I first discovered John Irving when I was in high school and he is one of my favorite authors. His style is so unique I always felt I could identify an Irving book just by reading one chapter without knowing who wrote it.

Well, "Setting Free the Bears" was his first book and I'm glad I didn't read this way back then because I never would have picked up another Irving book again. It was so awful it was painful to read.

Esta fue la primera novela que escribió y publicó John Irving y también sin duda uno de sus peores libros. Pero a diferencia de sus libros malos de solemnidad como La cuarta mano, Libertad para los osos peca sobre todo del exceso y la falta de mesura que caracterizará a su producción posterior pero que en este libro el autor aún no es capaz de controlar y convertir en materia literaria, de manera que termina ahogando toda la trama narrativa.

El tema de la excentricidad personal como única forma de afrontar una realidad brutal, que tan prominente será en sus obras fundamentales como La vida según Garp y Oración por Owen, ya domina en la novela primeriza de Irving. Siggy es el joven filósofo anarquista que planea liberar a los animales del zoo de Viena, Graff es el sensato compañero de aventuras que a pesar de todo se ve envuelto en los locos planes de Siggy por no saber decir que no y porque la amistad es algo sagrado. El componente autobiográfico es fundamental, el jovencísimo John Irving viajó de sus Estados Unidos natales a Viena en 1963 con solo 21 años para estudiar en el Instituto de Estudios Europeos de la capital austríaca, en un momento en el que las huellas de la segunda guerra mundial todavía eran bien visibles al tiempo que la rebeldía de los años 60 ya empezaba a fraguarse. Esta mezcla resultó explosiva para un autor como Irving, capaz de absorber como una esponja el ambiente y los sentimientos que mueven a la gente de a pie a llevar a cabo pequeños o grandes actos heroicos que no cambiarán la historia pero que sí serán de influencia decisiva en las vidas de las personas que les rodean.

Y a través del cuaderno de notas de Siggy, que ocupará toda la parte central del libro, se irán alternando los planes de liberación del zoológico con un recuento de la historia personal de su familia desde los prolegómenos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Esta historia familiar es para mi gusto lo mejor de todo el libro, en ella John Irving se centra en la gente de Viena, qué supuso para ellos ir perdiendo día tras día la soberanía sobre su país y sus propias vidas sin que el gobierno pudiera hacer nada para evitarlo y siendo abandonados por la comunidad internacional, primero a la dominación alemana y después a la “liberación” rusa. Los vienenes como víctimas del gran juego político europeo, pocos autores han sido capaces de mirar más allá de los monumentos y la grandeza de la ciudad y fijarse en la gente común, los austríacos de la calle que basan su identidad en la premisa fundamental de no ser alemán por encima de todas las cosas y que han estado todo el siglo XX pagando por ello. Libertad para los osos es un libro irregular, por momentos ilegible, pero gracias a este gran componente humano resulta un libro enormemente entrañable.

Several people have recommended Jon Irving as a must read author. (If you are one of them stop reading now.) Not knowing any of his work I thought I’d start with his first, ‘Setting the Bears Free’. Maybe it’s just me, but what a load of rubbish! Goodness knows why I bothered finishing it, it s like a gruesome scene you can’t quite drag your eyes away from. It started weakly, finished even worse and the middle was, well completely uninteresting and forgettable. Yes there were historical sections, but even they were like wading through treacle. I’d write a quick synopsis, but it’s beyond me what’s it’s about, and don’t get me going on the appalling characters. My conclusion- what a load of old tripe!

I quit on this book. The first hundred pages, which involve an adventure through Austria by two young lads on a motorcycle is enjoyable, if a little vapid. The remaining 250 pages, which changes dramatically in tone and format, is excerpts from a diary of one of those two guys and is painfully dull to read. I struggled through 100+ pages of this, wanting to get back to the narrative but it didn't come and so I quit. There are too many good books around to waste your time on something as unremarkable and unpolished as this, I figure. The jacket had promised a "mixture of Til Eugenspeil and Ken Kesey". Okay, I haven't read Eugenspiel, but I'm not sure what about Irving's writing here bears comparison with Kesey. Irvings prose is flat and childish, nothing like the rich textured world that Kesey can paint.

Die Buchbesprechung gibt's in unserem Podcast:

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/p...

Aber Vorsicht, Spoiler!

I’ve read most of Irving’s novels before this one and I agree with many of the reviewers who didn’t love this book as much as I did. It was very different from his others for sure, and at times it was a challenging read. That said it is an amazing work of art, especially for a new writer. This book reminds me of the kind of avant-garde writing that produced Trout Fishing in America, and Tom Robbins. I fell in love with contemporary literature when it was risky and funky, and this book fits right in that groove.

As well as writers are writing today, so many of them play it safe and keep it simple....stories with heartfelt detail and incredible word-smithing, but so little magic and imagination. This book reminded me how great it was to discover the off beat contemporary writers when I was younger, and how much I’ve been missing this kind of book.

I'll be plain--I hated this book. Yet I finished it, in hopes it might improve--after all, I've really enjoyed 4 of John Irving's other books, so how could this, his first novel, go that wrong? It was confusing, boring, unconvincing, and just not very interesting. I never did feel any interest in the narrator, or anyone else, for that matter. Thank goodness that Irving improved with practice!

“I tried to calm them all, but the Asiatic Black Bear was unfit for reason. I did whisper to the polar beats that they shouldn’t take it out on each other, and they floated, though uneasily, thereafter; I did beg the grizzly to have a seat and collect his thoughts, which, after a half-blind charge at me, he begrudgingly did; my gentle pair of Rare Spectacled Bears were so very worried that they hugged each other upright.”

“So I think this calls for faith. I think there’s no point in discussing the possibilities for chaos, because it’s a matter of the mass frame of mind. We either convey the spirit to them or we don’t.”

“At the risk of sounding polemical, I’d like to say that there are two ways to live a long time in this world. One is to trade with violence strictly as a free agent, with no cause or love that overlaps what’s expedient; and if you give no direct answers, you’ll never be discovered as lying to protect yourself. But I don’t exactly know what the other way to live a long time is, although I do believe it involves incredible luck. There certainly is another way, though, because it’s not always the O. Schrutts who live a long time. There are just a few survivors of a different nature around.“

“‘Small-minded, Immediate Graff!’ He roared. ‘All the unbounced boobies of the world are in your brain!’”

“Letting off a thoroughly good sneeze is a natural, spontaneous, frank action of which some people are a little afraid in the same way that they are afraid of being spontaneous and letting themselves go in their sex life. It has been contended that there must be a direct connection between a person’s ability to have a thoroughly good sneeze and the ability to have a satisfying orgasm.”

Toto mi až tak úplne nesadlo. Väčšinou ma spôsob rozmýšľania a správania hlavných hrdinov Siggiho Javotnika a Hannesa Graffa trochu rozčuľoval („Čo môže byť horšie než vedieť, že v konečnom dôsledku by bolo lepšie, keby ste nič neurobili? ...keby ste sa nezamiešali do neuspokojivého stavu vecí?“). Škrípala som zubami a dúfala, že na ďalšej strane uberú plyn... ale nič. A tak som sa až do konca knihy musela štípať do ruky a hovoriť si, že je to len vymyslený príbeh. Príbehu kraľuje mladícka nerozvážnosť a nepoučiteľnosť. Možno aj preto, že Irving tento román napísal ako 25-ročný. Je však skvelý rozprávač a dalo sa to s ním vydržať. A priznávam, že na to všetko som sa aj niečo zaujímavé dozvedela (napríklad o okupácii Viedne Sovietskou armádou na konci druhej svetovej vojny) a občas som sa aj celkom pobavila. Čítajte a sami uvidíte.

Onneksi tämä ei ollut ensimmäinen lukemani kirja rakastamaltani Irvingiltä, olisi saattanut jäädä myös viimeiseksi. Ensimmäiset sata sivua ajattelin joko kirjailijan itsensä tai vähintäänkin hänen päähenkilönsä olleen kuusi-seitsemänkytluvun taitteen hengen mukaisesti aikamoisessa pöllyssä (toisaalta en kyllä luopunut tästä epäilystäni päähenkilöiden kohdalla missään vaiheessa...) - mm. huutomerkkien määrä oli saada pääni särkemään. Olen jokseenkin allerginen ylettömälle huutomerkkien käytölle. On kuin teksti olisi ruokaa, jossa on liikaa korianteria.
Kolmeen osaan jaetun tarinan kerronta muuttuu jokaisessa osuudessa, toisen osan tuodessa kertomukseen lisää syvyyttä ja kerroksia. Eikä tämä Irvingin esikoisteos siis varsinaisesti huonoksi osoittautunut. Sekava ja vähän epäkiinnostava se kyllä oli, mutta oli siinä tunnistettavissa alkusysäys upean tarinankertojan synnylle. Ja jollain tavalla oli myös kiinnostavaa havainnoida, miten lähestulkoon kaikki myöhemmin tutuksi tulevat teemat ovat tässä kirjassa jo jonkinlaisina hahmotelmina, ikäänkuin beta-versioina.
Joiltakin kirjailijoilta kannattaa tuotanto aloittaa ensimmäisestä kirjasta ja jatkaa kronologisessa järjestyksessä. Mutta jos et ole lukenut Irvingiä aikaisemmin, älä kuitenkaan aloita tästä.

I’m glad this wasn’t my introduction to Irving, because it would have been my only read. I was beyond bored. Hard do not recommend

3.5 stars. Fun characters and wordplay. Plot convoluted at times. Interesting insight into John Irving's later work. Would recommend for Irving fans

My interest in this book came from my interest in John Irving's body of work as a whole, and not necessarily because I found this work particularly gripping. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, of course. Irving delivered a cast of colorful characters, as I expected, and the wordplay was delightfully fun. My favorite example: "But Keff was not one to deny the animal. Not when he carried my kicking Gallen downstairs to her auntie; not when he lifted the hitch end of the iron flatbed and clamped trailer to tractor with one mighty Keff-heff" (85).

There were places where the story was weak. I found it particularly hard to follow along during certain parts of Siggy's notebook, especially when Zahn Glanz is dressed up as the eagle and driving around Vienna . Maybe I read too quickly, or maybe it's because I don't have much knowledge of WWII-era Austria, but I was definitely confused. Overall, the character motivations are often hard to discern throughout the book.

I would have thought that a zoo heist ending would be wildly exciting  but in actual practice, the ending was lackluster. My favorite part of the book was Siegfried's autobiography, and I almost wish the book had really been about that instead.

It was interesting to read John Irving's first novel and see all sorts of little elements that come back in his later works. The idea of two young men, one eccentric and the other fairly average, having a close friendship that ends because the eccentric friend dies during one of their shared missions is borrowed and modified by A Prayer for Owen Meany, as well as the idea of the eccentric friend keeping a notebook that the average friend reads after their death. Although the basic idea is essentially the same, the execution is different enough to give an entirely unique feeling to each story, which I just find fascinating.

This novel really is a first novel and doesn't have the same impact as Irving's later work. However, it was a fun read and I definitely don't regret it.