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Summary: A great page-turner.What a story teller Irving is.
Review: I waited for a long time for another Irving story and was not disappointed. Stories,inside stories, inside stories. Compelling, fallible, vulnerable, sometimes pathetic characters, so intriging.
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Summary: In which John Irving loses his way
Review: The only breathing author who can approach Dickens in the craft/art of the novel, Irving starts with a bang and then seems to lose his way. Summer 1958 (both characters and plot) is far more interesting than the two 1990s sections. I believe it's the odd structure of the novel that drags it down. Coincidence can be useful (in Irving's capable hands, it's often magical), but there was just too, too much here. Every main character had read all the other character's mediocre novels, even half way around the world? Is getting a string of mediocre novels published really that easy? It must seem so to someone of Irving's talents, but trust me: it ain't. So-so Irving is better than most any other author's best, but in his latest book, the beginning ranks with his best and by the end, much of what makes a great read seems to have careened woefully askew.
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Summary: I Tried to Care, But Just Yawned Instead
Review: I gave this book three chances, the last after taking a two-week break from it. It just never grabbed me. The first 200 pages are witty and interesting, but as the hum-drum bore of a protagonist gets older, she loses her appeal. There are some glimmers of good reading in here, but overall this is not nearly Irving's best.
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Summary: The writing is brilliant.
Review: As I read each several pages I thought of another friend to phone or e-mail to tell them that they MUST get it and read it immediatly. On page 240, "Stick your right index finger in the ketchup" made me need to put the book down and try to compose myself. This is an incredibly written story. Beautiful beyond words-- unless you're John Irving. So as not to be a bore,and carry on further; this is the best book of the year.
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Summary: Read GARP instead.
Review: Too many things in John Irving's latest novel are painfully repetitive, for instance...when Marion leaves her family earlier in the novel, the author even wrote at that part that Marion will come back thirty-some years later. As a reader, I'd rather to find that out for myself later in the novel when Marion actually returns. But the author spoiled that by revealing everything too early in the novel and knowing that Marion will return, I didn't have the chance to feel the actual loss of her. The author explains everything too early and then repeat them again and again throughout the novel. Simply a bore.
Rating: 
Summary: A very detailed, interesting and involved novel.
Review: I have NEVER read any of Irving's novels or a five hundred page novel !! However...I have never become so involved in a story as I did with Ruth's life. I like the way Irving presented this novel, with short sub-chapters, it flowed nicely. He is certainly a very talented author and I have never read a book in which so much was going on at the same time and it all intertwined. I was disappointed in the ending....I was expecting more from the reappearance of Marion..it seemed like he should have spent a little more time on the encounter with Ruth at least. I also thought that it was very coincidental that Harry happened to be so interested in an old murder case...so much as to pursue finding the key witness, and the fact that he was Ruth's number one book fan....hard to believe. Overall I was quite impressed with his work...and I am now reading The World According to Garp !! Thanks
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Summary: Engrossing; excellent summer vacation novel
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. This is also my first John Irving book (if you can believe it?!) and I am so glad I picked it up. From the first chapter...I could not put it down! The characters were totally believable and so well developed. I loved Ruth and Eddie's characters.The only thing I didn't like was the titles of each chapters -- it kinda ruined what the chapter was going to be about. Are there any readers from Toronto, Ontario out there! Please e-mail me!
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Summary: Welcome Back,John Irving
Review: As a devoted John Irving fan who has been disappointed with his last two books, I was thrilled to find "A Widow for One Year" as sharp-witted and outrageous as his earlier works.
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Summary: Skilled, compelling, baffling...
Review: After reading the first few chapters of A Widow For One Year, I was madly recommending it to my friends. After digging into the second section of the novel, I'd begun to doubt whether my friends would actually enjoy this. Having completed the novel today, I have mixed feelings. A glorious start, a touching conclusion--sandwiched around an Amsterdam-focused central section that nearly brings one's interest in the book's main characters to a crunching halt. I must admit that it was all interesting, but it sure doesn't rate with some of his better novels (I'm not just talking World According to Garp here...this isn't as great a novel as The Cider House Rules). Now I hope my less literary friends who pick this up don't think I'm some kind of a weirdo...
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Summary: I'm in mourning; I just finished John Irving's latest.
Review: Irving has certainly matured over time. He is writing now of writing...and that must mean he is showing us a part of himself. This is truly a book for budding writers as there is much to think about in the words of Ruth and Eddie. The story of Marion, Eddie, Ruth and Ted is good reading, too. The only weakness that I can see is in the story of Harry. By the time I got to his background, I was tied of the predictable format of the novel. Still, a great read, one that teaches a great deal about writing.
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