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A review by bittersweet_symphony
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
3.0
I was skeptical when I picked up this book while attending one of Irving's 2015 book tour events. It sat on my shelf since, as I needed a break from his lengthy, slow-paced novels. I thought, "He has a book set in Mexico and the Philippines?!?" And, for the most part, it worked.
First, where does it fit in relation to the Irving Canon?
-Tier 1: The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany
-Tier 2: The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, Last Night in Twisted River
-Tier 3 A Widow for a Year, Until I find You
(I haven't read his other novels, which are unlisted.)
I'd place Avenue of Mysteries somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3.
Second, it covers the usual territory we'd expect—and mostly love—when reading a John Irving novel: orphans, prostitutes, an orphanage, a mild-mannered and mostly inoffensive protagonist writer who resembles JI (this novel's hero even happens to be named Juan Diego!), vulgar and dominating female characters, tragic accidents, and a circus: and unusual sexual situations.
This novel was more self-referential than any of his others. Juan Diego is an author who not only has his own "abortion novel," but a novel about the circus, and being the recipient of criticisms or speculations similar to the ones Irving has received himself about his own writing: "It wasn't that Juan Diego wasn't political, but, as a fiction writer, he was wary of people who presumed they knew what his politics were (or should be)." (The author has a long-standing debate with a traditional Catholic author, a former student, about abortion and the evils of the Catholic church.)
Hearkening back to The Cider House Rules, we encounter a scene in which a character goes on a diatribe about the "rules" of the Catholic church, their harm, and the need to subvert such arbitrary and damaging precedents.
I was happy this novel avoided the 3/5ths slump that pervades most of his novels (partially achieved by the fact that AoM is a hundred or so pages shorter than his others).
In the end, it was enjoyable to be in the mind of John Irving again. I expect we'll see one more novel from him but, I truly hope he'll explore new territory—and please, John, can you give us better female characters?
First, where does it fit in relation to the Irving Canon?
-Tier 1: The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany
-Tier 2: The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, Last Night in Twisted River
-Tier 3 A Widow for a Year, Until I find You
(I haven't read his other novels, which are unlisted.)
I'd place Avenue of Mysteries somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3.
Second, it covers the usual territory we'd expect—and mostly love—when reading a John Irving novel: orphans, prostitutes, an orphanage, a mild-mannered and mostly inoffensive protagonist writer who resembles JI (this novel's hero even happens to be named Juan Diego!), vulgar and dominating female characters, tragic accidents, and a circus: and unusual sexual situations.
This novel was more self-referential than any of his others. Juan Diego is an author who not only has his own "abortion novel," but a novel about the circus, and being the recipient of criticisms or speculations similar to the ones Irving has received himself about his own writing: "It wasn't that Juan Diego wasn't political, but, as a fiction writer, he was wary of people who presumed they knew what his politics were (or should be)." (The author has a long-standing debate with a traditional Catholic author, a former student, about abortion and the evils of the Catholic church.)
Hearkening back to The Cider House Rules, we encounter a scene in which a character goes on a diatribe about the "rules" of the Catholic church, their harm, and the need to subvert such arbitrary and damaging precedents.
I was happy this novel avoided the 3/5ths slump that pervades most of his novels (partially achieved by the fact that AoM is a hundred or so pages shorter than his others).
In the end, it was enjoyable to be in the mind of John Irving again. I expect we'll see one more novel from him but, I truly hope he'll explore new territory—and please, John, can you give us better female characters?