John Irving was, at one time, my favorite writer. "The World According to Garp" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany" were potentially life changing for me.
And "The Cider House Rules" is the best thing I've ever read on the subject of abortion. It's when I came to realize that two of the saddest things in the world are women who want a babies and can't have them and women who are having babies they don't want.
A few days ago I read that John Irving has a new book coming out called "In One Person." As usual, it is controversial. I'd like to read it sometime but with my new pledge to not buy books for pleasure I'll have to wait until it hits the library.
But thinking about Irving, I headed for my neighborhood library and picked up a book he'd written in 2001 called "The Fourth Hand." At 313 pages, it's much shorter than his other books. I'd never heard of it so I didn't know what to anticipate.
First off, I didn't learn anything. I didn't come away with any deep insights the way I usually do with his books, just another reminder that people can change. But I loved every word of it. When I finished it this morning I was sad that I had to stop reading.
It's about a self centered, womanizing journalist who gets his hand chomped off by a circus lion in India. He eventually gets his life turned around after a failed hand transplant (among other things) and the very last part of the book is a sweet love story. However, be informed that this book is loaded with sex the way every one of his books is loaded with sex.
It's John Irving's edgy writing style that I love. If you've not read him, this might be a good book for you to see if you'd be willing to tackle his heavier works.
***
And "The Cider House Rules" is the best thing I've ever read on the subject of abortion. It's when I came to realize that two of the saddest things in the world are women who want a babies and can't have them and women who are having babies they don't want.
A few days ago I read that John Irving has a new book coming out called "In One Person." As usual, it is controversial. I'd like to read it sometime but with my new pledge to not buy books for pleasure I'll have to wait until it hits the library.
But thinking about Irving, I headed for my neighborhood library and picked up a book he'd written in 2001 called "The Fourth Hand." At 313 pages, it's much shorter than his other books. I'd never heard of it so I didn't know what to anticipate.
First off, I didn't learn anything. I didn't come away with any deep insights the way I usually do with his books, just another reminder that people can change. But I loved every word of it. When I finished it this morning I was sad that I had to stop reading.
It's about a self centered, womanizing journalist who gets his hand chomped off by a circus lion in India. He eventually gets his life turned around after a failed hand transplant (among other things) and the very last part of the book is a sweet love story. However, be informed that this book is loaded with sex the way every one of his books is loaded with sex.
It's John Irving's edgy writing style that I love. If you've not read him, this might be a good book for you to see if you'd be willing to tackle his heavier works.
***
