Irresistible Irving

I have been a John Irving fan from the first book I read. I can’t even remember who told me about A Prayer for Owen Meany but I do remember that people stopped me to praise the book when I was reading it. I had the library hardcover and people of all ages commented on it. Old women, teenagers. It was their favorite book.

And they were right. If you haven’t read A Prayer For Owen Meany make sure to do so. It’s fantastic. I went on a total Irving kick after that. I read The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, The Water-Method Man, Cider House Rules, Setting Free the Bears, The 158-Pound Marriage, A Widow for One Year, and all the others I could get my hands on. I read The Fourth Hand as soon as it came out (though that one wasn’t my favorite). I’ve read them all, except for Son of the Circus. There’s something about Irving’s writing that I adore. It might be that he emulates Dickens and Davies, who are two of my favorite authors. It might be that I feel for his twisted, tragic characters and his endless plots.

I started his latest novel almost two weeks ago. A novel never takes me this long to read. Not even an 800-page one. For some reason, I took my time with this one. I even read another novel in between and listened to three others. But I kept coming back to it. I wasn’t giving up on Irving. I knew I was going to fall into the story at some point.

Two nights ago, I did.

It took my two weeks to read 450 pages and two days to read the next 250. I have about 80 pages left and I am not sleeping until I finish this story. It’s at the point where the entire novel turned on itself and I cannot wait to see the ending and find out what happens to Jack Burns. I now think about it constantly. I feel like I know the characters in real life. To me, only the best books can accomplish that. It’s an especially amazing feat for Irving whose characters are people I’d be completely unlikely to know in this life or in any other. I still do. I feel like I know them. I feel like they are living, breathing people.

While a part of me is dying to finish the story finally, another part of me will be so disappointed when it’s over. When these people won’t be there to greet me each night.

If you’ve never read Irving, make sure to pick up a book of his. Start with Owen Meany or, if you haven’t seen the movie, Cider House Rules. They are simply fantastic. Storytelling at its best.