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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Enjoyed the story..I am a John Irving fan. Some parts of the book did drag for a bit, but I still didnt want to put it down!
This is mostly the story of four characters, Ted Cole, Marion Cole, their daughter Ruth Cole, and Eddie O'Hare, who's been hired as Ted's assistant/chauffeur as Ruth is 4 years old. The story happens at three different stages: when Ruth is 4, 36 and 41 years old, respectively. The first part is more Eddie's story, the last two are more Ruth's story. There's just enough improbability, it's rather funny, sometimes disturbing - it's not my favorite Irving (because that would be Cider House Rules, obviously), but it's still Irving. Weirdly enough, I had read this one a few years ago, a lot of details came back to me while I was reading, but the main story had completely eluded me.
I didn't realize the movie "The Door in the Floor" was based on the first part of this book. (Loved the movie.) Irving definitely has a talent for developing characters. This motley crew wasn't as colorful as Owen Meaney and friends, but they were real. I felt like the book ended too early, but at the same time I thought it was an appropriate finale.
Ruth Cole has had an interesting life. We see her during some of her most defining years.
First we see her at 4 when her mother leaves her father. Mom, Marion, can't live with him anymore, nor does she feel like she is any shape to raise a kid. She is still grieving for the teen boys who died years earlier. She only had sex one more time after their deaths and that became Ruth. Ted, her husband, is a writer and illustrator of popular children's books, but he is also a philanderer. He has a habit of seducing young mothers into bed and proceeds to humiliate them as evidenced by his photo and drawing collection. What gives Marion the will to leave is an affair with a 16-year-old boy, which her husband orchestrated.
Later we see Ruth in her thirties. She is unmarried with a string of bad boyfriends behind her. She has just met her mother's former young lover. (mom hasn't returned to either of them and neither have gotten over it) Her best friend likes to sleep around. And her father hasn't stopped sleeping around, although his drinking has lessened. Ruth needs a change so she is thinking of marrying her editor (an older man) who loves her. Several big life events happen in this section.
Then we see Ruth after her husband has died and left her with a young son. Some of the threads left open in the beginning and the middle come to a close. Ruth, Eddie, and Marion seem to have gotten closure.
This one didn't feel like it was over 500 pages, but it was.
First we see her at 4 when her mother leaves her father. Mom, Marion, can't live with him anymore, nor does she feel like she is any shape to raise a kid. She is still grieving for the teen boys who died years earlier. She only had sex one more time after their deaths and that became Ruth. Ted, her husband, is a writer and illustrator of popular children's books, but he is also a philanderer. He has a habit of seducing young mothers into bed and proceeds to humiliate them as evidenced by his photo and drawing collection. What gives Marion the will to leave is an affair with a 16-year-old boy, which her husband orchestrated.
Later we see Ruth in her thirties. She is unmarried with a string of bad boyfriends behind her. She has just met her mother's former young lover. (mom hasn't returned to either of them and neither have gotten over it) Her best friend likes to sleep around. And her father hasn't stopped sleeping around, although his drinking has lessened. Ruth needs a change so she is thinking of marrying her editor (an older man) who loves her. Several big life events happen in this section.
Then we see Ruth after her husband has died and left her with a young son. Some of the threads left open in the beginning and the middle come to a close. Ruth, Eddie, and Marion seem to have gotten closure.
This one didn't feel like it was over 500 pages, but it was.
I still think about these characters weekly… and I read this book over a decade ago.
The worst John Irving book I've ever read. Thank god I love at least 5 of his other books.
I kept reading this book long after I lost interest. I got to the point that I just really didn't care how it ends.
me he leído esta novela cuatro veces... la última noviembre 2013... creo que no hace falta decir mucho más :)