This is a case for me of a pure gut/emotional reaction, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

First of all, this book has totally sold me on John Irving. I read "A Prayer for Owen Meany", and had the hardest time getting into it. I really liked about the last hundred pages, but getting there was a chore, to be quite honest.

But this book, this book had me from the first line to the last. And it is directly because of all of the personal parallels. You have the musician (I'm a musician, a pianist actually) you have the tattoo addiction (4 of my own at last count, the last one being a true test of iron will, but it is freakin SWEET!) The single boy and his single mother, father estrangement, the feeling of a rudderless life, everything.

And at the end, when Jack has discovered certain key people of his life (if you've read, you know what I mean, if not, go read!)I was a puddle! This was the polar opposite of my experience with "Suttree". That novel was a cold masterpiece that at the end had me feeling academic but cold. This one chimed every emotional cord (or chord) in me.

Объемный роман посвящен вроде бы важной теме – чувствам cына, выросшего без отца, его взросления и становления как личности. Но… Роман маскируется под роман взросления, но на самом деле это роман не просто полового созревания, а развращения 9 летнего мальца прожженными проститутками, подругами матери, зарабатывающей на жизнь татуировками. Первая треть романа только об этом. Остальная часть примерно об этом же уже через призму актерской карьеры, и поисками и встречей с отцом. Язык плоский, повествование линейно, бедность идей и, в целом, примитивность личности главного героя и других персонажей характеризуют этот роман. Весьма посредственно.

After reading "Prayer for Owen Meany" by Irving, I wanted to read Irving's other books regardless of how long they might be. This book was over 800 pages, 35 hours as an audiobook, and I was exhausted near the beginning with how long he stayed 4 years old. This was a bad sign.

When I looked the book up, the synopsis said it was a story about actor, Jack Burns. Silly me, I looked up the name and found he was a comedic actor from the 60's. But upon clarification, I found the book is a novel. It is fiction and the name Jack Burns is mearly a coincidence. "Thank God" is all I can say.

The story starts with Jack as a 4 year old in 1969. He was an intelligent child with an incredible memory beyond his years. He's being raised by his mother, Alice, who was impregnated by an organist, William Burns. Wm left the area, moving on to other organs and other women. Alice became a tattoo artist like her father, who had given Wm his first tattoo. Wm, moving on from place to place, acquires tattoos to fulfill his addiction. The story in the first third of the book is about Jack & his mother trying to follow and find his father. The middle third is about Jack pursuing acting after being introduced to it in elementary school. The final third is Jack trying to rehash the first third of the book and finding how his mother lied to him about so many things that most of what you read was a lie. It also has Jack searching for his dad. So many situation overlap and repeat and honestly go nowhere.

There are so many times the book could have ended. It didn't. It went on for far too long. Too many details, too many weird situations that were possible, but improbable. I did not like how all of the women in Jack's life were older and bad influences. He kept running into one over-sexed woman after another from the time he was 9 through his adult years. And there were some odd sexual habits that just didn't make sense.

Before I attempt another of Irving's books, I may check the reviews so I don't end up with another time-consuming stinker.

Trys žvaigždutės - tik Irvingo knygų kontekste. Lyginant bendrai, net tiesiog su mano perskaitytomis knygomis, ją kelčiau kur kas aukščiau.

Na, tai kas, sakytumėte, netiko?

Pradėjau ją labai optimistiškai - paimi į rankas tą kone 1000 psl. pliauską su besivartančiais puslapiais ir galvoji: tai kažin per kiek dekadų aš ją įveiksiu? O ji, kaip koks lipnus sakas musę - vis labiau ir labiau įtraukia, slysta, plaukia - padėt negali. Taip buvo iš pradžių.
Ir na, taip gal ir turėjo būti - su labai daug (sakyčiau, išskirtinai daug, lyginant su kitomis jo knygomis) dalykų šioje knygoje galėjau tapatintis asmeniškai, juos suprasti ir išjausti.

Kita vertus, tas tūkstantis puslapių vėliau ėmė klaidinti ir kone mulkinti. Apie ką, galų gale, yra ši knyga? Taip taip, tatuiruotoja su keturmečiu sūnumu išvyksta į Europą ieškoti savo skradžiai žemę prasmegusio vyro, jo neranda, jis bėga, jie grįžta, sūnus mokosi mergaičių mokykloje, jį visos mergos tvirkina, tada viskas apsiverčia, čia ji, pasirodo, yra blogietė, o tėtis kone Jėzus, o keturmetis sūnus išauga į aukštos prabos aktorių ir vyksta oskarai ir dieve mano dieve mano, dar kiek visko vyksta. Kaip ir visuose kūriniuose, taip ir čia Irvingas yra overthinkeris: nė viename skaitytame jis neapsiriboja tik viena siužeto linija ar tik vienu pagrindiniu veikėju. Tačiau čia man jau buvo šiek tiek persistengta ir, mano subjektyvia nuomone, jai pritrūko griežto redaktoriaus.

Taigi "Kol tave rasiu" kol kas (tikiuosi, kad ne) stoja į menkiau rekomenduojamų Irvingo knygų lentyną, nors, sakoma, ji pati biografiškiausia autoriaus knyga. Ir vis tiek ji gera.