Kiinnostava aihe tämä parinvaihtotarina (vuodelta 1973, nykyään aiheesta ei ole helppo käydä aikuisten keskustelua) ja alkaa hyvin. Ensimmäinen kolmasosa on erittäin raikasta ja kaunista. Mutta sitten fokus katoaa ja pakka hajoaa niin henkilöiltä kuin teokselta. Sääli, koska tässä on oikein hyvin kirjoitettu epäluotettava kertoja, joka yrittää esittää vähemmän mustasukkaista ja riittämätöntä kuin onkaan. Harvoin seksissä on kyse vain seksistä, usein vallasta, mukaellen Oscar Wildea.

Lopulta epäluotettavuus laajenee tekniikasta tarinansisäiseksi muihinkin henkilöihin, jotka todentuntuisesti sekoilevat menemään. Lasten unohtuminen on ihana detalji. Olisin halunnut pitää tästä enemmän ja aiheesta olisi mukava lukea kirjallisesti onnistuneempi ja nykyaikaisempi mukaelma.

Těžko se mi ke knize vracelo a na to, že je tak tenká, jsem ji četl až moc dlouho. Není to špatná kniha, ale moc mě nezaujaly ty mezimanželské pletichy mezi oběma páry. Zato část z Vídně mi přišla zajímavá a osudy Učky rozhodně poutavější, než část z Ameriky. Něco tomu chybělo a já nevím co.

This is my first Irving and I'm quite impressed. And this is not even considered to be one of his best works. I love the way he introduces the characters and the story. Complex charactrs and human relations, and some beautiful descriptions of love scenes I reread several times. I can't wait to read Owen Meany and Garb.

I understand that John Irving probably had to write this in order to write The World According to Garp

Rūta_skaito knygų iššūkis. Vasaris. Raudonas viršelis arba nugarėlė.

„Žmonės per aukštai kelia meną ir nepakankamai aukštai istoriją.“

Šią knygą turiu jau kuris laikas. Šie metai tikrai yra išskirtiniai metai, nes pirmąkart realiai susipažįstu su labai žymiais rašytojais ir jų kūryba. Vis dėlto, nors ir kiek vilčių dėjau į John Irving, "Vidutinio svorio santuoka" man buvo sunkus kąsnis, kartais knygą skaitau ilgai vien todėl, kad laiko paroje yra per mažai, tačiau šiuo atveju knyga skaitėsi ne tai, kad ilgai, tačiau labai labai sunkiai.

Esu iš tų skaitytojų, kuriai patinka šeimos istorijos, tokios gyvenimiškos ir tikros, bet tikriausiai yra tam tikros normos, kurios skaitosi neskaniai, dėl ko ir geriausiai parašyta knyga, jeigu joje aprašoma moralė nesutampa su tavo vertybių skale, nebus tavo knyga ir tavo istorija. Nei vienas veikėjai man neprigijo, nei į vieno jausmus nepavyko įsijausti, nei vienas nesukėlė nei šypsenos, nei gailesčio. Vis dėlto, nors pažintis su J. Irvingu ir ne pati maloniausia, bet tikiu, kad kitos jo istorijos bus man kur kas artimesnės.

Aš čia kažko nepagavau. Arba yra kažkokia kita priežastis kodėl šią knygą perskaičiau per du prisėdimus ir kartu jį paliko kažkokį pošlykštį poskonį.

255 pages. Donated to charity 2010 May.

Professional Reviews

"Irving looks cunningly beyond the eye-catching gyrations of the mating dance to the morning-after implications."
--The Washington Post

The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this erotic, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.

"One of the most remarkable things about John Irving's first three novels, viewed from the vantage of The World According to Garp, is that they can be read as one extended fictional enterprise. . . . The 158-Pound Marriage is as lean and concentrated as a mine shaft."
--Terrence Des Pres


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Didn’t like it as much as the other books I’ve read by Irving. At its heart it’s just a book about what happens when two couples decide to trade spouses. There are four characters in the entire book - the narrator, the narrators sturdy Viennese wife (who has an incredible backstory), and their neighbors Severin (also from Vienna, a wrestler/coach), and Faith (rich, mother is an artist). They all have children, but they are barely mentioned. The sex scenes were not particularly graphic in my opinion, some other readers mentioned being bothered by them but considering it’s a book about couple swapping I didn’t think it was so bad?

I can't seem to get sick of Irving. This is one of his shortest novels I've read and that threw me off a bit because I've been reading a lot of Irving lately and all his novels are thick. I picked this book up because I heard that it was similar to the world according to garp (which I loved). This book was about two married couples that enter into a foursome. At first it was a bit unclear how this foursome started and Irving was a bit vague about that but once you get deeper into the story it starts to unfold and each of the four character story is told and you love some and hate the others. Though there are four people in the foursome its told from the perspective of one of the husbands who isn't talking about himself but narrating the life of the other husband and how the three are living in his world. I don't want to give the ending away but this novel was enjoyable to read. One thing thats different from this novel from the other works of Irving I've read is that its not a crazy twist or plot involved, yes its a odd topic but its simple and Irvings prose as always is fantastic and on point.

The final table setting before Garp

Wife swapping—but not sexy, and with a predictably complicated end. Not quite a novella, rereading this book I am struck by how much more it resonates with me as a man married for 20 years, than it did as a single twenty something . It’s also refreshing to have a main protagonist that is unappealing. He’s the worst person in the story—and he doesn’t even know it. It’s pretty real to watch him come to that realization (“the killer was in the house the whole time. And it was me!”). Arguably, he never quite gets it, but the reader does. An enjoyable quick read with a fresh take on how complicated, even agreed-upon, infidelity can be.

Der Mann macht mich fertig. Jede Geschichte spielt in Wien oder New Hampshire, jedes Mal sind die Charaktere ultraweird und es geht immer ums Vögeln…