Rating: 
Summary: 158 pound novel
Review: "The 158 Pound Marriage" is another example of John Irving at his best. He masterfully explores the consequences of infidelity in a modern marriage through a story of two couples, each in love with another's spouse. Though the wrestling imagery can get tiresome after a while, it's a fitting theme for a book whose characters are wrestling with the choices they have made in their marriages. The characters are all well developed, and the non-linear plot flows with ease. The one warning I would give is not to pick up this book looking for another "Garp." There is, was, and will always be only one "Garp." Let "The 158 Pound Marriage" stand on its own merits and you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: 158 pound novel
Review: "The 158 Pound Marriage" is another example of John Irving at his best. He masterfully explores the consequences of infidelity in a modern marriage through a story of two couples, each in love with another's spouse. Though the wrestling imagery can get tiresome after a while, it's a fitting theme for a book whose characters are wrestling with the choices they have made in their marriages. The characters are all well developed, and the non-linear plot flows with ease. The one warning I would give is not to pick up this book looking for another "Garp." There is, was, and will always be only one "Garp." Let "The 158 Pound Marriage" stand on its own merits and you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Irving
Review: 158 Pound Marriage is classic Irving. It runs similar to Garp, but with a darker twist. I tried some of Irving's more recent material and found it bogged down in detail, lost, and missing the biting style of his earlier works. I found 158 Pound Marriage in a book store (chain) and decided to try it. I thought, since it wasn't one that I had heard of, that it might not be worth the effort. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the Irving style and confidence I had such pleasure reading in Garp and Cider House. If you are on the fence about Irving, you should probably pass on this one, but for those die-hard fans, check it out!
Rating:
Summary: A tad bizarre, but another Irving classic.
Review: 158-PUND MARRIAGE is one of Irving's better novels. The plot is based around two couples who swap partners and accidentily fall in love with each other's spouses in the process. Through odd circumstances, all four couples are interconnected. The couples end up pairing off not only man to woman, but the two also have stronger connections with the other man/woman's spouse. From the proposition to the slow decay of the two couple's relationships to each other and their own spouses, Irving finds yet another way to write the not-so-average novel.
Rating:
Summary: A tad bizarre, but another Irving classic.
Review: 158-PUND MARRIAGE is one of Irving's better novels. The plot is based around two couples who swap partners and accidentily fall in love with each other's spouses in the process. Through odd circumstances, all four couples are interconnected. The couples end up pairing off not only man to woman, but the two also have stronger connections with the other man/woman's spouse. From the proposition to the slow decay of the two couple's relationships to each other and their own spouses, Irving finds yet another way to write the not-so-average novel.
Rating: 
Summary: This may be good by only the most narrow of definitions
Review: By "good," I mean it is gramatically correct, contains appropriate punctuation, etc. But hey! What book ISN'T "good", provided it has been in the hands of a copy editor or ten? I read this book only because it was bound into one hardcover which also contained _The Water Method Man_ and _Setting Free the Bears_. I am grateful to have read _Setting Free the Bears_ since I feel it is a masterfully told story. As for this one, though, it engaged me the way the enlarged print condensed books I find on the tables at hospitals and the dentist's office engage me. Don't waste your time. Floss your teeth instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Worse than trash, it is BORING trash
Review: How could such a titillating topic be so boring? This book could interest only holdovers from the sexual revolution who want to relive those freewheeling times.
Rating:
Summary: Good offering from Irving
Review: If you count some of Irvings other works, this might mot be considered up to par with the rest. However, I strongly suggest this to anyone looking for a book with adventure, hijinks and mission fulfillment.The mastery of this story, I think, is the way that the two 'periods' (or three) in the lead characters life run in a sometimes zig-zaggy line throughout. As the stroy progresses, you begin to see the links between the two, so As if the same lessons are being learned in different ways. It's great how it lines up in the end. A fit of giggles is a sure fir gaurentee for the Irving fan, and the part-time fan will see the beginings of his later greatness in this work. The character here is very well developed, in the ackward Irving sort of way. I have to admitt that there were times where I was led away from the real story and my faith of the autor waivered, but is was roped in by the end, and I'm True believer in the Water-Method (and its man).
Rating:
Summary: Good offering from Irving
Review: If you count some of Irvings other works, this might mot be considered up to par with the rest. However, I strongly suggest this to anyone looking for a book with adventure, hijinks and mission fulfillment. The mastery of this story, I think, is the way that the two 'periods' (or three) in the lead characters life run in a sometimes zig-zaggy line throughout. As the stroy progresses, you begin to see the links between the two, so As if the same lessons are being learned in different ways. It's great how it lines up in the end. A fit of giggles is a sure fir gaurentee for the Irving fan, and the part-time fan will see the beginings of his later greatness in this work. The character here is very well developed, in the ackward Irving sort of way. I have to admitt that there were times where I was led away from the real story and my faith of the autor waivered, but is was roped in by the end, and I'm True believer in the Water-Method (and its man).
Rating: 
Summary: Irving¿s darkest creation
Review: In The 158-Pound Marriage the narrator, a writer of unsuccessful historical novels, recounts the story of his ménage à trois. When on holiday in Vienna, he falls in love with Utch (short for Utchka, which is Russian for calf). Not much later they are married and get two children. Their relationship seems free from problems until by some magical coincidence they meet Edith and Severin Winter. Without much ado both couples dive into an unknown adventure when they decide to try switching partner for one evening. At first this positively influences their marriages, but then the truth enters the scene as a fifth player. Suddenly trust seeps away and leaves them all alone with their bizarre foursome. The 158-Pound Marriage is surely a black and ruthless book. And that is exactly what you would never expect from the author of The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Admittedly the novel starts with a crazy scene that only John Irving can dream up, but after the main characters are introduced the spirit of the story turns dark and moody. Irving keeps the irony alive, but gets hooked into the conflict between the two couples. Even the predominant playfulness between the sheets cannot lighten up the story. It drags the reader through a maze of moral questions and dilemma's. The story is brilliantly written and again proof that John Irving is one of the greatest authors of our time. Personally I like the cheery and witty tone of his later novels (Marriage was his third novel) much more. This does not mean that they are not as deep and wicked as The 158-Pound Marriage, at the contrary, but they surely have less difficulties in keeping my attention focussed on the story.
|
