Rating: 
Summary: Film Friendly / Movie Method Man
Review: Here's what I think. As a novel, it is a bit lighter than usual, but it is refreshingly light. I'm a slow reader, and it was definitely a quick read. It was not bogged down with description. And it was a very linear narrative. Beginning-middle-end. No jumps back and forth in time. Which leads me to believe John wrote this to become a movie. Think about where he was when he was writing this..right on the heels of the Cider House Rules movie. He probably hated having to compromise and cut so much from Garp, Hotel New Hampshire and Cider House Rules, let alone the butchery of Owen Meany/Simon Birch, that this time he said screw it...since they'll probably make a movie, I'll just keep it simple from the start. No extensive backgrounds. No complex subplots. And room for a great looking lead. It will make it easier to jump from book to box office.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: John Irving is one of my favorite authors. His past works - and I've read them all - are so RICH and FULL. His use of words are in and of themselves, beautiful to read. I get close to his characters. I relate to them. They are real to me. In his latest work, Irving does well from the standpoint of pointing out what I call "the ironies of the human condition". He has always excelled at that. But there isn't much substance behind his story. His characters are flat and entice no empathy from this reader. I could love nor hate them. I guess my biggest disappointment are in the words themselves. An Irving phase or sentence could bring tears to my eyes in his other works. Not so with "The Fourth Hand". Like his characters, his words are flat, leaving me feeling ambivalent. I hope that Irving writes another book. I would read it without question. My hours of reading Owen and Garp would draw me back. No home library should be without his work.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best, but entertaining nonetheless...
Review: I've been waiting for this novel for a long time (well, it feels a long time for a die-hard Irving fan!!), and once I got my hands on it I didn't put it down 'til I was finished reading the whole story. I'm conflicted about this work; the story is most entertaining and there are a number of laugh-out-loud moments, thanks to Irving's brilliant turn-of-phrase gifting but this book doesn't have the strong characters of his previous works. I will forever gauge Irving's future writings by the phenomenal (and, in my opinion, most brilliant) work <i>A Prayer for Owen Meany</i>. Alongside <i>Meany</i> this novel cannot catch a dim shine. Wallingford, the main character, is one-dimensional (but that's intentional, I'm sure) and darn-it-all we don't get to see/hear/experience enough of Dr. Sajac. Maybe Irving has plans for the good Dr. in a different novel. I hope so. The women characters are very strong - too strong. They're like sharks circling about, ready to devour. Not enough counter-balancing, quirky, emotional riffing coming from them. Then again, maybe Irving did that deliberately. This work is definitely full of satire! On the other hand, I enjoyed the romp through the typically convoluted-complicated-Irvingesque relationships. The personal collisions at the characters' intersecting one another are great. I think of the make-up girl cleaning up Wallingford's apartment while lambasting her brother Vito on the phone, <i>after</i> Wallingford has told her he's going to ask another woman to marry him - and <i>this</i>after having a wild night in the sack where said make-up girl almost choked to death on her gum. As I noted, it's typical Irving twisted fun. If you've not read John Irving's works before, don't start here. Start with <i>Prayer for Owen Meany, The Cider House Rules,</i> or <i>The World According to Garp.</i> Then go read this novel. It's short, it's fun, and it won't change the world... perfect for a summer break's indulgence by the water at the cottage. Mr. Irving... I'm looking forward to your next work. Don't make us wait too long... but don't short-shift us on your wacky, complicated characters, either! Thank you for another fun literary crack at pen'n'paper!
Rating: 
Summary: watered down Irving deep disappointment
Review: I love John Irving's writing, and picked this book up without even reading the jacket copy. Initially, the story seemed engaging--a television news anchor loses his hand to a lion, becomes known as "the lion guy" and goes to work reporting for a tacky news show--and typical of Irving's wacky outlook. Yet, there was a desultory feeling all the way through the book that all would turn out as expected, and it did. The love story within the novel wasn't at all interesting, maybe because it focused on Patrick's life rather than Doris's. She was the interesting character, in my humble opinion. I had heard that Irving was incredibly persnickety about his books, often changing type after it had been set. What happened to this book? I'll read his next, though. This one just isn't up to the magic he's capable of creating.
Rating: 
Summary: Quintessential Irving.
Review: Five thumbs way, way up for “The Fourth Hand.” This one I’d been waiting for for a while. John Irving is a remarkable storyteller. However, his books (“The World According to Garp,” “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” “The Cider House Rules” and “A Widow For One Year” among them) require a great deal of patience, as the typical Irving novel usually spans decades. But for those willing to sit down and open one up, it’s really worth it. Irving specializes in dynamic characters who will win your heart. And why shouldn’t they? In many a case the reader is able to see Irving’s creations grow from infancy into adulthood. You don’t stay with anyone for that long without getting attached. Another specialty of Irving’s is his tendency to delve into the twisted, weird and bizarre while tackling such heavy-handed issues as rape, death, abortion, sex, incest, sex, sex-change operations, sex, religion, and a lot more sex. Dare I mention the almost infamous scene in “Garp,” in which a young man gets his .... bitten off during a car accident? Or one character’s love affair with a woman in a bear suit in “The Hotel New Hampshire”? But these scenes aren’t gratuitously thrown in for the shake of shocking and scaring away the genteel. At the heart of each Irving novel (with the possible exception of “Son of the Circus”; who knows what Irving was thinking when he penned that stinker?) is the question “What if?” And issues and scenes like those mentioned above are par for the course in getting the story told. “What if a nurse’s young son grows up to be a semi-famous, lust-filled writer and overprotective family man?” (“Garp.”) “What if a midget with a fixed larynx who talks IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS befriends a town orphan and they grow up together, contemplating God, Liberace, the identity of the orphan’s true father and everything in between?” (“Owen Meany.”) “The Fourth Hand,” released in July, is no exception. Here, Irving asks the question, “What if the wife of a hand transplant donor demands visitation?” Patrick Wallingford is a handsome, playboy news reporter who, in the blink of an eye and an extremely gruesome scene, loses his left hand in an accident involving hungry lions. Over time, word comes in from a woman who would like to give him her husband’s hand. The thing is, the husband isn’t dead yet… and I really shouldn’t say anything more. Suffice it to say, “Fourth Hand,” while not quite as large in scope, is Irving business as usual. There are scenes of freakish nature, there are scenes of weird sex (Patrick is seduced by a mourning widow, Patrick seduces a gum-chewing makeup girl), and there’s a storyline involving Dr. Zajac, Patrick’s hand doctor. Zajac scares us at first because he makes it look like Irving is revisiting “Son of the Circus” territory, but we are ultimately disappointed because while Zajac is an incredibly likable character, as are his undernourished son and smitten housekeeper, that storyline ultimately goes nowhere. In the end, “The Fourth Hand” celebrates Irving at his best: Bizarre, yes, but a gifted and truthful storyteller as well. It’s not on the same level as "Garp" and "Owen," but it deserves to sit on the shelf beside them. So put your hands together, there’s a genius at work.
Rating:
Summary: IRVING LITE
Review: I consider John Irving my favorite author of fiction. I always look forward to each new novel. Having read all of his previous works, I have to say that this is definitely not up to his HIGH standards. The characters were not fully developed, nor did his writing entrance my imagination. I was not moved by, nor did I have any strong feelings for, any of the characters. To me the writing was like an outline for a movie (I understand that there is already a movie in the works). This might be one of those rare casees where the movie is better that the novel. If you are looking for a great novel, read "Empire Falls" or any of John Irving's previous books, but not "The Fourth Hand." Hopefully this new novel is one small bump in the road for Mr. Irving and he will return to his high standards with his next effort.
Rating:
Summary: Lions, not bears
Review: All right. I have to admit it. Even when Irving isn't in prime form, his work is more entertaining than that of the average novelist. THE FOURTH HAND is uneven, but it had me giggling aloud as the book progressed. Though less interested in hand transplants than Irving, I was intrigued by the protagonist Wallingford's analysis of the news business. I can imagine Dan Rather cheering aloud at some of Wallingford's insights (Wallingford advances from TV news reporter to anchor in the novel). The problems with this novel? Perhaps Irving needs more space. The first 100 pages seem sketchy; the characters aren't as well-drawn as usual. But by the end of the novel I know and love the main characters, while continuing to dislike the ambitious news women who want not only to seduce Wallingford, but to steal his job. This novel is a masterpiece compared to most of what's out there, but inferior to A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR, OWEN MEANY, CIDER HOUSE RULES, and GARP. THE FOURTH HAND is a fun summer read. Sometimes that's enough.
Rating:
Summary: Not His Best
Review: this is definitely not one of Irving's better works. But still, it's a compelling story --if read quickly; otherwise, I think my interest would have waned about 50 pages in. This is supposedly slated to be filmed, and after reading the book, I can only think: "Why? WHat is the point?" Obviously to cash in on "The Cider House Rules." That one (book and film) was terrific. this one is mediocre. If you're an Irving fan with a few hours to waste, I would suggest "The Fourth Hand." If you haven't read Irving (or read very slowly), try another of his better novels.
Rating:
Summary: a disappointment
Review: I've read everything John Irving has published. This novel has none of the well-developed characters or beautiful turns of phrase of his earlier work. It's a disappointment. For much better work read The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany or Trying to Save Piggy Sneed.
Rating:
Summary: The first half was great, but fizzled towards the end
Review: I liked the first half a lot, but I got bored with the characters by the end of the book. John Irving goes off on tangents and that is part of his charm. I can't explain why the first half of the book was so good, but I later lost interest.
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