Sunday, December 17, 2006
Until I Find You
John Irving
2006
It's hard to see how any book could be more autobiographical than any of Irving's previous, yet this one has sure enough been dubbed his "most autobiographical" work. All the usuals are here: private schools in New England, Europe, transvestites, prostitutes, too-early sexual experiences, and single mothers. This book is as rich as any of the others. Oddball characters, wildly imaginative events, predictably random coincidences. The book is touching and involving. It is easy to become invested in the characters lives. You like what they like, hate what they hate, and when the inevitable death of a main character comes, just as hard.
Jack Burns, son of William Burns - organ player, womanizer - lives out his life in the shadow of his fathers reputation. Jack never allows himself to truly experience his emotions, and accordingly, he is Irving's most two dimensional character yet.
Once he finds his father, and realizes how he has been deceived by his mother since he was four, he explodes with emotion. Using the word love dozens of time per chapter, Jack is finally able to say it without any cynicism.
Jack is supposed to be Irving. This is easy to believe, because Jack is in all Irving's other books as well. This is what Irving writes, and I think it is a testament to his ability as a writer that he can write the same story again and again and it is always so new and fascinating.
The title has a range of interpretations.
The story takes place partly in Toronto, which is always a thrill - reading about where you live.
Was it his best? Maybe? Probably not, but it is unquestionably in the same league as The World According To Garp and Hotel New Hampshire.
John Irving
2006
It's hard to see how any book could be more autobiographical than any of Irving's previous, yet this one has sure enough been dubbed his "most autobiographical" work. All the usuals are here: private schools in New England, Europe, transvestites, prostitutes, too-early sexual experiences, and single mothers. This book is as rich as any of the others. Oddball characters, wildly imaginative events, predictably random coincidences. The book is touching and involving. It is easy to become invested in the characters lives. You like what they like, hate what they hate, and when the inevitable death of a main character comes, just as hard.
Jack Burns, son of William Burns - organ player, womanizer - lives out his life in the shadow of his fathers reputation. Jack never allows himself to truly experience his emotions, and accordingly, he is Irving's most two dimensional character yet.
Once he finds his father, and realizes how he has been deceived by his mother since he was four, he explodes with emotion. Using the word love dozens of time per chapter, Jack is finally able to say it without any cynicism.
Jack is supposed to be Irving. This is easy to believe, because Jack is in all Irving's other books as well. This is what Irving writes, and I think it is a testament to his ability as a writer that he can write the same story again and again and it is always so new and fascinating.
The title has a range of interpretations.
The story takes place partly in Toronto, which is always a thrill - reading about where you live.
Was it his best? Maybe? Probably not, but it is unquestionably in the same league as The World According To Garp and Hotel New Hampshire.
# posted by mz @ 5:23 PM 
