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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
When I was younger, I was obsessed with John Irving. "The World According to Garp" meant a lot to me in my formative reading years.
So, when I saw John Irving had a new one out, I felt like I had to read it.
I am glad I did.
It is a slog, but in a good way. It is over 900 pages!
It feels like quintessential Irving.
I feel like the narrator Adam, is the least important of all the characters and yet he is surrounded but wonderful and strange women and does a good job telling their stories.
I forgot Irving could be so funny. There were many times I laughed out loud for real.
It is a journey of life, of meaning, or family.
It is a love story and a ghost story.
It is fantastical and silly.
It is deep with unforgettable characters.
So, when I saw John Irving had a new one out, I felt like I had to read it.
I am glad I did.
It is a slog, but in a good way. It is over 900 pages!
It feels like quintessential Irving.
I feel like the narrator Adam, is the least important of all the characters and yet he is surrounded but wonderful and strange women and does a good job telling their stories.
I forgot Irving could be so funny. There were many times I laughed out loud for real.
It is a journey of life, of meaning, or family.
It is a love story and a ghost story.
It is fantastical and silly.
It is deep with unforgettable characters.
Overwritten by half and still thoroughly enjoyable. Compelling characters, engaging plot, perfect metaphor.
Definitely some interesting themes throughout the book; loved how it included some history of the LGBTQ+ community. However I did not realize how long this book was when I started it because I was on my Kindle, so that definitely took me for a spin. I have very mixed emotions about the book just because I felt like I maybe was missing a little background context or something like why the main character was telling this story in the first place.
This book wandered and wove at points but it was a great book. I loved it. The crazy unconventional family reminded me of my own and the exploration of sexual and gender identity was much needed and refreshing
I don’t know who has changed. Is it Irving? Is it me? Either way, he has slowly and steadily been losing my interest. I’m sure he’s losing sleep over it.
I have loved John Irving's books over the years, starting with when I first read "The World According to Garp" in college. I so wanted to love this book. I plowed through it slowly, never giving up, in the hopes that at some point I would feel the 889 pages were worth it. But, alas, the payoff was mediocre. There were lots of great story elements, but there were too many characters, too much focus on ghosts (even if used as a proxy for memory), and too much shoe-horning of messages that detracted from the main ones (diversity, individualism, and human rights). I could use those hours back.
This boom was a mess- and yet I’m still giving it 4 stars. The characters will stay with me for a really long time. Really good character development here. Plot? Not so much. But the characters carry you on.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No