meanieheadbookreviews 's review for:

The World According to Garp by John Irving

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 I love John Irving. He’s such a tremendous writer. I’ve been wanting to watch this movie, but I had to read the book first. Now I’ve done both. The book is significantly better (though it was lovely to see Robin Williams embody the role). It follows a man named Garp from conception to death. His mother is a world famous feminist author and personality. He’s trying to find his own footing in the literary world outside of her. He’s a husband and a father who loves his family (he’s an intensely hands on dad who is very physically affectionate, which is lovely to read), but he struggles to keep his anxieties from manifesting into reality. Irving has this way of straddling heartbreak and humor, and he highlights the absurdity in both. This copy had a forward by Irving, written recently, that really spoke to the time we’re living in, specifically when it comes to the rampant transphobia the current administration is espousing. The trans character in this book, Roberta Muldoon, was groundbreaking at the time. A lot of trans characters who followed were able to exist because of her. Is it ideal that a straight white man did that? No. But considering the era this came out of, it’s still pretty foundational literature. A lover of literary fiction would get a lot out of this book.