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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Imagining something is better than remembering something.",
By jr@tesson.demon.co.uk (Dorset, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The World According To Garp (Black Swan) (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!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The World According To Garp (Black Swan) (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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Read,
By
This review is from: The World According To Garp (Black Swan) (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.
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