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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this a while ago, and then the novel was donated to my Little Free Library Shed, so I re-visited it again. I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.
This is a New York times Notable Book. The author is also well known for The World According to Garp.
He is a quirky writer.
He has a way of creating unusual characters, and in this book he has done it again here.
The book is divided into 3 sections. Section 1: Ruth Cole is 4 years old. Section 2: She is an unmarried and successful novelist in her 30's. Section 3: she is a widow of 41.
We may not get really much about Ruth, in the first section. We are finding out more about people, dead and alive who shaped her life. As we move on through the book, we continue to meet others, as well as watch Ruth grow and evolve.
The author's characters are rich with details. There was much for me to gain from each character. I needed to understand them. But there was also much to gain from the background stories.
This book is a lengthy journey, and at times I felt like I wanted to skim read, but always found a way to stop, and go back because it was so rich in prose.
Besides, I believe, Irving realizes that interesting characters are multi-dimensional, and in creating them this way, he always finds a way to give readers a "happy ending."
And that is what I needed.
This is a New York times Notable Book. The author is also well known for The World According to Garp.
He is a quirky writer.
He has a way of creating unusual characters, and in this book he has done it again here.
The book is divided into 3 sections. Section 1: Ruth Cole is 4 years old. Section 2: She is an unmarried and successful novelist in her 30's. Section 3: she is a widow of 41.
We may not get really much about Ruth, in the first section. We are finding out more about people, dead and alive who shaped her life. As we move on through the book, we continue to meet others, as well as watch Ruth grow and evolve.
The author's characters are rich with details. There was much for me to gain from each character. I needed to understand them. But there was also much to gain from the background stories.
This book is a lengthy journey, and at times I felt like I wanted to skim read, but always found a way to stop, and go back because it was so rich in prose.
Besides, I believe, Irving realizes that interesting characters are multi-dimensional, and in creating them this way, he always finds a way to give readers a "happy ending."
And that is what I needed.
Excellent discourse on autobiographical fiction vs. "straight" fiction. Also, if you've not been able to "see" yourself as a writer, this may help.
Can't say I liked this book but it definitely kept my interest and luckily for me it the author did wrap up the numerous storylines by the end so I got 'closure'!
The first half of the book was brilliant -- endearing, complicated, flawed and believable characters, quirky situations, authentic emotion. And then somehow it all just...Petered out. Ruth is a very unlikeable, uninteresting protagonist, and also a poor writer herself! I couldn't make myself care about her or her horrid best friend or the older Eddie O'Hare. To quote an internet meme, "I am disappoint."
Not sure how the author of one of my very favorite books of all time (A Prayer for Owen Meany) could also be the author of such an awful novel, but that's what seems to have happened. This book was simply terrible, from the oversexed plot lines to the never-ending theme of family dysfunction...it was relentless. If you want to try out John Irving, read Owen Meany or Cider House Rules instead.