A Widow for One Year

Rating:
Summary: Irritatingly simplistic
Review: John Irving is too idiosyncretic a writer to doubt that the same person who wrote 'A son of the circus', which was immensely entertaining and captured the flavour of Bombay amazingly well, allthough he had been there for only two weeks, has now written 'A widow for one year', which is boring and irritatingly simplistic, and full of home-grown psycho-analysis. He must have thought to write a children's book this time, and the publisher decided to publish it as an adult one because of the subject matter. Plus all the characters are unsympathetic and not very credible, especially Ruth's mother, who abandons her child and has sex with another. I wish I hadn't bought it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't read too many of these reviews...
Review: ...and for god's sake, don't read the synopsis. Why Amazon includes such detailed reviews is beyond me. The fun of a John Irving novel is in its unfolding; enjoy the blatant foreshadowing and prepare for its payoff. Take a chance. Read the book for yourself. Read a couple of chapters at the bookstore first if you're afraid of commitment. I thought it was quite enjoyable and recommend it to all non-uptight readers.

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Summary: Irving is BACK
Review: I read The Triumph and the Glory the same week as I read A Widow For One Year (my wife bought it)and they were both terrific. Different, but exceptional fiction, each is fully deserving of all of the acclaim they have received. I hadn't read John Irving in years but thanks to my wife I read this one! A Widow for One Year is Irving's best in many years, don't miss out, get a copy and read it, you'll see I was right.

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Summary: Love Conquers Grief...Eventually
Review: I always look for the moral in a John Irving novel because he doesn't seem ever completely to be able to avoid weighing in on some contemporary socially significant issue. This book is about sex and about love. Irving illustrates that while some non-traditional sexual liaisons are trivial and meaningless at best, demeaning and victimizing at worst, other non-traditional sexual liaisons may overcome all odds and transcend the years. The difference is love. "A Widow for One Year" contains perhaps Irving's simplest and purest message. Love prevails, sex does not. We all know that. After reading "A Widow for One Year," we believe it... for a little while anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Production-line,commercialized story
Review: This is the lowest quality novel produced by John Irving. The plot, cheesy and disconnected, a conglomerate of various mini stories, is almost an attempt to create an interest around a rather blunt storyline. The quick, gratuitus conclusions to each story (violent lovers get their knee broken, murderers get discovered, the bad guys run into the end of their line) will make good airplane reading - if there's no sit-com on the screen. Even worse, the writing style itself is not up to par with previous writing by Mr. Irving. The language handling is hasty and unworthy of previous examples.

Rating:
Summary: A real page turner.
Review: I finished the book during my vacation within three days. I was enchanted by the people in the book. Couldn't put the book down. Also because a part of the story took place in the Netherlands (that's where I live). My verdict: well not as good as 'Owen' and 'Garp' but much better as 'Circus'. Happy reading!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not Irving's best work...
Review: Anyone who is a big John Irving fan will be disappointed by his latest novel. It took me forever to get into the story. The first chapter is downright dull. Once I was able to get into it, it was an okay read, but I found myself unable to put it down only because I couldn't wait to get through the dang thing and get on with more interesting stuff. If you are a big Irving fan, I recommend skipping this one and re-reading Owen Meany or Cider House!

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I enjoyed the book very much,even though I read it in Hebrew,as I enjoyed all of Irving's books (the ones I've read). The caracters are so alive and real.As always,he remindes us of scenes and motives from "Garp" and other books he wrote,like the death of a child in an accident,a love affaire between a man and an older woman,a caracter(s) which is a writer,and many others. He talks about literature in general,and off cours about life and love. I can't wait until his next book!

Rating:
Summary: Good poolside reading
Review: I read this book while on holiday, and as a long time fan of Irvings I really enjoyed it, particularly as there were no references whatsoever to Vienna or wrestling, twin obsessions of irvings which haunt most of his work. Although much of the story is improbable, with unlikely coincidences and farly unlikeable characters, the construction of the story was such that as with all his books I really wanted to know what happened to everybody. The book is a success because of its strange characters and unlikely though recognisable scenarios, rather than in spite of them. I loved it and recommend it to anyone who wants to lose themselves in a strange but compulsive parallel universe, with enough similarities to our own to be recognisable, but different enough to hold our interest.

Rating:
Summary: Irving still reigns
Review: Irving never ceases to amaze me with his ability to tell stories. In WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR, Irving shows his highest talent (charecter developement) and takes it to the highest level. I have never been let down by a John Irving novel.