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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
This is a collection of short stories by Irving, both fiction and nonfiction. Two pieces in the section entitled Homage are particularly interesting, as they deal with the two authors that have probably influenced Irving most: Charles Dickens and Günter Grass.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I really liked learning more about John Irving's life through the non fiction parts of this book.
dark
funny
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This started out strong, but ultimately... it was insanely boring. Well-written, but sooooooo very boring.
funny
informative
slow-paced
I usually love John Irving and this is definitely just as well written as all his other works generally are. I just couldn't get really into this. It was missing so much of what I find poignant and interesting in his work. I think the fact that this isn't really fiction is what's getting to me here. Maybe the fact that it's an audiobook? Not sure, but I had a hard time getting through this one.
It's a collection of John Irving's memoirs and short stories.
I enjoyed reading about how he came to be a writer, and his experiences with books, critics, and other writers. It also sheds some light on why prep schools, Vienna, and wrestling play such a large part in many of his novels. (He went to prep school, he spent time in Vienna, and he's an avid wrestler.) Wrestling, actually, has been such a large part of his life that much of his memoirs read like a Who's Who History of Amateur Wrestling. He gives names and dates and weight classes, scores and play-by-plays of matches. I didn't find those parts so interesting.
I enjoyed reading about how he came to be a writer, and his experiences with books, critics, and other writers. It also sheds some light on why prep schools, Vienna, and wrestling play such a large part in many of his novels. (He went to prep school, he spent time in Vienna, and he's an avid wrestler.) Wrestling, actually, has been such a large part of his life that much of his memoirs read like a Who's Who History of Amateur Wrestling. He gives names and dates and weight classes, scores and play-by-plays of matches. I didn't find those parts so interesting.
In the past I've associated Irving with big sprawling 600 page novels, but as you'd expect he's a splendid writer of short fiction also. Trying To Save Piggy Sneed is a slim collection of six short stories and two essays.
Interior Space is markedly better than the other short stories, in both complexity and pleasure. This really felt like it could've been expanded or incorporated into a full length novel, and, ah, how I wish it were so. Teenage gonorrhea, a boisterous German, new age interior design and a great whopping walnut tree. What a joy.
Another one of my favourites was Brennbar's Rant, in which the cognac swilling, cigar smoking, pockmarked Ernst Brennbar disrupts a snobby dinner party conversation on the validity of different minorities groups by ranting on the injustices experienced by the most discriminated against minority group of them all: pimpled people. Zitism, the unmentioned prejudice against those of us with temperamental skin. A hilarious, balanced, perfectly realised story.
It was also a delight to reread The Pension Grillparzer, though I hadn't forgotten much since reading The World According To Garp almost precisely one year ago. I wasn't quite as enamoured this time as I was the first time round, but it's still a charming, chucklesome tale.
The rest are all inventive and memorable little squibs, apart from one dud (Almost In Iowa). A satisfying collection if you're in need of a burst of Irving's antics, but can't be bothered committing to a longer work.
Interior Space is markedly better than the other short stories, in both complexity and pleasure. This really felt like it could've been expanded or incorporated into a full length novel, and, ah, how I wish it were so. Teenage gonorrhea, a boisterous German, new age interior design and a great whopping walnut tree. What a joy.
Another one of my favourites was Brennbar's Rant, in which the cognac swilling, cigar smoking, pockmarked Ernst Brennbar disrupts a snobby dinner party conversation on the validity of different minorities groups by ranting on the injustices experienced by the most discriminated against minority group of them all: pimpled people. Zitism, the unmentioned prejudice against those of us with temperamental skin. A hilarious, balanced, perfectly realised story.
It was also a delight to reread The Pension Grillparzer, though I hadn't forgotten much since reading The World According To Garp almost precisely one year ago. I wasn't quite as enamoured this time as I was the first time round, but it's still a charming, chucklesome tale.
The rest are all inventive and memorable little squibs, apart from one dud (Almost In Iowa). A satisfying collection if you're in need of a burst of Irving's antics, but can't be bothered committing to a longer work.