The World According to Garp by John Irving

Title: The World According to Garp

Author: John Irving

First Published: 1976

No. of Pages: 609

Synopsis (from B&N): "This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields — a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes — even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with 'lunacy and sorrow'; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries — with more than ten million copies in print — this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: 'In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.' "

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: This is a hard book for me to review because I both really liked it and really didn't -- do you know what I mean? I found most of the characters unlikable and yet I couldn't wait to find out what happened to them (and no, I wasn't hoping what happened would be bad). I recognized that a number of parts were supposed to be funny and I didn't find them particularly so, but then I wasn't sure whether it was because it wasn't funny or because of me. I questioned a lot about this book based on my gender, wondering if my reactions would have been the same if I was a man. I got especially aggrevated with the portrayals of feminism. It wasn't until I sat down to write this that I realized that the book was first published in the 1970's, so now I'm wondering if the time period is more to blame. I guess all that I can say absolutely is that this book made me think and held my attention throughout; I didn't hate it and I didn't have to force myself to finish. I've got the movie on my Netflix to watch next, so I'm going to try and come back and add my thoughts on that, too.

Challenges: 999 ("Booker and National Awards"); A to Z (author "I"); Book Awards II; Lit Flicks; Modern Library's 100 Best Novels; National Book Awards