John Irving
Paperback | Pages: 576 pages Rating: 3.76 | 56317 Users | 2562 Reviews
Point About Books A Widow for One Year
| Title | : | A Widow for One Year |
| Author | : | John Irving |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 576 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 2004 by Ballantine Books (first published 1998) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Contemporary |
Chronicle In Favor Of Books A Widow for One Year
“One night when she was four and sleeping in the bottom bunk of her bunk bed, Ruth Cole woke to the sound of lovemaking—it was coming from her parents’ bedroom.” This sentence opens John Irving’s ninth novel, A Widow for One Year, a story of a family marked by tragedy. Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character—a “difficult” woman. By no means is she conventionally “nice,” but she will never be forgotten. Ruth’s story is told in three parts, each focusing on a critical time in her life. When we first meet her—on Long Island, in the summer of 1958—Ruth is only four. The second window into Ruth’s life opens on the fall of 1990, when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. She distrusts her judgment in men, for good reason. A Widow for One Year closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She’s about to fall in love for the first time. Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing, A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief. Source: john-irving.comSpecify Books In Pursuance Of A Widow for One Year
| Original Title: | A Widow for One Year |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Ruth Cole, Ted Cole, Eddie O'Hare, Marion Cole |
| Literary Awards: | Audie Award for Fiction, Unabridged (1999) |
Rating About Books A Widow for One Year
Ratings: 3.76 From 56317 Users | 2562 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books A Widow for One Year
Id forgotten what an intoxicating writer John Irving is. His compelling prose has a clarity and starkness that manages to entertain your brain and soul while permanently incorporating his characters and stories into your memory and being.Irving is not one of those writers who kicks out a new novel every year. His novels are too carefully crafted, too (dare I say it?) literary to be anything less than an evolutionary process. After reading A Widow for One Year, I suspect his books are touchstonesI had really expected something different. This is the 1st of his books that I have read but I knew he wrote The World According to Garp, Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Maybe it is just this book but I have to say that Mr. Irving has his mind in the gutter. (sorry to all of you who think this was a terrible thing to say!) He is funny sometimes and he does write memorable scenes, however... right now we are perusing the red light district in Amsterdam. There is sex on just about
I hated this book. John Iriving's inability to write women characters was a huge problem in this book since it has a female protagonist. I didn't care about her at all and I wasn't that intrigued by the story either. I generally like John Irving's writing style, but it didn't make any difference to me with this book because I didn't like one single character.
This book was slightly disappointing, despite how interesting the plot was. The main character, Ruth, seemed like half a person to me - and what an unlovable person, at that! One interview said the book's "comic masterstroke" was that writer John Irving made all of the characters in this book writers. Ha ha ha ha haaaaaa.....oh wait. That's so funny, I forgot to laugh. It would have been funny if all of the characters were hot dog vendors, for example, or clowns. But I fail to see what is funny
John Irvings website describes A Widow For One Year as " Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing, A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief." It all sounds so appealing to me so what a shame it is to discover that after reading all 668 pages my astonishing emotional responses were relief that I can now move on to something else, and
If they search in my library after I die, they'll find inside the covers of some of my books notes, lists of characters and favorite quotes. There will be underlined phrases throughout. Exclamations in the margins. Here's a quote from this John Irving novel that I believe describes much of what this story is trying to say.Ted Cole is in the passenger seat while he gives his daughter, Ruth, a driving lesson. "The test is, sometimes there's no place to pull oversometimes you can't stop, and you
When I think about a book written by John Irving, the picture that comes to mind is a vine; a vine that weaves within itself and spreads thick in its own mass. This is the 3rd Irving book I have read. Irving uses some of the same themes in his many novels. Boarding schools, younger men with older women are some that immediately come to mind. This particular book is about a family that lives in The Hamptons. The father, Ted is an author of childrens books. The wife, Marion, is also an author but
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