The book has left an enormous impact on me. A truly tragi-comic book. The story and the character of Jack Burns have their ups and downs as Jack carries on the journey of life of this oscar-winning actor, whose aim in life has been to find his missing father and the reason for his apparent abandonment by him. It is truly amazing how John Irving can bring a smile to the reader simply by his writing style and his use of English language-a quality few authors have. I read the book like a classic-never more than 200 pages a day. Not a single word is to be missed which one can if wanting to finish in a hurry.
At times, I’d think about the characters for hours after putting down the book. Irving knows how to place a clever dialogue to lighten the mood when the prose is getting heavy. Like his previous books, World according to Garp, Water method man and others, the book has an abundance of sex, both normal and abnormal. The abnormality of sex is not only in the context of the act itself but also in the partners indulging in it. In this the author has touched new and touchy areas which may not appeal to all readers, like Jack having sex with both the mother and daughter, with really old ladies. His mother having sex with 12 years old boy.
Same-sex sex, porno sex, non-penetrative sex acts-all are in a bit of an overdose, if I may say so. The author, like his earlier books, also goes into various medical illnesses with authentic information thrown in about them. In this book, he introduces the reader to Vaginismus, Breast Cancer and its brain metastasis, and a lot of psychiatry. The real novelty of this novel is the world of tattoo artists. As Jack’s mother is a tattoo artist, daughter of a world famous tattoist, we get a real peek into the world of tattoes in their totality -from the 1960s to the year 2003. Another area explored is the inner workings of Hollywood and the theatre in America and Europe. The author also takes us through the various countries of Europe, with great descriptions of individual countries. The brothels of Netherlands is specially welll described in some detail.
The best chapter of the book I found was the second-last where Jack describes the doctors of the care centre at Switzerland. An enormous play of words has one amused-like the chapter of the tea party in Alice in Wonderland. However, the chapter must be read in its’chronological order’-as Jack’s psychiatrist would have insisted. I strongly recommend this book for its story, the humour, the prose and its fine english. It is over a thousand pages of serious reading so brace yourself for a really long but enjoyable reading experience.