This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields - a feminist leader ahead of her times. It is also the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes - even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with 'lunacy and sorrow'; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. It provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."
The World According To Garp (Black Swan)
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"Absolutely extraordinary...a roller-coaster ride that leaves one breathless, exhausted, elated and tearful" (Los Angeles Times )
"A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking. You know it is true. It is also terrific" (The Washington Post )
"Like all great works of art, Irving's novel seems always to have been there, a diamond sleeping in the dark, chipped out at last for our enrichment and delight...As approachable as it is brilliant, Garp pulses with vital energy" (Cosmopolitan )
"Like all extraordinary books, The World According to Garp defies synopsis" (Chicago Sun Times )
"A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking. You know it is true. It is also terrific" (The Washington Post )
"Like all great works of art, Irving's novel seems always to have been there, a diamond sleeping in the dark, chipped out at last for our enrichment and delight...As approachable as it is brilliant, Garp pulses with vital energy" (Cosmopolitan )
"Like all extraordinary books, The World According to Garp defies synopsis" (Chicago Sun Times )
Book Description
A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Ms. S. Cross
Format:Paperback
This is truly my favourite book ever! A fabulous story about the life of Garp from conception until death.(and a very unusual conception it was).
The reader experiences Garps life with him. His unusual mother and upbringing. The characters he encounters are thoroughly enjoyable. Particularly Roberta Muldoon. It is a story that makes you laugh and cry and I was teary at the end. My next pet whether it be male or female is going to be named Garp!
A lot of John Irving's usual themes are present in the book, New England, wrestling, animals etc. This is my favourite John Irving title and the film with Robin Williams starring as Garp fails to do it any justice at all.
I would reccomend this book as a great flowing story about life with but with Irving style quirkyness.
The reader experiences Garps life with him. His unusual mother and upbringing. The characters he encounters are thoroughly enjoyable. Particularly Roberta Muldoon. It is a story that makes you laugh and cry and I was teary at the end. My next pet whether it be male or female is going to be named Garp!
A lot of John Irving's usual themes are present in the book, New England, wrestling, animals etc. This is my favourite John Irving title and the film with Robin Williams starring as Garp fails to do it any justice at all.
I would reccomend this book as a great flowing story about life with but with Irving style quirkyness.
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
That is, if you have as good an imagination as John Irving.
I had heard great things about John Irving, and had it not been for this fact I would have never launched myself into a 600 page novel. I am easily bored. Even despite its recommendations I was still unprepared for how I would react to The World According to Garp.
The novel begins by narrating the unusual circumstances surrounding Garp's entrance into the world, i.e. from the perspective of his mother. Although its is a long book, I really felt that every word was necessary, and points are woven together throughout the novel. The story climaxes towards the end, by which time you are grateful for the extra pages.
Garp is a writer, and this book is about writing, and the world 'according to a writer,' and especially a father. Irving writes in his afterword that his book is about a father's fear of losing his children. He says: "I'm just a father with a good imagination. In my imagination I lose my children every day."
The fun thing is we get to read Garp's writing, too, and his best work, a short story called The Pension Grillparzer (don't ask!) has actually been published as a separate book in its own right. We get to know Garp through his writing and through the other characters, as well as through Irving's voice. A very inventive novel, pushing the boundaries of fiction, not just its shape, but its subject too.
This book made me laugh. The comedy is so closely intertwined with the tragedy that you feel personally involved with the joke. You experience pain with humour, tragedy with farce, and warmth all the way through. You never know what is going to happen next. I know what I'm going to do next: read some more Irving!
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This really is a wonderful book; alternately hysterically funny and surreal, and at one point heartbreakingly sad. From the very first page, you are drawn into Garp's peculiar world. The characters are fully-developed and the plot races along at a cracking pace.
It's a bit of a cliché to say that a book can make you laugh and also make you cry, but in this case it's true. If this is the first John Irving book you read, it certainly won't be the last.
Set aside a couple of completely free days to read it - once you start, you won't want to put it down.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An enthralling work of fiction
I chose to purchase this book on the recommendation of a friend.
I found the subtle characterisations to be incredibly detailed and skilfully woven into the storyline. Read more
I found the subtle characterisations to be incredibly detailed and skilfully woven into the storyline. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr Drain
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best
I chose to read John Irving for the first time whilst deciding on a topic for my English coursework in sixth form. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Emily1789
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Fun
There's not many books that make me laugh out loud but this was one of them. Rather rude, er, very rude in places but thoroughly enjoyable despite the black humour. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Firebird
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and captivating
From his somewhat unusual conception through to the end of his life, we follow the life of the rather solitary, independent thinker who is T.S. Garp. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Benjamin
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable novel - sometimes too affectedly 'weird'
This is one of Irving's earlier books. He is justly famous for it, and for HNH, but it is not as good as his later stuff - he seems to be working through some personal issues, and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jezza
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic book
This is a great book- very funny in parts, original ideas throughout and some very sad moments too (I even cried at one point-if you have read it you may know which part). Read more
Published 22 months ago by Seasider
3.0 out of 5 stars
mediocre comic novel on sex, gender, and feminism
While I may be in the minority here, this novel failed for me. Perhaps my expectations were too high - this is supposed to be one of America's most distinguished novelists - but I... Read more
Published 23 months ago by rob crawford
5.0 out of 5 stars
the world according to garp
this book is absolutely amazing, it is moving, funny and engaging. I am an avid book reader and until now if someone had asked me my favourite book I really would not have been... Read more
Published 24 months ago by becks1
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't live up to the hype
Read the book because of all the rave reviews. Found it very good in parts but in the whole too disjointed, too long and a surfeit of tragic events. Read more
Published on 30 April 2011 by Alastair Ramlakan
5.0 out of 5 stars
have to buy yet again
My all time favourite read. I always come back to it to re-read every few years. I am on my 5th. copy currently due to lending it out to others who never return it. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2011 by reader
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