Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down.
Review: After reading some of the customer reviews, I totally disagree with the negative ones. Boring? I don't think so. I really enjoyed this book. To me it was one of those books that you would like to start and not put down until you've finished it. I found it quite interesting and I really love his writing style. This is the first book I've read of John Irving, and I will certainly check into his others.I recommend this book. I personally thought Ruth would end up with Eddie (that would have been wierd!), but it really was a satisfying ending in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: worthy irving
Review: Irving is quickly becoming my favorite author; he drives a plot like a skilled zamboni pilot. Here, we have Ruth Cole and those who surround her, including the nervous twitch Eddie, her womanizing, young mother seducing father, her absent mother, and her sexually liberal best friend. The charecters work well as they follow along the trail being blazed by Ruth.
We care about this story of a young writer struggling with the fact that she's writting her own story through her actions, one of which turns voyeurism into something. . .well. . .just read it.
It's literature; reading an Irving novel is the best creative writing class you could take.
Rating: 
Summary: A reading for one month
Review: I really like this book (as well as other Irving books) because I can so vividly see the characters, how the look, act, what thier motivations are, etc. I have to agree with others, it is kind of boring, it's not a real page turner with excitement, and the repetition of the hanging pictures theme is a bit much. But, the in-depth detail of watching someone's life is engrossong, and, by seeing some of the life-changing events, builds great understanding for the characters. Eddie is stuck as a coming of age teenager even in his 50's, Ruth is tuff as nails externally, but is meek internally, forever worrying about her child and husbands, never doing the daring until she was forced, etc. You even see the gardener develop as a person. Widow is not as strange of a story as most of the Irvings I've read, but it still raises an eyebrow for plot. Another farce of society's views, Irving satires normal life gone astray with grief, sorrow, and memories. And, again, Irving writes about writers, and gives examples of thier writing. I think that's amazing, to see your character you're writing so strongly as to be able to express charcters views though their writing... Cool.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I thought the first third of the book was outstanding. Irving's writing style used here - going back and forward in time - was just beautiful. Then Marion left and the story went haywire. I could never figure out the relationship between Ruth and her father ... it seemed sort of perverse yet there was no explanation as to why that was so. The Amsterdam subplot was ricidulous and I ended up just skipping through those pages, hoping for a good ending. That never ended up happening as all of the characters were pretty much one-dimensional, and I didn't like any of them anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Main character never grew on me...
Review: What bothered me most was that Ruth, the main character, never grew on me. Marion did, so did Eddie to a lesser extent (I didn't like Allan) but I could neither like nor dislike Ruth - she simply was who she was. Ruth was like a person in your life who you see often, know very well, but never think about. Like Eddie, I guess I "never got over Marion" enough to enjoy the less interesting character of Ruth. I don't know how else to explain it.
Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: Sorry, after getting half-way through this book, I couldn't summon up any interest in finishing it. No particular complaints; sometimes an author leaves a reader wondering why he bothered to write a book and why the reader should bother to read it. (Not finishing a book is _very_ rare for me.)
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining...
Review: This is only the second John Irving book that I have read. I started with The Cider House Rules which I found tedious therefore, I was reluctant to pick up another John Irving book. I needed a book though and Widow was available. I enjoyed it. I have read the other reviews and found that others either loved it or hated it. I read books for entertainment and for that it was great. I do not need depth in characters to be entertained by the story. There were so many parts of the story that were truly entertaining. I felt like I was reading a book of short stories all of which were entertaining, although not necessarily related and from that context this was an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: No!!!!!
Review: Please don't judge John Irving by this book! I sat down excited to start and found myself plodding through this book for the next six months. I loved "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and "Cider House Rules" so much I was about to declare John Irving my favorite author ever. Now I must read a few more of his works befor I can award him this distinction.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Fun Ride!
Review: Like waiting for a long time for a bus , I plodded through this monotonous, boring story waiting for the 'masterpiece' to appear, it never did. I wanted to give up on it many times but felt I'd already invested too much. I had not read a John Irving book since the Hotel New Hampshire (which I loved) and I had high hopes for this one.
I found the characters one dementional and the plot unbelievable. Other than Marion the characters were neither likeable or compelling as well as inconsistant (ex: Ed emerges as a confidente youth after his summer with Marion only to come back 30 + years later as a bumbling hack?). I also found it all highly predictable. I was so sick of hearing about those picture hooks, and photos, UGH!!! Possibly the most intersting story, Tom Coles involvment with a mother and daughter he never even goes into. I really feel I wasted good reading time, I should have just walked!
Rating:
Summary: Tedious
Review: I loved Owen Meany and I actually liked the first half of this book then it went in so many different directions you could easily forget where it started. The Amsterdam subplot was so far out that it was tedious, beyond belief to read. As much as I wanted to like this book I hated it. Lots of sex with little story. The only likable character was Marion. The rest were unbelievable.
| 
