  Not his best by a long margin, 2009-08-09
Not his best by a long margin, but worth reading if you're a fan. A book in three parts that despite the consistency of characters feels like three odd books stuck together. I really enjoyed part one - the summer of 1958. A great Irving mix; by turns hilarious and moving. But by the time the book really focuses on Ruth (in parts two & three) I wasn't so impressed. I didn't find her likeable, but worse I didn't find her believable. I really wanted a resolution to Eddy's waiting, but Ruth's happy ending felt very contrived.
Wow, what a strange book, 2010-01-28
Having read `Garp' I was pretty keen to give another Irving book a go. Well, I kind of wished I hadn't. As a vaguely intelligent human being who has seen the world revolve, I have several gripes with this book.
Firstly, it is my firm belief that Eddie O'Hare must be one of the biggest fools in literary history, if he cannot get over Ruth Cole. Come on, are you serious? He keeps loving her until they're old and decrepit despite not seeing her for all those years. That my friend, is what I'd call, a loser.
Secondly, Ruth Cole witnessed a brutal murder in front of her and seems to go on with life without any ongoing shock or scars; in fact she has time to fall in love with the detective a few years later. Hmmm....
Finally, this story is just hollow and unsatisfying. I really disliked both Ted and Ruth Cole, they're cold and heartless. Eddie is a fool. And the story ends in an unrealistic, lazy `we all live happily ever after' kind of way. If you want to read Irving, go for Garp or The Cider House Rules.
The main redeeming feature of this book is that it is well written, but poorly executed.
entertaining and well written, 2009-11-22
This is certainly an interesting and entertaining enough plot to beguile one into rereading after the passage of time. I read this book about two years ago and enjoyed it immensely and I might even give it a second go. Well written in a flowing style the plot takes some interesting turns with psychological twists contained within an ordinary family background. Well crafted and a good read.Keeps you guessing!
Classic Irving - unconventional but brilliant, 2010-05-16
When John Irving is on form, he writes as good a book as you can hope to read. Whilst nothing of his will, in my opinion, match the brilliance of his 'Prayer for Owen Meany', 'A Widow for One Year' reminds me of why I loved the former book so much. It's hugely entertaining, and one of those rare books that manages to be genuinely funny and heartbreakingly sad, without compromising either. The scope is ambitious, the plot complex, and the characters suitably dysfunctional.
This novel claims to be the story of Ruth Cole, a successful writer, but really she shares the protagonist role with Eddie O'Hare, whom she first encounters at the age of 4, when he is her mother's teenaged lover. Like all Irving's books, sex is an important theme, though not as strongly or gratuitously as in some of his novels. Likewise the loss of children - and of parents - and the fear of those losses, permeate the story. There's the usual element of Vietnam War draft doding - though very minor in this story - but he manages to leave out wrestling altogether.
The characters are fascinating - Irving has a real talent for taking unconventional, dysfunctional lives and making them completely real and believable. Truth is stranger than fiction - and sometimes Irving books are stranger than both - but enjoyably so. I found Eddie a more rounded and interesting character than Ruth, as is sometimes the case with Irving's female characters. There are some very good minor characters, such as Ruth's editor and later husband, Allan, and her absentee mother. Not to mention Ruth's dead brothers, who haunt the story just as they haunted her parents.
Overall, I liked the first section of the story the most, followed by the last. The middle section, whilst still well written and generally enjoyable, was weaker than the others. However, whilst some of Irving's themes are familiar, he always retains the ability to surprise the reader, with twists you don't expect. Along with his ever entertaining style, this makes 'A Widow for One Year' a very enjoyable read.
"Eating with a novel is not eating alone, Eddie - I'm mildly ashamed of you" she told him..., 2010-02-08
A Widow For One Year by John Irving.
Simply dedicated `For Janet, a love story' this thumping great fat book covers the lives and loves of the Cole family, their friends and lovers over a period spanning nearly four decades. Satisfying in length and depth with delightful pointers as to what is to come, it is a properly absorbing grown up read. There is some deliciously dicey subject matter that takes you to the edge and beyond of what may be considered decent.
John Irving writes his tale in three sections, Summer 1598, Fall 1990 and Fall 1995, neatly setting out his wares in 51 usefully and aptly named chapters, using a traditional rather child's book like format. Confidently moving from The Hampton's to Europe, we are safe in the hands of the most accomplished story teller. This writer treats his readers with respect, he certainly gives us our money's worth.
Exploring the role and craft of writer, novelist, illustrator; we are parachuted into the complicated, post-disaster, fractured Cole family. Two sons have died in a dreadful accident. `The grief over lost children never dies; it is a grief that relents only a little. And then only a long while.' What a wise author. He successfully pulls off the unusual and intricate device of allowing his characters to speak to each other through their own published works - fleshing out the book with `warts and all' understanding descriptions of their humanly flawed and utterly credible personalities. This family are growing their shells over a tragedy to awful to bear without armour. They each have to rewrite their family history, building their litany of detail through constant repetition, always in their own personal way. They go 'missing' from each other and each grows differently, as you can immediately understand they must do.
Eddie travels alongside this family through 37 years of loyal love, absences, growth and challenges. He is intensely believable - especially when he weakens and wavers he is wonderfully credible - you really feel you know him inside out. We meet him as a green teenager briefly escaping from his overbearing but loving parents. We leave him, in his mid fifties, in the perfectly written conclusion, experiencing a resolution that is as good as it gets.
I loved the part when we are told about Harry, a later arrival, a policeman, and his reading life; `He read novels because he found in them the best descriptions of human nature. The novelists Harry favoured never suggested that even the worst human behaviour was alterable. They might morally disapprove of this or that character, but novelists were not world changers; they were just story tellers with better-than-average stories to tell, and the good ones told stories about believable characters'. If you too are like Harry you will so enjoy this book.
The style and breadth of writing reminded me of Any Human HeartAny Human Heart by William Boyd, which grows a similar feeling of intimacy and care for the central individual. This book has more true love in it though.
Having read `A Prayer for Owen Meany'A Prayer for Owen Meany previously, I was happy to read this book on the recommendation of a friend. Now I am pleased to see that there are several more John Irving works for me to enjoy in the future.
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