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A review by caitlin21521
A Widow for One Year by John Irving
3.0
Difficult to read. I loved Garp & Cider House Rules, which seems to be a general consensus for the majority of Irving's readers, but this book did not hit the same note with me that those two did. It didn't even read like it was written by him. Some aspects of the book were interesting, and I quite like them, such as Ted Cole's stories for children & the way that he told his stories. I also liked following Harry for the short time we knew him before he actually met Ruth. What I didn't like, except for the entirety of the red light district section, was the middle of the novel. It was hard to get through; I simply didn't care about Ruth or Hannah or even Eddie. It was nothing to do with a "recycled theme", it was that Irving's characters weren't rich and full of life in this novel like they usually are. They all seemed like vapid characters, difficult to know and understand and it was hard to see what they could be like.
What I did find interesting were the responses that Ruth received about her novels, particularly on the issues of childbirth and abortion -- that she had never had a child, been pregnant or had an abortion so how would she know what it was like? Clearly, Irving has been criticized for these same reasons (particularly regarding The Cider House Rules) and perhaps this was his thinly veiled retort.
What I did find interesting were the responses that Ruth received about her novels, particularly on the issues of childbirth and abortion -- that she had never had a child, been pregnant or had an abortion so how would she know what it was like? Clearly, Irving has been criticized for these same reasons (particularly regarding The Cider House Rules) and perhaps this was his thinly veiled retort.