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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book, but then again I took it to be a comedy. Maybe not the most bright and cheery comedy, but it certainly is good at pointing out the foibles people have. I really enjoyed the writing style of Irving too.
I would have given this 4.5/5 if there was any sort of logical rating system on this app.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Coming across this book years after I read it reminds me how much I used to love Irving. I think I read like 4 or 5 of his books in less than 2 years (a lot for one author, for me.) and then...? I don’t know. I guess the winds of fate shifted and sent me to authors. Wouldn’t mind delving deeper into his back catalogue someday though.
Anyway, I remember the trans character was portrayed sympathetically, though I’d probably cringe at her scenes were I to read it again.
And... everything else I might remember had been supplanted by Robin Williams doing his thing in the movie.
Anyway, I remember the trans character was portrayed sympathetically, though I’d probably cringe at her scenes were I to read it again.
And... everything else I might remember had been supplanted by Robin Williams doing his thing in the movie.
This book was delightful. Irving’s writing is concise and comic, his characters fresh and familiar. He masterfully will sow some seeds — motifs, little details, seemingly “side stories” — and then have huge crescendos up to a climax where those once innocuous details crash together in an epic, tragic incident that was both out-of-nowhere but also completely inevitable. It’s a wholly original book, but like all Irving novels, you’re so engrossed that it feels more like a folk tale or your family history than spectacle.
This book was waaaaay too long. The main character literally had to die to get the book to end. And even after Garp did die, there was still another chapter detailing the lives (and deaths) of all his friends and relations.
The book was lots of fun to read in the beginning. I think if it had ended after Garp and his mom had returned from Europe I’d have rated the book 4 stars, for it was funny and shocking and weird.
Instead the book just drug on forever and became tedious. Like, John Irving was absolutely paid by the word. I’m really just glad it’s over.
The book was lots of fun to read in the beginning. I think if it had ended after Garp and his mom had returned from Europe I’d have rated the book 4 stars, for it was funny and shocking and weird.
Instead the book just drug on forever and became tedious. Like, John Irving was absolutely paid by the word. I’m really just glad it’s over.