John Irving
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A Prayer for Owen Meany is in my top five. Also loved Cider House Rules, A Widow for One Year, The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The Fourth Hand. I haven’t read most of his more recent novels. Which should I read next????
Well, Last Night at Twisted River is in my top three. I loved it.
I just read this one over the summer. Great story. I started A Son of the Circus, too, but can't get past Chapter Nine. I'm on a mission...maybe in my twilight years I'll return to it.
You mean next year?I just read this one over the summer. Great story. I started A Son of the Circus, too, but can't get past Chapter Nine. I'm on a mission...maybe in my twilight years I'll return to it.
In One Person and Until I Find You were good, too, but completely different. The latter lacked his usual eccentric and riotous humor.
skimom2 I can't remember if you liked Until I Find You. I think you gave it a thumbs up but didn't think it was his best? I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
skimom2 I can't remember if you liked Until I Find You. I think you gave it a thumbs up but didn't think it was his best? I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Hands down bar none: A Prayer For Owen Meany!!!!! This is the most marvelous novel as it has everything- you laugh, you cry, it becomes a part of you. Once read you will never forget Owen Meany. He is one of those characters that comes to life and lives on long after you have read the last page and closed the book. I could hear his 'voice' in my head as Irving describes it so uniquely. This novel is a treasure!
I've read Owen Meany, Cider House, Garp and Hotel New Hampshire. I didn't care for the
incestuous storyline
100%. I read it for the third time last summer and it still impacted me in all the ways you described. I know time alone decides which books become classics but this book is gradually gaining that status.
I just read this one over the summer. Great story. I started A Son of the Circus, too, but can't get past Chapter Nine. I'm on a mission...maybe in my twilight years I'll return to it.
Did not like The Fourth Hand at all. I was bored. It's always interesting how people take in different works. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it!
Maybe my expectations were low, I judged the scant size and figured it would be a waste of time. I'm used to his longer and complicated plots. I was surprised that I liked it and found the intricate way the characters' lives came together interesting. The woman donated her husband's hand to a recent amputee and they form a physical relationship, lol...seems farcical but I thought it was touching, albeit strange.
No excuses why you enjoyed it. Some books just speak to us at certain times in our lives. Certain writing techniques or plots -- it's all good and interesting. It makes us all interesting.
I know, I just thought you'd like to know my take. I enjoy hearing people rave about a book I didn't like. In some cases I may even want to give it another chance. (Not saying you do. Ha. )
I am definitely interested in what you see that I didn't. Sometimes I think the matter of connecting or not to a piece has to do with where we are personally in our own lives if that makes sense. Something about that particular music, story, movie etc... just makes an impact on us that maybe if we experienced earlier or later, we might not have felt the same. It's really fascinating.
I didn't like it much at all. A case where the writer is too close to the subject to be objective, I think. Maybe his weakest book.
Absolutely.
Psst... You're going to give The Grapes of Wrath another spin before you die, right? Ha!
Good thing I didn't bet the farm. Lol
I absolutely am. I have said that for years. Steinbeck's writing is amazing, it was just the story I couldn't get on board with it . But, I read it in college and not a lot of hardship or life experiences under my belt to appreciate it. I think now that I've done some growing up and have had more real adult life experience, I will sympathize and empathize with their feelings and struggles better.