Cider House Rules

[Soul Queen]

I just finished John Irving's Cider House Rules.

I have conflicting emotions about John Irving's work. A few years ago I read A Prayer for Owen Meany and I loved it. It is the best of his work that I have read.

I have a used bookstore near my house, so I pick things up from time to time. I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany so I thought why not for the Cider House Rules.

The book is good, but I sometime can't get past how clinical some of John Irving's writing is. The first 1/3 of the novel describes birthing and abortion procedures in detail. It is to set the mood of the novel and drives home unspoken rules of society. I'm just not fan of reading it. The novel was well written, it was just kind of depressing.

Years ago I read The World According to Garp. I remember not being too impressed with it. The only thing I can remember about it was a scene with a bunch of douche bags.

It seems that John Irving is obsessed with womens gynecological parts. Has anyone else read much Irving? Have I just randomly picked up the few novels that have these things in them or is all of his work this way?

A Prayer for Owen Meany wasn't clinical in the least. It was a really good story. The Cider House rules eh 1 thumb up, maybe 1 and 1/2. Good story, really clinical. Be prepared to be depressed. :twocents:

[larryhead]

I've never read any John Irving, but I remember liking the movie adaptation for Cider House Rules. Anyways, I did a quick search, and I think this may be of interest you!

John Irving's memoir begins with his account of the distinguished career and medical writings of the novelist's grandfather Dr. Frederick C. Irving, a renowned obstetrician and gynecologist, and includes Mr. Irving's incisive history of abortion politics in the United States.
...
"And so, at about the same time I first read Charles Dickens, I began to read my grandfather 'Fritz' Irving. For a fourteen-year-old, the clinical details of the early days of obstetrics and gynecological surgery were frankly more eye-opening than anything in Charles Dickens, although Dickens would ultimately prove to be a greater influence on my writing than Dr. Irving. Thank goodness."


http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-0375503684-0

[bangg trimm]

i like The Hotel New Hampshire quite a bit. also read The 158-Pound Marriage-- a bit dull.

Garp I always found to be fun.. both it and HNH have movie versions as well that are okay.

[Soul Queen]

I've never read any John Irving, but I remember liking the movie adaptation for Cider House Rules. Anyways, I did a quick search, and I think this may be of interest you!



http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-0375503684-0

I guess that would explain it then.

[False Alarm]

Years ago I read The World According to Garp. I remember not being too impressed with it. The only thing I can remember about it was a scene with a bunch of douche bags.

only thing i remember's the part where garp's wife is going down on the dude in his car in a driveway, and garp rear-ends them and she bites off the dude's piece.

garp and meany are all i've read of his, and my take was pretty much the same--liked owen meany and was lukewarm on garp.

[notorious]

just finished the world according to garp and really enjoyed it. it sounds like i'll have to pick up owen meany.

[JVO]

just finished the world according to garp and really enjoyed it. it sounds like i'll have to pick up owen meany.

Yeah Owen Meany is one of my favorite books. I really didn't like World According to Garp (haven't read Cider House), but I LOVED Owen Meany.

[professor booty]

I've read garp and Owen Meany, about ten years ago. I liked them both.

I also read A Son of the Circus when I was in high school. It is set in India, and I remember liking it, but I don't know if John Irving knows as much about India as he does about women's privates.

I was drawn in by his story telling and how he didn't shy away from the complications of sexual relationships.

[duckplucker]

It seems that John Irving is obsessed with womens gynecological parts.


joke #1: Don't you mean, PUSSY?

joke #2: all males are obsessed with PUSSY. that's why you are here.:pokefun:

[Soul Queen]

No comment Duck.

How old are you again? :p

[duckplucker]

twenty-nine pussy-obsessed years on earth and counting!!!!!

[matty]

I think it's fair to say that Irving is obsessed with pussy. I think it's part of his writing style.

Irving's "voice" is what I like about him. His personality comes through very strong in every book, which I enjoy. I think he finds women so complex and mysterious that he draws a strong symbolic connection between a woman's brain and her vagina. Secret places, inside, guarded. When I read Irving, I pay attention to the sexual aspects of the female characters, because how he talks about her vagina is really how he's talking about her personality.

So yeah, he's pussy obsessed, but in a respectful way. (uh...yeah.)

My problems with Irving always revolve around the main character. Sometimes I feel like every male character in his novels are the same guy, just in a different scenario.

But his cynicism matches mine nicely, so I find that enjoyable. And I like that he's so clinical, because it's very unique to him.

I definitely think Irving is a one-of-a-kind author, and I really respect that.