I’m rereading this book, and I’m sorry to say it does not hold up for me. When I read it as a twenty something around 1990, I was a very different person and the world was a very different place. In 2021, this book comes off as juvenile and out-of-touch. Maybe that’s not a fair criticism, but the book has not aged well. It’s clunky and sophomoric—to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t get through it. The main characters are unappealing, and their “adventures” are meaningless. Irving is still one of my all-time favorite authors and I highly recommend any of his relatively early books (especially Garp and Owen Meaney)—except this one.

¿Podrían lograr el viaje o perderán en el intento?
Un libro aburrido y divertido. No pasa nada interesante, pero no podes parar de leerlo. Quería saber como continuaba.
Nos narra las desventuras de Graff y Siggy. Piensan hacer un viaje sin una guía de ruta. Vemos como un personaje se deja llevar por otro con las ideas más delirantes. Uno que no puede dejar de pensar en un zoológico y la libertad de dichos animales.
No puedo entender como se dejó llevar a esta aventura. Como están los dos personajes tan alocados.
Me descoloco y conmovió el final. Me sacó alguna sonrisa en su momento. Me gustó bastante. No es profundo, cumple la función de entretener. Lo recomiendo para pasar el rato, aunque te puede llevar algunos días ya que es un poco largo.

This is the author's first novel and I guess all these years later would be a sort of period piece that captures the unsettled energy of the youth in Vienna during the 1960s. It is the adventures of Graff and Siggy who embark on a motorcycle adventure through the countryside where they hatch a plot to free animals from the Vienna Zoo after seeing the animals cruelly treated. It is a recurrence of an actual event immediately after World War II. After, Siggy dies in vintage Irvingesque fashion, Graff and his new girlfriend are left to carry out the plot. Choas ensues

The book also tells the story the war and how it affected Siggy's grandparents. A truly funny book and an interesting look at an interesting time and place.

Irving's first shows signs of great storytelling to come, but is awkward and silly at times. Recommended for completeists.