Friday, Nov 20, 2009

Book Review: Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving

Author: John Irving

Publisher: Random House

 ISBN #:   978-1-4000-6384-0

Type:  Fiction

Pages: 576 Hardback

Published:  October 27, 2009

Website:  http://john-irving.com/

Purchase:  $12.00 (HERE) 

Publisher’s Summary

(Summary provided by www.randomhouse.com)

The Review

I had heard so many positive things about this author.  Two of his more popular novels, The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules are well known to many, both in print and on film.  My sis-in-law had once mentioned that he was one of her preferred authors.  I was looking forward to my first reading experience of one of John Irving’s works. 

Having it in my mind that he was a great author, I must admit that I had some pre-conceived ideas that this would be a terrific book.  However, for me… it was NOT!

Why?

Simply, it is a technically solid book.  And, that’s great.  The writing is something I could only aspire to.  However, it took me SOOOOO long to form any type of emotional connection to the story or its characters that I nearly walked away from this book on 3 or more occasions.

But…

Let me tell you.  Once I hit the 1/2 way point, I no longer wanted to walk away from this story.  I had to fill in the gaps and discover what happened to the father, the son, the grandson, and the man with an axe to grind.  The 2nd half of the book, I can honestly admit, changed my overall feeling about the novel as a whole.  Now, although I believe the story is one that will stick in my memory, this isn’t a book that I could lightly hand-off to a friend as a “must-read.”  Rather, this is a book for the more serious reader.  You have to have a commitment to see this book through to the end, or you may not fully appreciate the work.

What continually was a source of frustration for me throughout this novel was the constant jumping back and forth in the story.  The reader knew an outcome and then had to read on to find out how they got there.  Rinse. Repeat.  Yes, all throughout the book this carried on.  Now, this may be Irving’s writing style.  I’m not here to trash that style.  Rather, it was just hard for me to manage.  I wanted a more linear tale.

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving Last Night In Twisted River  a rating of 7 out of 10.  This award-winning author most likely deserves a better rating from me.  Yet… I just couldn’t bond with this book the way that I had hoped I would.  Again.. solid writing.  If you’re a fan, this will be one that you’re more than likely going to pick up despite my rating.  And, you might love it.  For me… it gets my appreciation and a certain like-a-bility… but… not my heart.

Giving Thanks

I wanted to thank Random House Publishing Group for sending me this review copy. 

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