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The World According to Garp
by Irving, John; John Irving
- Used
- very good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0671822209
- ISBN 13
- 9780671822200
- Seller
-
The Bronx, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Pocket Books/ A Simon & Schuster Divsion of Gulf & Western Corporation, 1979. 8th Printing . Mass Market Paperback. Very Good. 12mo or 12° (Duodecimo): 6¾" x 7¾" tall. 609 pp. Solidly bound copy with minimal external wear, crisp pages and clean text. Slanted and creased spine. Tears at top right corner of cover page. Publisher's remainder mark on bottom edge. Synopsis: Garp was a natural storyteller," says the narrator of John Irving's incandescent novel, referring to the book's hero, the novelist Garp, who has much in common with Irving himself. "He could make things up one right after the other, and they seemed to fit." Irving packs wild characters and weird events into his classic--officially recognized as such in a Modern Library edition with a new introduction by the author--while amazingly maintaining the rough feel of realism in every scene and the pulse of life in every heart. Many novelists of his time might have populated a novel with a novelist protagonist whose life and books comment on each other and the novel we're reading. Transsexual football players, ball turret gunners lobotomized in battle, multiple adultery, unicycling bears, mad feminists who amputate their tongues in sympathy with the celebrated victim of a horrifying rape--Irving made them all people. Even the bear is a fitting character. In a crucial episode, Garp's wife's seduction of a young man coincidentally occurs at the moment when Garp is delighting their young sons with a reckless car trick (one of the few scenes beautifully, eerily, heartbreakingly captured in the film version as well). Many authors would have been content with the harsh comedy of the scene, but Irving respects its integrity, and he builds the rest of the book on the consequences of the event. How does he get away with his killer cocktail of slapstick and horror? Because it's simply what we all face daily, rearranged into soul-satisfying art. "Life is an X-rated soap opera," according to Garp, and who can contradict him? Rereading Garp 20 years later, one is struck by how elegantly Irving structures his bizarre and complex story. Take the two most celebrated bits in the book, the Under Toad and Garp's story "The Pension Grillparzer," which shimmers like an exquisite Kafkaesque insect in the amber of the novel. When Garp warns his son about the "undertow" at the beach, the boy imagines a monster out of Beowulf who lurks beneath the waves to suck you under: the "Under Toad." It's funny at first, but we soon find that the Under Toad is a metaphor with teeth--he connects with a prophetic dream of death in "The Pension Grillparzer," set in Vienna. Garp's son's last words are, "It's like a dream!" And as Irving--who studied at the University of Vienna--can certainly tell you, the German word for "death" sounds precisely like the English word "toad." All that death, and yet Garp is mainly exuberant. This story is, as Garp's stuttering writing teacher puts it, "rich with lu-lu-lunacy and sorrow." It enriches literature, and our lives. --Tim Appelo--From Library Journal:"In the world according to Garp, we're all terminal cases." This sentence ends both Irving's comic and tragic novel and its wonderful audio adaptation, read disarmingly by Michael Prichard. We hear the familiar story of T.S. Garp; his mother, Jenny Fields; and Garp's wife, family, friends, and lovers. We also see Garp's efforts to establish himself as a serious author and his involvement in sexual politics. In contrast, Jenny's memoirs establish her as a feminist leader. This work is funny, sexual, serious, and sad. Prichard's narration adds a wonderful dimension to the story. Plus, Irving opens with a terrific introduction to mark the novel's 20th anniversary. This wise and unique tale is as fresh today as it was when first published in 1978. Obviously, a required purchase for all audio collections and required listening for all Irving fans. Irving's (A Son of the Circus, Audio Reviews, LJ 12/94) new novel echoes Garp through tracing the complicated life of novelist Ruth Cole. Divided into three parts, the book views Ruth's life and relationships at age four in 1958, age 36 in 19
Synopsis
John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times–winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. A Prayer for Owen Meany was published in 1989. In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules –a film with seven Academy Award nominations. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Reviews
On Sep 26 2007, Shawnee said:
This is the best book I have ever read!! If you want a story about the 70's this is one, full of symoblism and underlying truths and tragedy. The "undertoad" You may not always see it but its always there, and we all have those "undertoads" in our life. This book is full complete, from beginning to end, the end will not leave you questioning "what was Irving thinking?" He completed this book and didn't shirk on the details, its phenomonal!
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Details
- Bookseller
- gearbooks (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2iEb0028f
- Title
- The World According to Garp
- Author
- Irving, John; John Irving
- Format/Binding
- Mass Market Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 8th Printing
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0671822209
- ISBN 13
- 9780671822200
- Publisher
- Pocket Books/ A Simon & Schuster Divsion of Gulf & Western Corporation
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1979
- Keywords
- Literary Fiction, Fictional Novel, Film, Motion Pictures, General & Adult Fiction
- Size
- 12mo or 12° (Duodecimo): 6¾" x 7¾" tall
Terms of Sale
gearbooks
Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 lb or 1 Kg; if your book order is heavy or over sized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. As an EXTRA Service: Orders received before 3:00 pm EDT/EST will ship the same day (Mo-Fri)!!!
About the Seller
gearbooks
Biblio member since 2007
The Bronx, New York
About gearbooks
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Mass Market
- Mass market paperback books, or MMPBs, are printed for large audiences cheaply. This means that they are smaller, usually 4...
- Remainder Mark
- Usually an ink marking of some sort which indicates that the book was designated a remainder. In most cases, it can be found on...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...