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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I've read several John Irving novels and thus far, this is my favorite. He repeats a lot of themes, like older woman/younger man romances, writing about writers, and stories within the story. But some of the moments in this book are unmatched compared with Irving's others, as far as I'm concerned. This book's also got one of the funniest moments I've ever read.
If you like John Irving, especially Garp, you will like this book. Absolutely awful movie made out of it - The Door in the Floor.
I found myself just reading to finish this book, uninvolved either emotionally or intellectually. Love the author, not the book.
I expected more after reading garp but this book is pretty boring. A lot of randomness and nonsense that isn't even entertaining. The size of Ruths breast are apparently a huge importance to this story. As i did while reading garp I wondered who was the main character of this book. I think it's ruth's tits.
Like all John Irving books, his characters are all a little, well, off. They are not typical people, which makes them more interesting. In this novel he contrasts 4 different writers, one a writer of children's books that is more interested in seducing mothers than entertaining children, his daughter who writes popular women's books, her mother who left her at age 4 and writes crime novels focused on missing persons and a very mediocre author who keeps writing about his affair with the mother as a teenager. The scene is set for some interesting interactions between these writers as they come to understand what they mean to each other.
Much of the novel focuses on Ruth and her coming to terms with her philandering father and disappearing mother. Both influence her in ways she is not fully conscious of. Despite her success as a writer, she doesn't have the amount of self confidence you might expect. Yet, she can respond rather aggressively to those that have hurt her. When asked about this in an interview published at the end of my copy, John Irving agreed with her right to revenge and said, "If people take a piece out of you, what's wrong with taking a piece and a half or two pieces out of them? I don't pick fights. I do fight back." So if you imagine that attitude in an insecure female author, you have one taste of this complex character.
One interesting part of the book focuses on the legal prostitution trade in Amsterdam and what life is like for the prostitutes. Irving takes us into a world most of us would not see and brings people in it to life. It's not my favorite John Irving book, but I did enjoy it and the journey into his unusual character's worlds.
Much of the novel focuses on Ruth and her coming to terms with her philandering father and disappearing mother. Both influence her in ways she is not fully conscious of. Despite her success as a writer, she doesn't have the amount of self confidence you might expect. Yet, she can respond rather aggressively to those that have hurt her. When asked about this in an interview published at the end of my copy, John Irving agreed with her right to revenge and said, "If people take a piece out of you, what's wrong with taking a piece and a half or two pieces out of them? I don't pick fights. I do fight back." So if you imagine that attitude in an insecure female author, you have one taste of this complex character.
One interesting part of the book focuses on the legal prostitution trade in Amsterdam and what life is like for the prostitutes. Irving takes us into a world most of us would not see and brings people in it to life. It's not my favorite John Irving book, but I did enjoy it and the journey into his unusual character's worlds.
While I liked some of the thematic elements in this novel, and there were some good scenes, there seemed to be a lot tediousness in between - too much for my liking. But that likely says more about me than the book.
Memorable enough for me to try to figure out what book it was based on the plot, years after first reading it. Not enjoyable enough for me to want to reread.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Full of graphic descriptions of sex & little good morality. But interesting story. Good novelist. Especially interesting was her as a novelist herself describing the process of creating a new book and dealing with her audience.