A Widow for One Year

Rating:
Summary: The Slide Continues
Review: After going to India with A Son of The Circus, John Irving attempted to return to his madcap, sexual roots with A Widow For One Year. Unfortunately, he has apparently mined this turf so well that he no longer has anything to add. A Widow For One Year is as exciting as watching a checkers game between two contestants who have no desire to win. Ruth is a dismally flat character, as is her father, who should have been more exciting given that he was portrayed as a womanizing geriatric. Hopefully Irving will soon tire of the Dickens length novels he's been writing for so long, and attempt some slimmer works, as Widow could easily have lost two or three hundred pages and been a stronger novel.

Rating:
Summary: This was a fantastic book, to say the least.
Review: I'm thirteen years old, and even I loved this book. This was the first book I've ever read by John Irving and now, I just bought "The World According To Garp" (also by John Irving) because the style Mr. Irving uses is really easy to relate to, even though I have never experienced anything remotely close to what the characters did. Eddie was probably the most interesting character I've ever read. And, (in the beginning it doesn't seem that she'd end up being the main character, but she does) in a way I almost envy Ruth's strength in her life. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Suspiciously Autobiographical
Review: I hadn't read a John Irving book since I was shocked at 12 by The Hotel New Hampshire, when I picked up A Prayer for Owen Meany. After loving that book I naturally began to reacquaint myself with John Irving by reading A Widow for One Year.

This book is very much in the nature of John Irving's previous attempts, giving away information from the beginning but never really giving it all away. It's almost a sideshow prank to get you to keep reading. "Really crazy stuff is about to happen, but I am going to wait a while before I tell you everything." It is definitely what keeps me coming back for more.

Now while I realize this is his first shot at a lead female character, (though I would argue that Garp's mother had a substantially leading prescence for me)Ruth falls short of being "truly" female. His description of her when she is reintroduced as a successful author is rather masculine (black t-shirts, black jeans)but I suppose he counters that by focusing on Ruth's very unmasculine breasts.

Irving's infatuation with mentioning everyone's fascination with Ruth's beautiful breasts is a bit over the top, but does succeed in reminding the reader that Ruth is very much a sexual being, though not typically described as such.

As usual the characters are described with great attention to detail, and I could not help but be interested in their plight. Even the characters that make only a brief appearance, linger in the mind, and make for pleasurable breaks from the main plot.

Getting back to the title, I kept feeling that somehow Irving truly related to his character Ruth and her issues as a writer. But I would not be suprised if when he were confronted with this observation his reaction would be much the same as Ruth's. Perhaps he would sigh and say that he just makes up stories.

I highly reccomend this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but...
Review: While this 500-page novel was entertaining I did not walk away from it with the same energy from when I started it. The majority of the novel was not only entertaining, but very original. Towards the ending it became very cliche. Almost like Irving took the easy way out. He built up these characters and did not seem to know what to do with them at the end. The ending changed the book so drastically for me that I could not enjoy it as much as I had. What was the point?

Rating:
Summary: Answering the question of Ted's suicide.
Review: This is in answer to the reader who "didn't get it" referring to Ted Cole's committing suicide after his daughter caught him bedding her best friend. Ruth trapped her father behind the wheel of his own car (remember the rules of not looking at the passenger while behind the wheel) and told him the story of how she'd bedded his squash partner and how he'd beaten her up. Ted is furious, of course, but Ruth says he can still play squash with the man, because it doesn't matter what happened. She goes on to say that Ted is still her father and Hannah is still her best friend, so none of it matters. What became apparent to me, at this point, was that Ted Cole's past justifications for bedding married women suddenly didn't work anymore. He realized, for once in his life, he was wrong about something big.

Rating:
Summary: Still special
Review: It is getting tougher and tougher to come across good reading these days, and although it is not as good as Owen it is very much worth your money and your time. Once more Irvings men are those weak creatures that need to mess up their own lives before getting on track, but the special women so rare in todays romances always help us enjoy this story in many ways.

Rating:
Summary: A Widow for One Year
Review: Speaking as nobody, I think that Irving writes an excellent book that is hopelessly contrived. Also, his deliberately quirky characters interfere with my ability to suspend disbelief and enjoy a good story.

Rating:
Summary: SOOOO LONG
Review: As a big John Irving fan, I was excited to read this book when it came out. However, I was slightly dissapointed to see that Irving's indulgent tendencies that were always kept at bay before came into the forefront with this novel. Simply put, it is way too long. As a reviewer wrote before, I too was put off by the all-encompassing, nothing-left-to-the-imagination, happy ending. One thought: I thought this book would have been BRILLIANT if it was just the first part. If the book would have ended when Eddie left that summer, I would have given this five stars.

Rating:
Summary: This Rascal Needs Editing
Review: Irving has long been one of my favorite writers, and I have always found a dead spot here and there in his work. But this one is seriously uneven and ponderous. This is not to say that there are not compelling moments within the pages, some well-written, memorable scenes. But the edginess of the novel seems artificial, as if Irving chose his subject this time, not because it grew out of his heart, but to prove that he COULD. This is a writer that really shouldn't feel that he has anything left to prove. The clever plot devices and repetitious metaphors are there as expected, but what seems to be lacking are characters that draw the typical level of reader interest or sympathy.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting story
Review: I consider myself to be a big John Irving fan and for anyone who likes his style of reading I do reccomend reading this book. It was an awesome story and it all came together at the end, however it dragged a little in the middle. If anyone is new to John Irving go straight to A Prayer for Owen Meany, it is definitly is best work!