One thing I like about John Irving is that even though his protagonists are male, he seriously considers the women in his stories. Women are always more than objects, even when they are not The Subject.

This time, Jack Burns is the protagonist, but at first, his mother's life is front and center. Alice Stronach is so heartbroken and angry after William Burns leaves her that it distorts her personality. At times, I wasn't sure if she loved William, Jack, both, or neither. And by the way--Jack bears an uncanny resemblance to William.

Jack is only four years old at the beginning of this novel, so it goes without saying that what he thinks he remembers and knows about his parents is inaccurate. And this will be the meat of the plot: eventually, Jack seeks out people from his past and uncovers the facts about what really happened all those years ago between his parents.

When Alice and William stop communicating, the story follows Jack's life through school and then his career as an actor and movie star. Bad things happen along the way, and several adults in his life do things that are not even close to being okay. At first, when Alice sends Jack off to boarding school, it seems that Jack is being deprived of parental attention, love, and supervision. Here, Irving is reminding us that a woman's life can be irrevocably changed by an unplanned pregnancy. If she decides to go on with her life the same way a man could, other people might judge her...

Jack's strange childhood notwithstanding, he manages to grow up to be a decent person at heart. He certainly has emotional problems, and does not always show the best character. He knows this. One of the few long-lasting relationships in his life is the one he has with his therapist. His most important relationship is with Emma, the daughter of his mother's lover. Jack and Emma's friendship is both sibling-like and--rather sexual. (They'd both disagree with that assessment, though.) There is also an important girlfriend, Claudia, but Jack is too emotionally damaged for that to last. Each relationship is developed in detail, as part of Jack's story.

In his late thirties, Jake is alone and lost; he has no sense of who he is and where he belongs. Some parts of Jack's narrative do go on a bit long. His journey of self-discovery involves traveling to several countries and at times it felt like I was reading Frommer's Scandinavia. But then, this would not be a proper John Irving novel without subplots and extra information.

And then, just when Jack finds who he needs to find--the story ends. Honestly, I would have enjoyed reading a bit more more at this point, perhaps an epilogue. But then, I suppose I don't actually need more information!

I'd recommend this to John Irving fans. For many people, it might be too long-winded, but I enjoyed it very much.

Unique. Heart wrenching and disturbing at times but also moving. A worthy read as Irving always is.

If I were a piano, or tattoo man, this would have the 5 and twisted river the 4. But alas a cooks life for me.

Ich habe das Buch abgebrochen. Das Buch geht für mich im Moment gar nicht. Ich habe von Irving definitiv schon viel bessere Bücher gelesen.
Ich finde es in weiten Teilen schrecklich langweilig.
Die Hauptfigur hat mich, im Gegensatz zu den anderen Büchern, die ich von ihm gelesen habe (Garp, Homer und Owen zählen mit zu meinen liebsten Protagonisten überhaupt), auch nach ca. 150 Seiten überhaupt nicht berührt.
Außerdem gibt es in dem Buch eine Stelle an der Irving auf ziemlich flapsige und unbedarfte Art aus der Sicht des zu dem Zeitpunkt knapp 6 Jahre alten Erzählers zwei Missbrauchssituationen von älteren Schülerinnen einmal an ihm und einmal an mehreren Erstklässlern schildert. Möglich, dass dies für die Entwicklung der Geschichte und des Protagaonisten erforderlich ist, aber mir hat es die Lesefreude endgültig verdorben.
Da war für mich dann jetzt der Punkt gekommen, an dem ich nicht mehr weiter lesen wollte. Vielleicht wird das Buch danach besser, aber ich mag es erstmal nicht mehr lesen.

Wow, this was a long book. In page length I've read longer, of course, but not all 800 page books feel so tedious. I would compare this novel, to some extent, with Anthony Trollope's longer novels, where far too much detail is included, far beyond what any central plot would require. Still, Irving's writing has a more modern style, and some nice imagery, interesting turns of phrases, and unusual situations and characters, enough that I prefer this novel to Trollope. Still, a bit of harsh editing would have helped this book (and cut it down by a few hundred pages, perhaps).

This story focuses on Jack Burns, a man who as a child is dragged across Europe by his mother, in search of his father. They never are reunited with Jack's dad, of course, so the rest of the novel is Jack trying to deal with his parents and his own identity (or lack thereof). Jack is victimized by just about everyone he meets, it seems, so that just as modern entertainment numbs us to horrible things on screen, Jack is unaware of or at least unconcerned about the horrible things people do to him. He has no concept of what a normal, healthy relationship looks like, with parents, friends, siblings or lovers. While tedious as a novel, there are some great scenes and topics in this book, and lots to digest and discuss. This is not a book for readers who are concerned about sexual trigger warnings, and there is a lot of fairly explicit sexual material in this story.

I don't think I have ever taken this long to get through a book. An 800-pager that felt like 8,000. I have been a John Irving fan for some time but after reading this one, I don't see myself reading anymore of his novels. He has taken some of the best characters from novels like Ciderhouse Rules and A Widow for one Year, and reused them in this story, which has cheapened them for me. He has rehashed the same, younger man/older woman, story as well as orphans and wrestling and cross-dressing. And if you like the word penis and the idea of penis holding (usually between a young boy and a much older woman), than you might like this because it seems to repeat every few pages through all 820 of them.

The story started to get somewhat interesting around page 500 or so but it only lasted until around page 650. If you like John Irving then my advice would be to NOT read this book, it will only take away from the great ones that he has written.

I usually love John Irving, "The World According to Garp" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany" are two of my favorite books ever, and I usually like whatever else he writes. I found this book to be kind of a meandering dud peppered with the some of the least titillating sex scenes ever put to paper. There are some bright spots (though I forget them now, the book is freakin' long), but mainly the whole thing is basically a chronicle of Irving's love affair with his own penis. Sex has always been a major part of Irving's works, but in this one, it lacks emotional depth or feeling and gives the reader the impression that Irving is having his protagonist (actor Jack Burns) act out his various fantasies (from sleeping with a dish washer to bedding a fifteen year old).

Chronotope is one of the words coined by language philosophers and philologists to denote a spatial and temporal unity and their co-dependence in the novel. This is a way a literary continuum of a certain novel is defined and categorized. John Irving is one of the names in the world literature whose novels share not only identical chronotopes (the turn of the century and Maine/New Hampshire/ Canada), but his characters are trapped in the well of the same plots and issues: the search of the lost fathers, who are always nearby watching their off-springs, the elusiveness of the motherly figure, the attractiveness of senior women, the sexuality (and quite often the sexual abuse)and gender questions, religious hypocrisy, true spirituality, epiphany, and, last but not least, writing and creativity.
Despite the deceitful routine and the repetitiveness of Irving's novels, he is one of the most powerful voices in modern American literature. I have a feeling that he is aware of the same world his novels take place in, but he uses this singularly Irving universe as his insignia. And in the course of time it has become the symbol of quality literary fiction.
The books itself is quite lengthy - I was listening to the CD version, and I am not sure I would have stayed committed so much to this book if I had been reading it as a paperback (869 pages might be a little bit more than you bargain for). The novel has a mirror-like structure. The journey (both physical and emotional) is taken twice by the main character, Jack Burns. The first journey is the journey of falsehood, pretense, egotism, and deceit, which has been ingeniously constructed by his mother. The second journey is the journey of truth, musical beauty, sacrifice for the sake of art, and forgiveness. For the protagonist it is also the journey of self-discovery with some very interesting sexual innuendos. As I have mentioned earlier, sexuality and sexual identity have always been the landmarks of John Irving.

As usual, John Irving stretches the truth as much as he can, but he also adds some 'spice' of literature (Hardy, Tolstoy, Bronte, Mishima to mention just a few) to balance and add the verisimilitude and plausibility to his novel. This literary move per se helps us reminisce if you are familiar with those literary powerhouses or it might motivate some of his readers to discover the new and forgotten pleasures of classical literature.

This novel has also been helpful in understanding why John Irving is often called the modern Dickens - he uses the same devices and the similar settings, explores the same issues and topics, stretches the reality in every novel I have read, and introduces weird, bright and memorable characters. Now it is time to stop and ask yourself how many novels by Dickens you have read. It sounds familiar, doesn't it?

I have read several novels by Irving (he is a prolific writer, not pulp-fiction prolific, but he does write quickly, effectively, and recognizably), and every book has been a beautiful and rewarding reading experience, and I am looking forward to re-entering the unique and bizarre world according to Garp ... oops Irving:-)

John Irving is an inspirational author and I use many of his books as examples on how to write a good book. A Widow for One Year is in my Top 10 books of all time.



Until I Find You is far from brilliant. It's tedious, self-indulgent and boring.



As much as I like to see authors making money and winning Oscars (The Cider House Rules), I'm not in favour of the power they weild afterwards. No first-time author would be indulged in this way.



Typical John Irving characters. I was hoping for more typical John Irving writing as well. It's not there.



This book falls flat on its 800 page face. In today's instant gratification society, 800 pages is seen as a commitment. If I'm going to invest that kind of time in a book, I really expect to be dazzled and entertained.



The story is told only from the child who becomes an actor, Jack's viewpoint, and I suspect this may be part of the problem.



It's difficult to sustain interest in 1 character for 800 pages. I would like to see John Irving put aside his own father/son issues for his next novel.

The only thing that I learned from this book is that a well-known, apparently respected, author can write a real stinker. I couldn't believe that I actually finished this book. I suppose that I had invested enough in it to feel I should finish it. I wish I had never picked it up. The story line was stupid. I felt that John Irving characterized most women as perverts and I found it offensive. I haven't read enough of his books to know if this is a theme or not, and I will probably never find out. It left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I don't often do this, but I abandoned this book. Despite the slow start (the character ages from four to nine in 200 pages), I stuck with it, hoping it would get better. To summarize: Boy does this. Boy does that. Now he does this. Now he does that. He goes to Europe with his mom. He goes to elementary school. He goes to boarding school. He goes to college. I followed Jack for about 350 pages, from age 4 to his post-college years, but I still have no idea where he was going, where his relationships were going, or what was his ultimate goal. I have a feeling his dad factors somewhere in the end of the book, but after following Jack for 350 pages with nothing happening, I did not even care anymore if this was the most spectacular book ending ever. I just had to stop. Jack's relationship with Emma was moderately interesting, but not interesting enough for me to take the chance that nothing would happen for the last 350 pages.

I don't think I've ever read a book with as much summarizing "telling" as this story. I realize there's a time and a place for both showing and telling, but I got way too much telling for my money.

I thought John Irving was one of those modern American authors that I should read. I was looking forward to the May release of his latest book--the premise sounds intriguing--so I thought I'd check out another of his works first. Not sure anymore if I will pick up the new read. I can't say right now that I'm a John Irving fan.

Jeg er meget glad for John Irving, selvom den evindelige ældre kvinde-ung mand erotik godt kan blive lidt triviel. Det fylder heldigvis ikke så meget i denne fortælling - her er i stedet en masse tatoveringer, biografture og kirker. Endda en tur til København. Midtvejs får man sig en stor overraskelse.