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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
After 9 hrs I just couldn’t listen to anymore. Also I hated Garp’s writing.
OK. So I like John Irving, but it has amazingly taken me most of my adult life to actually finish one of his books. There is no question that he is a great writer and takes on nothing short of the meaning of life itself. That said, I have lately been having a hard time identifying with the main characters in books such as the World According to Garp, and prior to that Updike's first two Rabbit Novels. I enjoyed the writing and the story, and the main thing that kept me from listing this as one of my favorite books was a general dislike of the main characters. So many books from the "previous generation" seem to feature a main character who is male, not happily married, and struggling to reconcile their station in life with a taste for illicit adventures with women other than their wives. I realize I am not being super objective by jumping in and judging the actions of fictional characters, but I could not help but have T.S. Garp remind me of Rabbit from Updike. In both cases they are high school athletes, then marry and have children young, then can't seem to keep sex within their marriage, the suffer when their children are involved in accidents.
Worth the read. I ended up with this as it was one of the few available books in Chamonix written in English and it has long been on my radar. Irving is clearly very talented and the simple fact that I had issues with Garp is likely evidence that he created the character very well.
Worth the read. I ended up with this as it was one of the few available books in Chamonix written in English and it has long been on my radar. Irving is clearly very talented and the simple fact that I had issues with Garp is likely evidence that he created the character very well.
Heard so much about this book over the years. I really expected to like it more.
T.S. Garp helped me understand my disdain for television—“Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer’s irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn’t reading.”
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Murder
An incredibly well written, pervasive, and deeply emotional book. At first blush, the World According to Garp is feminist novel, absolutely; and while it is a testament to not only the hardship that women endure, it is equally an embodiment of the fear of the unknown undertow; beautifully, and in its own quiet brutality, it conveys the pain of loving the ones dearest to you so much, that you find that the world you've constructed is still unsafe for them to live in.
This is a book about women and their struggle, yes; about lust and its incessant ramifications; about marriage, children, writing and reading; it is about sex, love, and death. In the World According to Garp, we may all indeed be terminal cases, but it is the memory of life, and the energy we create and put towards the future, that gives our humorous and tragic inevitability a touching, and tangible value.
This is a book about women and their struggle, yes; about lust and its incessant ramifications; about marriage, children, writing and reading; it is about sex, love, and death. In the World According to Garp, we may all indeed be terminal cases, but it is the memory of life, and the energy we create and put towards the future, that gives our humorous and tragic inevitability a touching, and tangible value.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, War
A prayer for Owen Meany was my favorite book in high school and after having Friday Night Lights give a shout out to Garp I thought I'd revisit John Irving. I really liked the first 100 pages but lost interest and quit at 210. I feel bad, but not bad enough to keep reading.