A Son of the Circus |
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Author:
John Irving
By Black Swan
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £3.39
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780552996051
ISBN: 055299605X
Label: Black Swan
Manufacturer: Black Swan
Number Of Pages: 829
Publication Date: 1995-09-07
Publisher: Black Swan
Studio: Black Swan |
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Classic Irving, 2009-12-29
Classic Irving. If you know JI then I needn't say more. If you don't know JI then get reading right away.
A slow burner, 2009-10-27
I agree with those reviewers that found this something of a difficult book to get into - I nearly gave up about a quarter of the way through. The central plot - the capture of a serial killer - takes a long time to get established, and you're faced with a great deal of meandering, back story and tangential sub-plots along the way.
But with the introduction of the intriguing Nancy, the story picks up pace, and when Martin Mills joins the scene it gains a real comic momentum. Irving says the defining theme of the novel is alienation - the 'central' character feels he belongs nowhere - but for me it was far a more a novel about sexual ambiguity, and the consequences thereof.
Irving mentions Rohinton Mistry in his introduction to the audio version of the novel, but I think this is a much finer book than "A Fine Balance". "A Son of the Circus" actually has the balance that Mistry's book lacks - an ability to offset tragedy with humour, pessimism with optimism in a way that gives a much richer picture of life in India. Doubly ironic, given that Irving freely admits to having so little experience of the place.
John Irving's Masterpiece, 2003-04-14
The forward of the book makes certain mention that John Irving was only in India for about a month. The book was written like he was a typical Bombayite, and all of us from that area applaud him for the book. The storyline was, John Irving style, entertaining and outrageous, however, his research on the styles and the idiocyncracies of the Parsis was spot on. So much so, that I could not believe a man who had spent such a short time in a country could unlock its soul.Well done, John Irving, in my eyes you are one of the best authors today!
A sweeping novel by John Irving, 2008-08-11
This is a long, often hard novel but a very rewarding one. I started re-reading straight away and enjoyed it even more. Its what John Irving is good at; a long very well plotted novel.
A splendid read, 2003-11-07
Being an Asian doctor in Britain, I can fully empathise with John Irving's insightful portrayal of Dr Farokh Daruwalla, a man caught between two cultures but belonging to neither. This book is so well written that it is surprising to learn that the author has never visited the Indian subcontinent. He has managed to capture the essence of that unique part of the world and its people in a moving, humorous, uplifting and, at times, thrilling, story. Once you start reading it you will not want it to end.
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