Einmal mehr habe ich mich an John Irvings Menschen und Skurilitäten freuen dürfen. Dieses Buch hatte auch keine Längen. Trotzdem hat mir irgendetwas zum fünften Stern gefehlt.

Ilgas romanas, tarsi apjungiantis daugybę įdomių novelių. Nenuobodus. Geras stilius. Autorius nors ir lėtai, bet nenuobodžiai vinguriuoja siužetą, o pabaigai, – kad ilgas romanas nepabostų, – net sugalvoja detektyvinę istoriją.

Veikėjai gan taikliai ir įdomiai charakterizuojami. Pasileidęs rašytojas-dailininkas Tedas Koulas – „toks pat apgaulingas kaip suplyšęs prezervatyvas“. Jo žmona Merion, kaip pati pripažįsta – „žmogus, kuriam vaikas rūpi dar mažiau negu gerai auklei“ – psichologiškai sugniuždyta avarijoje žuvus sūnums ir nesugebanti mylėti po to gimusios dukters. Edis – keistokų, bet mielų tėvų sūnus, šešiolikmetis įžengiantis į knygą ir užsibūnantis joje iki pabaigos. Ištvirkintas dvigubai vyresnės moters, jis įgyja priklausomybę ir net prabėgus 32 metams mylisi tik su už save vyresnėmis moterimis, be tokios meilės kaip Merion, jis niekad nebejautė. Ir kita blogybė – nors ir tapo rašytoju, sugeba kurti tik autobiografinius romanus.
Tedo ir Merion duktė Ruta irgi tapo rašytoja-superžvaigžde (jos romanų herojai – rašytojai), išaugo be motinos ir sutiko ją tik po 37 metų. Neieškojo jos, nes – suprantama – buvo įsižeidusi: palikta keturmetė su ne per geriausios reputacijos tėvu. Autorius pateikia įdomią mintį: „Trisdešimt šešerių Rutai, mylinčiai tėvą ir jo nekenčiančiai, buvo tikra kančia žinoti, kad tėvas myli ją“ – tokie sudėtingi tėvo ir dukros santykiai. „Ruta apskritai nemėgo ginčytis su vyrais, nes tai būdavo panašu į ginčus su tėvu. Jeigu ji leisdavo tėvui laimėti, jis paskui vaikiškai jai primindavo, jog buvo teisus. O jeigu neabejotinai laimėdavo Ruta, Tedas arba to nepripažindavo, arba baisiai suirzdavo.“
Įdomus autoriaus požiūris į dvi blogybes: alkoholį ir santuokinę neištikimybę – „Deja, ėmęs saikingai gerti, Tedas dar labiau suksis apie moteris; ilgainiui paaiškės, kad merginėjimas pačiam Tedui pavojingesnis negu gėrimas“.

Visi knygos personažai gyvybingi, įtikinantys skaitytoją savo realumu, net tokie antraeiliai, kaip Rutos draugė pasileidėlė Hana („Hana iš prigimties atrodė visada pasirengusi gultis su kuo nors į lovą – ir dar su kuo nors, ir dar – be paliovos“) ar Amsterdamo policininkas Haris, teikiantis prižiūrimoms prostitutėms nuoširdžias Kalėdines dovanėles, o žmonos ilgai neradęs todėl, nes... mėgo skaityti lovoje. Neabejotinas autoriaus autoritetas – anglų klasikas Grehemas Grynas, kurio asmeniui ir kūrybai knygoje skiriama nemažai vietos, tiesa, pasitaiko ir sarkastiškų minčių: „Alanas pasakė, jog tikisi, kad jo mažasis Grehemas nebus toks pagarsėjęs nuolatinis viešnamių klientas, koks buvo žymusis rašytojas.“

Tie skaitytojai, kurie kažką rašo, gal nelabai sutiks su autoriaus požiūriu, kaip rašomi romanai (knygoje tam skiriama daug vietos), na, o tie, kurie patys nerašo, gal nesusidarys pernelyg neteisingo požiūrio, kaip rašomi romanai. Knyga galėjo būti pavadinta „Iš rašytojų gyvenimo“, nes rašytojais yra arba tampa visi pagrindiniai romano veikėjai, o Rutos pasirengimas naujo romano rašymui atskleidžiamas taip detaliai, kad skaitytojas gali pasijusti situacijoje „sapnas sapne“.

Nors nebijau storų knygų, man ši knyga pasirodė kiek per ilga. Ar reikėjo tų 634 puslapių, kad autorius įtikintų skaitytoją, jog pagyvenusių moterų mylėtojas netikėtai gali įsimylėti 36 metais jaunesnę buvusios meilužės dukrą? – palieku spręsti skaitytojams. Ir kai kurie siužetiniai vingiai manęs neįtikino, bet tai nereiškia, kad negalėjo ar neturėjo įtikinti.

When I think of John Irving, I think of memorable, deep, flawed, and outrageous characters. His books are crafted and precise while being comical, tragic, and raw. The first two parts or Widow are Irving at his best if you ask me. The characters are flawed yet sympathetic and believable. While his plots may not scream at you to grab your attention, his detail and dialogue lead you into your immersion. Before you know it, you care about these people and can't wait to find out how their lives progress.

A Widow For One Year is probably my least favorite of my first three Irving novels but that's simply because the first two were so wonderful and absolute favorites of mine. Part 3 of A Widow For One Year loses a little steam for me, compared to the first two thirds of the book. While Irving is always wordy, it's that style that keeps me coming back for more. But in this case, even I think part 3 was a little over-cooked.

Wordiness aside, just like both previous Irving titles I've read, I will take a few of these characters with me for a long time. While there may not be a Owen Meany or a Suzy the Bear, the characters are still rich and likable. And while the plot isn't as wacky as Hotel NH, or as intricate as Owen Meany, its still rather good.

Irving always seems to have an overwhelming theme in his novels that I really appreciate. Owen Meany was faith, Hotel NW was acceptance and Widow is about loss. While those are serious topics and themes for the characters, John Irving always presents them to me in a way that is entertaining and keeps me turning the pages.

I'm glad to have added this to my "read" shelf, and not everyone will like it as much as I did. But if you like John Irving, I would say give this one a try without a second thought.

I hated this book. John Iriving's inability to write women characters was a huge problem in this book since it has a female protagonist. I didn't care about her at all and I wasn't that intrigued by the story either. I generally like John Irving's writing style, but it didn't make any difference to me with this book because I didn't like one single character.

John Irving always writes interesting and quirky characters. While his plot lines don't always attract me he writes so well that you cannot help but wonder 'where is this going'. He does an excellent job of foreshadowing while still letting you imaging possibilities and then surprising the reader in the end. This was not one of his best books but still enjoyable. I continue to be a fan.

Sakytum tipinis standartinis Irvingas - prostitutės, mamos ir tėčiai, skyrybos, vaikai ir jų netektys, rašytojo vidinė makalošė, kelionės į Europą, peniai (taip, peniai išties yra vienas iš pagrindinių Irvingo leitmotyvų)... Aišku, jau esu rašiusi, kaip man Irvingo pastovumas patinka ir jį skaitau kaip seną draugą - numanydama, kaip maždaug vystysis siužetai, kas nutiks, o kas, ko gero ne; vis tik arba aš jau nuo jo pavargau, arba ši knyga man buvo be gyvybės ir nuobodi, kažkokia neirvingiška apvemtinai saldžia pabaiga, kažin kokiais neišbaigtas veikėjų portretais, nors ir nereikalingai ištįsusiom jų istorijom... Žodžiu, Našlė stovi toli nuo jo stipriausiųjų (man - Garpo, Oveno Minio, Tvisted Riverio).
Be kita ko, ir vertimas šūdinokas. Skaičiau lietuviškai vien todėl, kad turėjau knygą, o negalima negalima negalima.

Never have I wanted a house in the Hamptons more than after reading this book--okay, fine, I might have said that after watching Grey Gardens as well. Never have I wanted to visit Amsterdam's Red Light District more than after reading this book--nope, there's a documentary called Meet the Fokkens that had the same effect. Never have I wanted to learn to play squash more than after reading this book--the truth at last! For a moment I thought John Irving was going to make a liar out of me all for the sake of writing a Goodreads review.

As it turns out I am capable of reading 500+ page books, though this doesn't mean I don't think most can benefit from a slight trim. Thanks to this book I'll never think of squid ink in the same way ever again, or see an empty picture hook without feeling a tinge of sadness. Time to start on that children's book I've always wanted to write--thanks John Irving.

Wow. My 5th Irving, and what a good book. As usual, the author depicts scenarios that seem SO UNLIKELY! and yet they are believable and compelling.

A major theme of this novel is grief, grief for those we've lost to death, grief for our bad past choices, grief for loss of connection with the living, grief over abandonment. Connected to this, however, is the theme of love. Love of children for their parents, love of parents for children, love for our fellow man whom we may not know very well, the love of friends. Irving portrays love inextricably interwoven with grief. Imperfect love. Real love.

This book gives me hope, and helps me feel more tolerance for my own imperfect loving, and continued patience with my own process of grieving.

Another plus is how many times I perceived in this novel that Irving was poking fun at himself as a writer. It seemed obvious to me, but was not so obtrusive as to be distracting from the story.

A great story!

Una prova abbastanza modesta da parte di Irving, scrittore che solitamente mi piace. Solo a tratti ho trovato il suo consueto accattivante modo di narrare. Le situazioni proposte e i personaggi sono poco convincenti, anche considerando il fatto che, nei romanzi di questo autore, c’è sempre una componente surreale. Ma, qui, funziona poco anche quella. A dirla sinceramente, mi è quasi parso che Irving abbia un po’ combinato alla bell’e meglio idee sparse e poco coerenti tra loro. I temi a lui cari ci sono sempre, ma appaiono raffazzonati e messi insieme per dovere, più che per la voglia sincera di raccontare.

John Irving is noted as saying that he writes the last line of a novel first and then he knows where he is headed. But I think it is the penultimate line of this novel that sums up the story, it is “. . .There are moments when time does stop. We must be alert enough to notice such moments . . .”

In A Widow For One Year, Irving has again created memorable and beautifully broken characters who will continue to live in my consciousness long after I have put the book away. To me, Ruth Cole and Eddie O'Hara are equal to Garp, Owen Meany or indeed Doctor Wilbur Larch in Cider House Rules.

As always with Irving, there is a degree of meandering in this story, but it is always engaging and the journey resolves into cohesion in the final chapters.

A beautifully written book which I enjoyed very much.

Wow, what a strange book

Having read 'Garp' I was pretty keen to give another Irving book a go. Well, I kind of wished I hadn't. As a vaguely intelligent human being who has seen the world revolve, I have several gripes with this book.

Firstly, it is my firm belief that Eddie O'Hare must be one of the biggest fools in literary history, if he cannot get over Ruth Cole. Come on, are you serious? He keeps loving her until they're old and decrepit despite not seeing her for all those years. That my friend, is what I'd call, a loser.

Secondly, Ruth Cole witnessed a brutal murder in front of her and seems to go on with life without any ongoing shock or scars; in fact she has time to fall in love with the detective a few years later. Hmmm....

Finally, this story is just hollow and unsatisfying. I really disliked both Ted and Ruth Cole, they're cold and heartless. Eddie is a fool. And the story ends in an unrealistic, lazy `we all live happily ever after' kind of way. If you want to read Irving, go for Garp or The Cider House Rules.

The main redeeming feature of this book is that it is well written, but poorly executed.

Quattro personaggi tutti scrittori, quattro personaggi al limite . Uno scrittore di favole alcolizzato, egocentrico e donnaiolo; una scrittrice di bestsellers abbastanza "disturbata"; uno scrittore di romanzi mediocri che non riesce a "riprendersi" da una storia d'amore (di sesso?) di mille anni prima; una scrittrice di gialli-rosa che ha abbandonato una figlia di quattro anni perché aveva perduto altri due figli adolescenti in un incidente d'auto pochi mesi prima.Un romanzo molto complesso! Come scatole cinesi, si nascondono tra le sue pagine altre storie nella storia, interi capitoli di altri libri, personaggi che entrano ed escono a sorpresa. Si leggono pagine che trasudano un dolore straziante e pagine fin troppo umoristiche, pagine lievi e delicate ed altre ad alto contenuto erotico. Irving si destreggia tra tanta complessità con una scrittura affilata e precisa con cui delinea in maniera eccelsa i personaggi che emergono con uno spessore ed una definizione non comune dando a ciascuno di essi una peculiarità propria. Non il suo migliore , mi hanno detto , quindi sicuramente leggerò ancora qualcosa di Irving.