Finally, I decided to read a book by Jon Irving, who is one of the most widely read living American authors. And I chose this particular novel which is one of his most famous and has also been made into a movie with considerable success. Well, it was an extremely enjoyable tragicomedy, full of all kinds of images and emotions, with many scenes that make you laugh and other scenes that are, if nothing else, more poignant and make you think in different ways. Thanks to the writing, the whole crazy plot and the slightly eccentric characters, the author managed to keep me captive to the book, to hook me until the end, offering me a bunch of goodies.

The book is quite satirical, in places sarcastic and with a black sense of humor, while also not being so politically correct, and personally I liked it more and more as I read. Irving deals with his own, particular way with several different themes/issues, such as writing and writers, feminism, the mother-son relationship, fatherhood, war, and so many others. Also, I really liked the stories that were in the book, stories that are supposed to have been written by S. T. Carp, although of course Irving wrote them: By themselves, they were very interesting and special, and I definitely liked this storytelling trick. Generally, it is a novel full of life, witty and in its own way captivating, and in my opinion extremely well-written and extremely enjoyable. Maybe Irving's writing style and way of thinking (as well as his humor) may not be to everyone's reading tastes, but it won me over. In my collection, I have two more of his books ("New Hampshire Hotel" and "View of the Ocean"), and there are three more translated ones that I will look for immediately (although the three are already out of print!). I was very glad that I read it, but I was sad that it ended! But who knows, maybe at some point in the future I might read it again...

My introduction to the fiction of John Irving was through The World According To Garp. My knowledge of the author was mainly from two film adaptations of his work that I had seen: The Cider House Rules, which I remembered well, and The World According To Garp, whose details had escaped my memory. This meant that when I opened this book, published in 1976, I had few expectations or comparisons.

The book is filled with vignettes that range from the picturesque to the risque, the silly to the tedious. I was often amused by the writing and at times moved by the insights Irving drew from his characters. However, like a party guest who overstays their welcome, the author wore me down and I wanted him to stop.

Irving is a good storyteller and knows how to start a chapter and a novel well. The narrative begins with Jenny Fields, a 22-year-old nurse. Her family is from the New Hampshire shore and has a small fortune from a shoe factory. Feeling disconnected from her family, Jenny attends Wellesley but drops out when she suspects her parents and brothers expect her to date and marry a well-bred man. She becomes a nurse and carries a scalpel in her purse for protection.

Jenny works in the maternity ward at Boston Mercy and decides she wants to find a man to make her pregnant and then leave. She later cares for Technical Sergeant Garp, a ball turret gunner who has been brain-damaged. She names her son T.S. Garp.

Jenny is hired as a school nurse at an all-boys prep school in New Hampshire where her father and brothers attended. Garp grows up in the infirmary annex. Later, Jenny becomes the head nurse and continues her education. Garp decides to be a writer to impress Helen Holm, the daughter of the wrestling coach.

Garp and Helen travel to Europe, where Garp writes a short story to seduce her. Jenny also writes her autobiography, A Sexual Suspect, which becomes a bestseller and makes her a feminist icon. Garp and Helen have two sons, Duncan and Walt. Garp has affairs with babysitters and swaps partners with a married couple.

I often laughed while reading The World According To Garp. The writing is droll and often made me grin. Jenny Fields is a memorable character with great integrity. However, I didn't like when Irving used her as a feminist icon and a political figure to make points. I also didn't like when Irving included Garp's short story and excerpts from his novels within the text. It disrupted the flow of the story for me.

Overall, The World According To Garp is a clever book, but it wore out its welcome for me. It's like a collection of good short stories with recurring characters. I enjoyed the parts I liked and skipped the rest.

Prior to reading this book, I had only managed to read half of one novel by John Irving. I won't mention the title here as I don't think it's entirely fair to criticize a book I didn't finish. Suffice it to say, I had no immediate plans to pick up another half of any of his works. However, that all changed when a friend convinced me to take "The World According to Garp" on a trip I was planning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book was truly fantastic. Since I have no life, I'm going to spend Friday night writing an overly detailed review delving into the deeper themes of the book, hoping that a few dedicated souls will take the time to read the whole thing. I welcome any response.

Authors are often advised to write about what they know, as they are already de facto experts in those areas. Inevitably, this leads to the creation of "autobiographical fiction." This can range from an autobiography published as fiction, like Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," all the way to a fanciful tale sold as an autobiography, such as James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces." There are some people who claim to only read non-fiction, preferring something "true" or "genuine" over something an author simply "made up." These are the very people who should give "The World According to Garp" a try.

When we read fiction, we are omniscient. A character, once committed to paper, cannot change; they only grow to the extent that our understanding of them grows. The essence of the character, however, remains constant. Jay Gatsby is the same person today as he was in the 1920s. I would argue that because of this immutability, we have the capacity to truly know a fictional character better than we will ever know a memoirist or one of our intimate friends. To illustrate this point, consider this: a friend might tell you they are admiring your new hardwood floors, but only an author can reveal that our protagonist couldn't make eye contact, belying the guilt they felt at the way they coveted your hardwood floors as they gazed upon them. Few people are self-aware enough to make such observations in retrospective memoirs, and the social contract doesn't encourage that kind of honesty in day-to-day life.

In "The World According to Garp," Irving plays with the story in a clever way, making you assume it's autobiographical while simultaneously mocking the reader for asking whether or not it is. It's a sly form of self-critique. Garp tells his children a bedtime story that is clearly based on reality, but then only admits to making up the parts the listener doesn't believe. In short, anything you believe to be true is so, and anything you don't believe must need improvement. The question, of course, is whether we can improve upon the truth.

While leading readers through this maze of almost understanding, the author peppers the novel with stories from his children's childhoods that the reader is meant to assume are true. But how much of this story is actually true? The answer, of course, is that it doesn't matter. When we read a novel, we do so with the hope that the author knows his characters so well and has crafted his plot so meticulously that the next event occurs because it is the absolute best possible event to carry the story forward. We can't worry that a dramatic change in the plot occurs for reasons as trite as the fact that we're reading what really happened in the event on which the story is based. That wouldn't be fiction, and it might not even be art. To further this line of thinking, the author critiques the protagonist's writing by stating that Garp's work gets progressively weaker as his writing becomes more autobiographical.

Fiction has GOT to be better than non-fiction. If it isn't, then it would seem to imply that our dreams are no better than our reality. And if that is true, then our future indeed looks rather grim.

I cannot form a meaningful comment.

I have an ambivalent attitude towards this book. On the one hand, I feel disgust, and on the other hand, I feel something that could be described as a mild sympathy. However, this sympathy is not a classic sympathy. It is rather the result (born) of the feeling of empathy for others and/or something different.

Maybe I will supplement the comment sometime. For now, this is already too much.

It's interesting how our emotions can be so complex when it comes to evaluating a book. The disgust might stem from certain aspects of the story or the characters that go against our values or expectations. But then, that glimmer of sympathy shows that there is also something in the book that touches us on a deeper level.

It could be a moment of vulnerability from a character, or a theme that resonates with our own experiences. This ambivalence makes it difficult to simply love or hate the book.

We are left in a state of confusion, trying to figure out what exactly it is that we feel. And perhaps, that is the beauty of literature. It has the power to evoke such a wide range of emotions within us, making us question our own beliefs and feelings.

This book left behind a very strange aftertaste.

On one hand, I read it with great interest. Initially, I was afraid of losing this interest, but every evening, I started reading with the thought: “So, what happened to Garp next?” It's amazing how the author managed to write every stage of Garp's life, from conception to death, without the interest fading. It felt like I was reading not one book, but several, a family saga consisting of many parts.

The heroes all became like my relatives, their characters well-developed and understandable. The author leaves very unusual tips and Easter eggs, hinting at what will happen in the future. Sometimes it's in the form of dreams, sometimes parallels in Garp's works, or in seemingly accidental phrases.

The book pays a lot of attention to sex, which becomes the trigger for all the events. Even the heroes themselves don't realize how much their lives depend on it. It all starts with asexual Jenny Fields, whose life is disrupted by sex in one way or another, despite her efforts to avoid it.

The obsession with sex affects Jenny's views and the behavior of Garp the Elder, ultimately giving life to Garp. Garp's first sexual experience has a significant impact on his future, and it returns to him after many years. His sexual adventures become the basis for his books.

The book written by Jenny is seen as a feminist manifesto. Jamesians appear as a result of rape. Helen's sexual adventures lead to more tragic consequences. In general, everything in the book revolves around sex in one way or another.

And the sex itself seems normal, healthy, and pleasant. But people's attitude towards it, their obsession or denial, and increased attention to related issues seem to be the root of all troubles. It's like the most painful and unnatural attitude towards a natural human need.

In general, the book focuses on asexuals, transgender people, treason, violence, and feminism. All of this is questioned, rejected, accepted, and then in a circle. It generates waves of anger that sweep away everything in their path.

And so I finished this "brick." I look at it and think - what is the meaning of this work? It's like everything is about nothing, leading nowhere. On the one hand. And on the other... As if everything here leads to the need to treat people more tolerantly, to accept them as they are.

Again, this is not the key to success. Many people who demand understanding seem to revel in not getting it, and if they do, it's not what they wanted, leading to a new wave of disagreements. Everything here is very ambiguous, like in life.

While my attitude towards this work and John Irving remains ambiguous, I probably need more time to digest what I've read, think about everything properly, and get acquainted with the author's other books. So I'll do that.

Garp had no chance to avoid comparisons with his mother's creative and life path, but in the eyes of inexorable critics, he still found his face, his voice, his name, gradually evolving from an inventor to a realist, expressing his grief on paper, and back...

Perhaps, before others, he realized that people often make unjustified conclusions and bear little responsibility for them. In my eyes, Garp grew up as a man and a writer. I saw him as a young boy, engaged in wrestling and in love with the coach's well-read daughter; overcoming his strange attachment to the ageing prostitute; a husband and householder, always dissatisfied with himself, unable to resist carnal desires, and experiencing the anxiety of fatherhood.

Garp gained, but also lost. Often through his own fault. Only sometimes the price of a mistake is prohibitively high, and you can't predict from which side the Under Toad will appear. I was indignant at Garp's (and Helen's) betrayal, their strange, morally-bound attempt to save their friends' marriage, but I was constantly surprised by the writer's sanity.

In the eternal debate about feminism and its radical manifestations, I was always on Garp's side because, like him, I don't tolerate when a good idea is turned into meaningless fanaticism.

Already habitually, “The World according to Garp” turned out to be not a one-man show, but a meaningful and unfolded action that absorbed the stories of many. And here's what's interesting: in reality, it can be difficult for me to accept people with different views on life, who abandon morals. With Irving's heroes, it's different. They may disappoint and anger me, but for the short book life, I'll forgive them everything and barely find the strength to say goodbye in the finale.

And I think this personal change in me is possible only because time and again, the beloved and wise author reminds me that life doesn't tolerate categorical assessments, and a real person is not a template. He is far from ideal, but even so, imperfect, he is worthy of both attention and his moment of fame. And T.S. Garp is no exception.

A book that is filled with extremely quirky characters, the majority of whom are highly unlikeable. There are numerous story lines, deviations, and connections. It encompasses some excellent themes such as lust, the complex relationships between men and women, and the perils of any form of fanaticism. As it is a John Irving book, there are also unusual sexual stories, along with elements like bears, wrestling, Vienna, and family relationships.

What really bothered me was the fact that the stories written by Garp constituted a significant part of the narrative. In particular, the story that paralleled the very book I was reading was quite distracting. Then, at the end, there was a long section that traced the life of each character in AG (After Garp). Altogether, it was rather annoying and disrupted the overall flow and enjoyment of the book for me.

I found myself constantly being pulled out of the main story by these elements, and it made it difficult for me to fully engage with the book on a deeper level. Despite its interesting themes and unique characters, these aspects detracted from my overall experience.

Masterful storytelling. Definitely a page-turner.

My first encounter with a book by John Irving (born in 1942) has left a profound impression on me.

Had I read this five years ago, I would have毫不犹豫地rated it with 5 stars. It is exquisitely written, brimming with captivating themes, with feminism taking the forefront. The memorable characters and events bring the story to life.

It is both funny and tragic simultaneously. Many vivid images will linger in your mind long after you finally close the book.

However, towards the end, it felt a bit excessive, as if Irving was trying too hard to please the reader and make the story flawless.

It was as if his sole aim was to succeed as a novelist, and in reality, he did achieve that.

This book, published in 1978, became an international bestseller and won the 1979 National Book Award.

It emerged after his three earlier novels received only lukewarm reviews from literary critics (Source: Wikipedia).

The main character is T.S. Garp, the son of the strong-willed nurse Jenny, who desires a baby but not a husband.

There is also the dying WWII soldier, Technical Sergeant Garp, who has an automatic erection but cannot masturbate due to his damaged hands.

Nurse Jenny relieves him, and one night, as the soldier is about to die, she gets on top of him, and that's how Garp comes into this world.

The rest of the story follows Garp's journey as a son, husband, family man, sex addict, wrestler, and struggling writer.

There are numerous memorable dialogues and scenes, but the sex scenes are the ones that will forever be etched in my mind (well, Irving described them so vividly and uniquely, didn't he?).

The dialogues or thoughts that I will always remember pertain to Irving's seemingly obsessive preoccupation with dying.

There is a scene where Garp imagines how his relatives will die. "When it comes to life, we are all terminal cases."

His vivid imagination of those scenes made me cringe.

In the end, if I were to continue the title as a sentence, it would be: "The world according to Garp... is tough and full of tragedy, and laughter is one way of enduring it."

This is truly one of the most memorable books I've ever read. Well done, Mr. Irving.

I can't wait to explore your other works like "A Prayer for Owen Meany" (my next read, and it has to be this year) and "The Cider House Rules" (maybe next year, as I've already seen the film).

I hope the Good Lord blesses you with many more years of writing, sir.

Garp!

"Svet po Garpu" is a novel that is not only extremely interesting but also very cleverly written. It is truly incredibly multilayered, symbolic, and important. At the same time, it is also very spiritual, yet tragic and sad when necessary. It is a real rollercoaster of emotions. I claim that this novel will appeal to many people, especially if you give it a chance and don't put it aside just because it has 600 pages.

This novel takes the reader on a journey through a complex and richly detailed world. The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged from beginning to end. The author's use of symbolism adds depth and meaning to the story, making it a thought-provoking read.

Despite its length, "Svet po Garpu" is a rewarding novel that offers something for everyone. Whether you are a fan of literary fiction or simply looking for a good story, this novel is definitely worth checking out. So don't be intimidated by its size - give it a chance and you may be surprised by how much you enjoy it.

I will definitely give it another try very soon. This is both because it has been liked by many GR friends and because my "trusted bookseller at Lovat" has enthusiastically recommended it to me (he adores all of Irving's works) and I don't want to give up!

I confess that I have also suspended reading "Hotel New Hampshire".... This one also needs to be picked up again and not abandoned!

I believe that with a second attempt, I will be able to better appreciate the charm of these works. Maybe I overlooked some important details or didn't fully understand the author's intentions the first time around. I'm looking forward to delving deeper into these stories and uncovering their hidden gems.

Even though the first reading didn't go as smoothly as I hoped, I'm not deterred. I know that sometimes it takes a bit of perseverance to truly enjoy a good book. So, I'll keep at it and see where these literary adventures take me.

Dull, dull, dull. It seems that we are constantly surrounded by boring people engaged in the most mundane of activities. Even the aspect of sex, which should be filled with excitement and passion, turns out to be equally uninteresting.

I have dedicated a significant amount of time to pondering whether the reason everyone appears so boring is because we are living in the world according to Garp, and perhaps Garp himself is the source of this boredom. The novel is indeed structured in a clever manner; it could potentially be a literary theorist's dream come true. Garp, being a novelist himself, has snippets of his work scattered throughout this very novel. For instance, there is the third chapter of his third novel, The World According to Bensenhaver (apologies if I have misspelled the name). Both this chapter and the overall novel start with the theme of rape. In Garp's case, it might be a stretch to say it's directly about rape, but the connection is clearly intentional. There are many clever elements within the story that could potentially spark interesting thoughts. Is Garp so dull because his (equally uninteresting) mother attributes all the world's problems to "lust," a concept she understands about as well as the Victorians who were known for putting dresses on table legs? (I should note that I don't mean to belittle the Victorians; in fact, they had a better understanding of certain things compared to her.)

There is an abundance of material within the novel that has the potential to be interesting, funny, and even sexy. Take, for example, the scene where Garp's mother hires a high-class Viennese prostitute to explain the concept of "lust." Since the prostitute doesn't speak English and the mother doesn't speak German, Garp, who has just graduated from an exclusive prep school, has to step in and translate. This scene, on paper, seems like it could be a captivating blend of interesting, hilarious, and sexy. However, in reality, it fails to deliver any more effectively than any of the other scenes in the novel.

In the final analysis, "Garp" is ultimately a book that revolves around boring people leading boring lives.

A nice book, with humor and sensitivity.

The last chapter is completely redundant in my opinion. This attempt to end the story by narrating what happened to each and every hero of the book and how they died somehow weakens the overall picture that the book creates.

For a work that places so much emphasis on fantasy as a basic element of literature, it didn't leave much to our own imagination.

Anyway, generally I liked it and it was a very good summer choice.

Beautifully bawdy, is there any other way to describe it?

Sex is funny--far from the holy institution many make it out to be--and John Irving truly understands that.

There's the usual mix of elements: academia, Vienna, sex, New England, handicaps, stories-within-stories, squash, bears, whores, wrestling, writers, circuses, India.

But this is one of the books that helped solidify these elements as 'the usual' when discussing John Irving.

The World According to Garp is both hilarious and surprisingly violent.

It's charming but not overly sweet. At times, TS Garp can be quite unlikable and seem like the world's biggest deadbeat.

However, this makes him human and simply adds to the appeal of the story.

What I really desire is for John Irving to tell me a bedtime story like the one Garp tells Walt and Helen.

Oh wait, he just did, although the version I received is much too long for a single night and would have to be told like One Thousand and One Nights.

This book is a captivating and unique read that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.