, also says something along these lines—but in a much more dramatic manner, of course 
Mark — I didn’t know publishers send books to Manila based bloggers. How did you manage that? I’d love to know.
I boldly took a chance and wrote to a number of publishers some time ago, pointing them to my blog and requesting for particular books (ones which I was sure I would enjoy). The person I contacted in Other Press happened to be so nice and thoughtful, and that’s how it all started. It’s just a pity that she has already left the company, so I have no contact at the moment. My arrangement with Other Press is (or was) just fantastic because they only send me books I specifically requested, and thus it’s quite of a win-win situation since I’m never forced to read something I’m not interested in and they only get good reviews from me
I guess it also helped that I was recommended by an American blogger whom they regularly send books to.
And, oh yeah, I also have a knack for winning book raffles from other blogs, hehe... I just LOVE the blogging community
Have this one in my queue and can’t wait to get to it. Even more so after your review. And don’t worry about loss of contact. I am sure they have a record of your relationship and the next person will be just as helpful.
I too wanted to be an architecture when I was young! Alas it never happened and we seem to follow the same path
.
Oops I meant an architect, of course
Interesting review, Mark. I like the way you constructed it. Architecture as seduction (well, why not?); and I was just thinking about reading being an act of voyeurism. And so it goes...
@Frances: Oh I hope you enjoy it! I loved the writing and would have given it 5 stars instead of 4 if only I didn’t get a little tired of the sex scenes in the latter part of the book... And you know, by the way, that I should also be thanking you for this book
@Mee: Well at least we both ended up architecting software, hehe... Hmm, I’m beginning to think that you’re a long-lost sister of mine or something. You could pass for a Filipino-Chinese, you know
@ds: Oh you’re too kind my dear friend. It’s always a delight to have you reading here... Yes, I must say that there are a number of modern buildings that can look “sexy”. Architecture is also art, anyway. About reading, hmm, I think I understand your thoughts there, especially since in many cases what drives us to read is a certain curiosity for another one’s life, a kind of lust for what is to us unknown or unexperienced
Such an insightful and well-written review, as always, Mark David. I know what you mean about overly frequent sex scenes coming to seem superfluous to the book as a whole...I love a good sex scene as much as the next person, but I started having that reaction to Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife after a while. Still, I’m tempted to read this one for the lovely writing, especially as I’m interested in mid-century architecture. Thanks again!
Sounds like a great read–and I thought your post was exceptionally well written. Thanks for sharing.
@Emily: You know it always makes me smile when you enjoyed my post
Yes, good sex scenes can do wonders for a book, but I guess I can say that this story was so good that I just wanted to know what happens next and skip all the foreplay. I’ve seen A Reliable Wife before and I thought it might be interesting. Might check that out someday... And oh, I love your avatar. That image is now like your online identity 
@Pilgrimchick: And thank you so much for saying that. It’s always great to be appreciated
This book is sitting patiently on my shelf waiting to be read, and I can’t wait to get to it. Glad to see you liked it.
I’ve linked to your review on the Book Reviews: WWII page on War Through the Generations.
Wow, thanks Anna! That’s an interesting review site. I must admit, I like reading stories set in wartime. In fact I just posted a review of another one today