A Widow for One Year

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: I was thoroughly engrossed in this novel from start to finish. After having been bored by rehashes such as The 168-Pound Marriage, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The Son of Circus, A Widow For One Year was a refreshing return to the brilliance Irving demonstrates in Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany. The character of Marion, although not present for a significant portion of the book, was most compelling. Her spectre haunts the novel with sadness and loss. Although the novel was at times self-indulgent (Parts II & III could be shaved down a bit), fans of Irving will come to expect and forgive him for his characteristic wanderings. His ability to draw startling real characters and depict the absurdities of everyday life is in full force in A Widow for One Year.

Rating:
Summary: The first half was great; the last half was tedious.
Review: The characterizations in the first half of the book really drew me in with their humanity and deeply compelling emotional quality. The writing and descriptive passages were beautifully significant. The way Ted dealt with the loss of the boys juxstaposed to Marion's abject greif was really a study in human nature. By the second part, the characters seemed to be shrinking, somehow becoming two dimensional and predictable. Eddie, for example, was a much more interesting and insightful teen-ager than adult. What happened to him? The writing became trite and the seemingly endless vignettes gave the feel of a "romance novel." I became impatient for the story to end. We knew Marion was coming back, thanks to the foreshadowing in the first part (a mistake I think.) And if I read one more pointless mention of the size Ruth's breasts and who all was oogling them, I thought I'd scream! In fact, there were several sections that did not appear to contribute to either the plot or the figurative development of the story, sections that could have been cut altogether. Maybe I am alone, but it seemed to me that Irving simply tried harder on the first part...

Rating:
Summary: Not his best - but did you find the bear?
Review: It's better than 'Son of the Circus,' but not by much. Most of Irving's books involve a normal person surviving in the middle of madness (remember Garp and Johnny Wheelwright), but this one just presented tired sexual situations we've seen a million times before in a million other books. The best use of this book would be to stand on it in order to get a copy of Owen Meany or Hotel New Hampshire off the top shelf. And did you find the bear? Hint - look at the first name of a certain Swiss character that appears about 3/4 of the way through the book.

Rating:
Summary: Just not up to "Irving" par
Review: Perhaps it's because "A Prayer for Owen Meany" was one of the best books I've ever read; perhaps it's because I was expecting more. But whatever the reason, I felt a little cheated by this newest book of Irving's. I kept feeling as if when John Irving was writing the book, he was thinking, "Gosh, I am so brilliant..." From any other writer, "A Widow For One Year" would be an achievement, but for Irving, it was a step down.

Rating:
Summary: this book made my summer
Review: i opened the sunday paper one week before mothers day to a review of this book and cried when i realized john irving had a new book out. what a grand mothers day gift! i read it with relish and great expectations and i was not disappointed. did anyone think this was also a book about EDDIE? i mean, i know he gets lost in the shadows a bit and we all KNOW what he's got going, but i felt such a tie with eddie the whole way through the book. ruth seemed less feminine to me than did eddie, although they are both great characters. every summer i re-read an irving book; i look forward to re-reading this one again next year.

Rating:
Summary: typical irving
Review: I've read most of Irving's works and have grown to appreciate his keen insight of the folly and quirkiness of sex and love -- but please, 8,312 references to breasts? Maybe he had a purpose (please, someone, tell me I just "don't get it"), but I didn't see it among the other heavy-handed messages he was able to convey. As for Ruth, she held no appeal for me or the other women I know who read the book. I hope the author does some more homework before he attempts another main female character. OK, so I liked it, and I know what I'm getting into every time I pick up an Irving book.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite Irving novels
Review: The amazing thing about John Irving's writing is how it combines so many different aspects of his character's lives into one novel. This novel is one of my favorites because, like his other novels, it's characters are so vividly developed. I had a love/hate relationship with many of the characters. And once again I found myself not wanting the book to end as suddenly as it does. Irving is one of my favorite writers. A Widow for One Year ranks as one of his best. I hope this novel will be considered for the Pulitzer Prize next year.

Rating:
Summary: Kept me from my vacation!
Review: The Florida Keys were beautiful, the fish were biting and the beer was flowing. But where was I? In my chair reading A Widow for One Year. I couldn't stop reading it. I thought the story was great, and I also learned a great deal about writing and the writer's life from Irving's book. I loved Eddie O'Hare, and I laughed out loud at the scene where Eddie's father takes him to the ferry.

Rating:
Summary: This confirms my belief why I don't read John Irving
Review: I don't know why I have struggled through this 5oo plus page book. Probably because I paid $16.oo for it! The main traits of the characters are continueously repeated. How many times does Irving have to mention Ruth's large right arm and breasts, and Eddie's penchant for old women, and Hannah's constant use of "baby" and "f******". Isn't there more to these people then this? I was most disappointed when Irving related the first chapter of one of Ruth's books. Did anyone notice that the voice of the author never changed? Are we to believe that Ruth writes and sounds exactly like Irving? At least he could have varied his voice to make it seem that this particular chapter was indeed written by someone else. My favorite scene was when Ruth beat her "last bad boyfriend" with his squash racquet. This showed imagination and wit - which a majority of this story seems to lack. END

Rating:
Summary: Where Has All The Magic Gone?
Review: Where'd the John Irving magic go? Although I enjoyed the novel, I didn't enjoy it as a John Irving Novel. Where is the magic of Life the is so prevalent in Garp and Meany. Where is the brilliant study of eveyday events as seen in Method Man. Yes, I know this is not meant to be those novels, but Irving didn't pull out the punches that make you laugh, cry, or really even care about most of these characters. I simply expected more from the author and this novel deemed the "next Garp"