A Week at The Airport

A Week at The Airport was written over a period of just a couple weeks. Have you ever been at an airport thinking, stuck through no fault of your own, wondering what would it be to live there for a week? Well I have, and this book explains this exactly.  Alain de Botton, the writer of this book, did just that, he spent one week at the airport taking a taxi back and forth from a close hotel. He spent a total of seven days observing the people in the airport and hotels, the various service industry employees he came across, the structures he was occupying, and the various foods that were available to him. While writing this collection of stories over the course of a few weeks, he explained many different stories and observations he made over the course of that week in the most detail possible.

Alain de Bottom talks a lot about describing the departure and arrivals at the gates. One story that sticks out in my mind is when he sees a young couple trying to leave each other, but cannot bring themselves to separate from each other. This is something we have all seen in our own personal travels through airports, but not something that anyone has ever taken the time to put into words. de Bottom uses such a vivid description that you can't help but propel yourself back to the last airport you were in and see if there was another couple like this, on another day, in another city.   He writes, "It was the intensity of their kiss that first attracted my attention, but what had seemed like passion from afar was revealed at closer range to be an unusual degree of devastation.  She was shaking with sorrowful disbelief as he cradled her in his arms and stroked her wavy black hair, in which a clip shaped like a tulip had been fastened" (de Bottom, 34).

One element to de Bottom's writing that readers must be aware of is his use of diction and syntax. He is clearly a fan of using large, intricate, and uncommon words to describe the most common elements of life. This can make the stories he portrays seem confusing as you try to translate what he writes into every day English. He also uses unique spelling, for example "centre" rather than "center" and "organise" rather than "organize." This is most likely due to the fact that he is French, however for an American, and one who pays attention to correct grammar, this can be a bit of a nag. His syntax can be characterized as sentences on the brink of run-ons. Perhaps it was because the book was written in just a few short weeks, or perhaps it is because he tried so hard to describe what he saw in so much detail that he forgot to use the occasional period or comma to interrupt his stream of consciousness. In any case, his sentences rival the paragraphs of most high school students. A great example of both his diction and syntax can be found on page 21, when de Bottom gives an interesting insight into the world of room service and hotel rooms. He writes, "Along my route, I passed dozens of room-service trays much like my own, each one furtively pushed into the hallway and nearly all (Once their stainless-steel covers were lifted) providing evidence of orgiastic episodes of consumption.  Ketchup smeared across slices of toast and fried eggs dipped in vinaigrette spoke of the breaking of taboos just like the sexual ones more often assumed to be breached during solitary residence in hotel rooms."

While this an interesting book, it can be hard, especially for teenagers, to make it through it without relying on a thesaurus. There are great mini stories that really make you think back to the last time you were in an airport, and it makes you wonder how many little human stories you walked past without giving it a second thought. But, for the average teenager, a alternative to reading this book would be to simply listen to Ani DiFranco's song, "Arrival Gates." It says the same thing, but it's much easier to understand the listen to.