John Irving is one of my favorite authors and this book is my favorite of his (thus far). This was one of those books that I found myself savoring in hopes of putting off the inevitable ending. It's a good sized book but I still wasn't ready to say goodbye at the end. I loved the depth of the details. John Irving brings India to life in this book. The characters are well developed and we get to know them well. I also found myself laughing aloud several times which rarely happens.

Regardless of whether you are a fan of John Irving's work or not I would recommend this book. It has a little bit of everything, from a murder mystery to scenes that are straight up slapstick. You won't forgot the characters after you put the book down. All in all, a delightful read.

I need to buy a new copy of this one: I took it to India on holiday and left it there!

De meester vertelt.

I will preface that The Hotel New Hampshire & A Prayer for Owen Meany are two of my most favorite books. But Irving’s early writing (Setting Free The Bears, Water Method Man) were hard to read, with details and flashbacks cluttering the prose. And it feels like he enjoys writing that way more, so waited for some commercial success, in which he could be supported to return to his favoured style. This is all to say that this book, at least the first 50 pages, feels a bit like reading a 100 obituaries that have been tossed together like a garden salad. And life is too short to be frustrated while reading novels so I’ve decided to DNF.