A Widow for One Year

Rating:
Summary: entertaining - not particularly moving
Review: John. . . Could somebody shake him violently please? I won't go on about feminism or breast references or male empowerment - it's pointless. As a woman and a fan of Irving's I have been patiently trying to put method to his madness. Owen remains a favorite, I buy used copies by the truckload and pass them out to the un-Meanied. Garp had the same magic. Unfortunately once again "Widow" is a failed attempt. We revisit less defined or believable (tired) repeats of Irving Standard characters. The book was more of a night of TV then any literary journey. Try again John.

Rating:
Summary: One of John Irving's best books.
Review: Excellently crafted and intriguing. It should be read on multiple levels. Five of the main characters are writers. All of the stories that they write are played out on the primary plot line level. However on this level, the perspectives are altered, broadened. This book makes me hungry for John Irving's future novels.

Rating:
Summary: First and last Irving I'll read
Review: It's pretty obvious from reading the other reviews listed here that people either liked this one or hated it. I'm with the latter group. The book starts off with what seems to be a lot of potential (I don't have a problem with reading sex scenes or with improbable coincidences if they're used cleverly). But the book goes downhill fast. First, the characters quickly get vague and boring. I wound up not liking any of them, except, oddly enough, for Ted, the drunk womanizer, and Harry the cop. Irving apparently has a really superficial understanding of women, how we talk, how we think. And I got really tired of the constant references to Ruth's breasts; not only was it excessive and superficial, it was also boring reading the same word over and over again (there are some other terms, albeit vulgar ones, that would have worked much better within the context of the story, would have been much more realistic, and would have added some variety and texture).

Rating:
Summary: Get of off john irving's back, for the love of God
Review: It is true that A Widow for one Year is a very different book than garp or owen meany or the water-method man but that doesn't make it a bad work. also, isn't it to be expected that a writer would change over a twenty-year period? john irving is a wonderful writer and his books are the best that i have ever read. all you self-righteous feminists who write in whining about a widow for one year being 'a man's book' and other drivel are too narrow-minded for words and wouldn't appreciate honest writing if it bit you. incidentally, i find some of these reviews very entertaining, namely the accusation "it was written by a man" well of course it was written by a man, for God's sake. it's too bad that being male is punishable by bad reviews now. who cares? it's well-written. all this gender-specific nonsense is making life very difficult for people attempting to write honest books.

Rating:
Summary: This is a novel, not life.
Review: I suppose one might call this a defense of John Irving. Granted, I found myself aware of the coincidence and, in some instances, the predicatability of this book. However, as Eddie realizes during Ted's account of his two boys' accident: "You see it coming, and coming. The problem is, you never see everything that's coming." Irving's novel--whether it is autobiographical, invented, or a combination of both--is a construction; and what I appreciate most about John Irving is his exhaustive attention to the authenticity of his construction. We know as readers of John Irving that if there is an astonishing coincidence, it is a deliberate coincidence, part of the construction. As the poet wrestles with individual words and images, Irving wrestles with individual episodes. There is no episode in this novel that has not been deliberately placed. At times, the novel seems inconsistent with true reality. The author may have borrowed from reality, but realistically he has crafted a novel that is consistent not with reality but with itself. The characters behave how they should behave. If not wholly realistic, they are at least real within the context of the novel. In a way, Irving proves his prowess by showing us not only the sympathetic side of his characters but also their pervasive and wholly unwanted flaws. But their sympathies and flaws are not realistic. They are, however, consistent with the reality of the novel. Like it or not, a novel is a fantasy. The novelist's job is not to replicate reality, but to create a new reality and be consistent to it. In this sense, John Irving has made me believe that in the world of this novel, coincidence is a natural law, and as for predictability, well, we can see most things coming, and coming. But we'll never see everything coming.

Rating:
Summary: How the mighty hath fallen!
Review: The beginning was kind of amusing and beguiling, but the second half of this book left me with literary heartburn. I'm afraid Irving once more fails to live up to the standards he set in *GARP*. In the end, Widow is as trite and predictable as a one-star movie plot, and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Rating:
Summary: A VERY LONG, DRAWN OUT BOOK
Review: This is the first/only book of John Irvings I've read and probably the last. Although I DID enjoy the book and the characters, his writing style is just too wordy for my tastes. I found myself 'speed reading' through parts of it just to FINALLY get to the end. If the book would've been half the size I would've rated it higher because the story and characters ARE interesting and I found sympathizing with Ruth and all that she had been through.

Rating:
Summary: FOR SHAME, JOHN IRVING
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this book. As somene who loved Owen Meany and the intricate messages underlying, this novel was porely crafted, and a sad regurgitation of what is obviously the same plot line or a trauma of Mr. Irving's youth. Mr. Irving, we who selectively choose our books and are not entertained by the Harlequin caliber or the Kay Scarpettas of the fictional world expect more from those whom we know are more talented. We are not easily amused by aggregious sex scenes, cumbersome alduterous relationships and unfulfilled women seeking healing from the emotional scars of their youth. Digest the world a little more thoroughly and possibly seek a sabbatical. We are harder on you because we know you can do better, and somehow this makes us even more indignant.

Rating:
Summary: Y chromosome fault
Review: Another bestselling novel about men abusing women. Only a man would write a book like this. Irving portrys women as objects once again, so easily picked up and thrown away. It's not funny. It's not interesting. Why do publishers allow this sort of book to merit being printed when read by any ethical member of society that loves another human would have rejected it? It was totally worthless. I read it as part of a book club. I would NOT recommend purchasing.

Rating:
Summary: Good read overall
Review: This book is artfully crafted and I can't help but admire the way that Irving weaves together seemingly random incidents and complete characters to create his novel. "Widow.." fits together like a puzzle, going in an almost full circle and falling together in the end. I enjoyed most of this book, though there were tedious parts. Some of the characters rubbed me the wrong way -- Hannah, for example, and Eddie when he got older. The first half of the novel was a little better and more engaging than the second half, which is always a little dissapointing, but it wasn't enough of a difference to really stop me from enjoying the book. And it WOULD be a good movie, though I think the director would have to make Marian a little younger.