John Irving (1) (1942–)

The last time I read anything by this author was back in 1978, or thereabouts, when I read "The World According to Garp" which I didn't really care for. I wasn't all that captivated by the movie version of his "Cider House Rules", so wasn't in a hurry to read anything else by him, but a patron at the public library I was working in recommended this so I added it to my "want to read" list, where I think it sat for about a year. It's very long, especially if you listen to the audio version, but quite well-narrated, and really quite good. I was nearly finished when I played the beginning of it for my husband, and due to his interest, I ended up listening to the entire thing I'd already heard and then finally got to hear the end.
I liked the many references to classic literature, the characters of the two boys, and their friendship. Another thing I especially like is that at no time, despite its length, does it wander aimlessly leaving you wondering if the author has any idea how it will end.… (more)

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book, though overall it was pretty good. First, I'd like to note that going into the book I knew nothing about it except that people had told me "it's a guy book". Honestly, after reading the book, I don't really see why. It discussed feminism in great detail, and though the protagonist was male and occasionally took issue with feminism, he was not really divisive in any way. In other words, only women looking to find fault in the book would dislike it, and they would do so for the wrong reasons.

Generally, the book was funny. If I had to describe it, I would say it was a very holistic tale of a writer's life and personal beliefs. It's told from a great perspective and is generally very readable. My only real issues with the text were the fact that Irving has a somewhat morbid fascination with maiming his characters and Irving's overwhelming use of "returning characters". The former is pretty self explanatory, and the latter was simply an issue that may have been unique to me. I find it frustrating when characters introduced in the beginning come back to kill other characters later for strange reasons. It makes the book less believable, and the world of the novel becomes too small.

Overall, it was worth the read, but I'm not sure why it's considered such a classic. Perhaps just because it was such a frank and well written depiction of a man's life?… (more)