Entertaining and a taste of whats to come
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I have to say this is a lot better than the other reviews suggest. Its an easy and entertaining read in which Irving intertwines a current complex relationship with character histories going back several decades.
In this novel you can see the seeds of Hotel New Hampshire and Garp and the recurrent Irving themes and backgrounds (Wrestling, German, Austria, sex) are very much evident. I very much enjoyed it.
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Early Irving
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This is one of John Irving's earlier novels. It does not reach the heights of his work during his best phase, which ran from "The world according to Garp" to "A son of the circus", but I think fans of Irving will find it interesting. Some of his constant preoccupations turn up here (wrestling, Vienna) and the seriocomic elements are firmly in place. It meanders much less than his more recent works. Indeed, beside the gargantuan "Until I find you" (which this reviewer is still reading), it is practically a short story.
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The turnips have gone cold Mildred
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The story in the book is very moving in a strange ethereal sort of big outlandishly childish postmodern apocalyptic kinda americo-anglicised french novelist on a bicycle with a sting of onions around his neck way. I particularly liked the scene involving Mildred the undead militant-trotskyist housekeeper who wears unwashed pvc hotpants while cooking turnips. This brought tears to my eyes the descriptions were that great. I only wish he could write like me.
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