A Widow for One Year

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and engrossing
Review: Far more memorable than Son of the Circus. The charaters are not as strong as Cider House Rules but the story is well worth the read. If you enjoy John Irving you will not be disapointed.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read!
Review: AFter reading A Prayer For Owen Meaney and Cider House Rules, I knew I must read this one. I thought it was enjoyable, although, after reading some customer reviews above, I also decided that many of the characters are people I really would not like to know. Does that make any sense?? I plan on reading every other book he has wrote, I hate to admit I have not read The World According To Garp. It will be my next book.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: A fun read - great characters and kept me interested until the end. I have recommended this book to several people and everyone has enjoyed it. Well worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Not Owen Meaney...but not bad
Review: I did not go into this novel expecting to find the same caliber as A Prayer for Owen Meaney (my favorite book)...and so I was pleased with what I found. For those who love Meaney and expect this to be the same, of course they will be disappointed. But I believe this may come the closest of any of Irvings other works. Rich, delightfully irreverant characters, bizarre plots, and a wonderful layering of themes and story as only Irving can do.

Rating:
Summary: "Widow" begs for your attention.
Review: Once again Irving has created an odd lot of characters, mostly likeable, although in the case of Ted, it is sometimes difficult. Read this book with your disbelief willingly suspended. There are a few too many hard-to-swallow coincidences coupled with a pat ending to make this a GREAT novel, but as usual you read Irving for his well-drawn characters and his ability to create comedic situations on a par with the best of them. The scene in which Ted breaks up with one of his paramours is worth the price of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Have I read this before?
Review: While Irving is an oviously talented writer, he lacked imagination with this latest novel. I felt like I was reading "The World according to Garp" all over again due to the nearly identical occurances: a horrible car accident, infidelity, prostiution, death. It is emotionally draining and tiresome to read another version of Garp (not to mention a waste of time!)

Rating:
Summary: Is this the author of The world... Cider House rules...
Review: Having so enjoyed Mr Irving's first books, this is a real disappointment. The story line is unfocused and the characters loose in being too detailed. None of them are people you would want to know. The subplots and interminable descriptions that add nothing to the drama or comedy (e.g.the time spent in Amsterdam) are distracting. Mr Irving's habit of underlying seems to indicate that he doesn't think the reader of sufficient intellect to "get it". The humour is just too facile. All in all, in the same league as his last novel. Has Mr Irving lost his abilitiy. Hard to think.

Rating:
Summary: John Irving back in fine form
Review: Widow for one year re-introduces us to classic Irving characters and story-telling excellence. Unusual settings, and such a gift with complexity in character. Enjoyed this one so much, I went back and re-read two perennial favorites - owen meany and cider house rules.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but not edifying
Review: Some of the customer reviewers on this page have written that they found the first half of this book to be better than the second part. I enjoyed the last half of the book more, but I think that was due to a reduction in my expectations rather than to any inherent literary quality in the book itself. I picked up this book hoping that it would be of the caliber of A Prayer for Owen Meany. I was frustrated and disappointed to find that it was not. The characters are nowhere near as engaging, and the writing seemed far too loose and self-indulgent. But then when I accepted that this was no Owen Meany, I took the last part of the book for what it was: entertaining, quaint, and well concocted. (The kind of book Marion Cole would have written?)

Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed in this book.
Review: I had heard so much about John Irvings work, that I couldn't wait to start this book. I valiantly struggled to finish it, but gave up before reaching the halfway point. The tedious style of writing did nothing to enliven the characters.I found I was becoming irritated when Ruth, as a child, asked the same questions incessantly. I also couldn't see how diverging into every minor character's mundaneness was central to the theme of the story. Maybe you just have to be a fan, but my advice--skip it!