Scan barcode
jfaberrit's review against another edition
4.0
This is, as expected, a John Irving book. It's a long, shaggy dog story with some memorably bizarre characters, a lot of funny set pieces, some occasinal insight into the human condition, and a lot of weirdness. It's certainly not his best (Cider House Rules, Garp), or even the best of his slightly more recent stuff (Widow for a year, Twisted river), but it's fun, and his knack for weird imagery remains intact. The characters' tics are more amusing than annoying, and the main ones are all well drawn (in some ways Juan Diego, the central character, is basically there to reflect them as he is something of a cipher throughout). Like I said, it's a John Irving book.
sjrenfroe's review against another edition
5.0
And now I’m crying on a train between La Spezia and Rome because of this damned book.
It took me long enough to actually like the thing ~ Irving’s writing style took some getting used to. I picked up this book in a shop in Voss, Norway on the tiny English novels shelf, and soon after opening it became skeptial. Irving wrote very differently than I think. His sentences were abrupt and truthful, peeling back all layers of his characters’ personalities until I read only the essentials. I didn’t like this at first. I felt like the light-heartedness was gone and had left only the barest heartbeat of life. It was far too human for my taste.
But what does that mean, really?
Irving described two sides of Juan Diego’s life ~ his childhood and his adulthood. These blended more and more until the moments separating them were hard to identify. I adored Juan Diego’s childhood self and found his adult self distasteful ~ as a child, the boy experienced life innocently and with hope, yet as an adult his thoughts revolved mainly around sex and writing. I found this depiction of childhood versus adulthood frightening ~ I didn’t want it to be anything near true.
The point was, I think, to slowly show the reader that the child is the adult, and vice versa ~ it is far too easy to judge someone in passing based on who they are in that moment when there is, of course, an entire story behind them. The context is always a story. The wonder of this book is that it could have been written about anyone, it could have described anyone’s life, and it would have still made me cry on this train.
By the end of the book I had fully realized that Irving had created a love potion with his words I’d unknowingly drunk through absorption of language. I was enraptured and in love, although I somewhat resented my encapturement.
I in turns hated and loved this book. Bottom line: it bared its soul and, through this, touched me deeply.
It took me long enough to actually like the thing ~ Irving’s writing style took some getting used to. I picked up this book in a shop in Voss, Norway on the tiny English novels shelf, and soon after opening it became skeptial. Irving wrote very differently than I think. His sentences were abrupt and truthful, peeling back all layers of his characters’ personalities until I read only the essentials. I didn’t like this at first. I felt like the light-heartedness was gone and had left only the barest heartbeat of life. It was far too human for my taste.
But what does that mean, really?
Irving described two sides of Juan Diego’s life ~ his childhood and his adulthood. These blended more and more until the moments separating them were hard to identify. I adored Juan Diego’s childhood self and found his adult self distasteful ~ as a child, the boy experienced life innocently and with hope, yet as an adult his thoughts revolved mainly around sex and writing. I found this depiction of childhood versus adulthood frightening ~ I didn’t want it to be anything near true.
The point was, I think, to slowly show the reader that the child is the adult, and vice versa ~ it is far too easy to judge someone in passing based on who they are in that moment when there is, of course, an entire story behind them. The context is always a story. The wonder of this book is that it could have been written about anyone, it could have described anyone’s life, and it would have still made me cry on this train.
By the end of the book I had fully realized that Irving had created a love potion with his words I’d unknowingly drunk through absorption of language. I was enraptured and in love, although I somewhat resented my encapturement.
I in turns hated and loved this book. Bottom line: it bared its soul and, through this, touched me deeply.
reading_ani's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I feel so bad rating this book so low, but unfortunately, I really didn't like it and I'm pretty sure if I hadn't bought and listened to the audiobook additionally to the physical book after a couple of pages, I probably never would have finished it. I really liked the premise and was looking forward to reading it, as I haven't read an Irving book in quite some time, but this... just wasn't it. At first, I enjoyed the book, but once the protagonist lands in the Philippines and the mother and daughter start being a giant part of the story, I got so incredibly bored by it and just couldn't wait for it to be over. I assume Irving was at least partially influenced by his own experiences when traveling somewhere to promote his books, but this book took such an abrupt nosedive into boredom that I truly wished he had simply told the story of their lives until they came of age and maybe that he wrote books, and that's it. All the rest felt like a massive attempt of showing that people over a certain age are still sexually desirable (which of course they are), but it felt like way too much. Like he was trying too hard to prove a point, which he really didn't have to. Usually all of Irving's books speak -highly- for themselves. There were a couple nods/Easter Eggs to some of Irving's other books, like "The Watermethod Man", and that was nice, but all in all, I just couldn't really be bothered and/or interested to finish it. I only did so, because I usually really like Irving's books and really hoped that it would get better at some point, which it unfortunately didn't.
ninasbooks57's review against another edition
I just could not get into this book. I liked some of the author’s previous books but this was so slow and without hope of improvement! The whole storyline made me really really want to read it- to like it but I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. The mother/daughter thing is just wrong. Sorry Mr Irving- this just couldn’t cut it.
bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition
3.0
I was skeptical when I picked up this book while attending one of Irving's 2015 book tour events. It sat on my shelf since, as I needed a break from his lengthy, slow-paced novels. I thought, "He has a book set in Mexico and the Philippines?!?" And, for the most part, it worked.
First, where does it fit in relation to the Irving Canon?
-Tier 1: The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany
-Tier 2: The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, Last Night in Twisted River
-Tier 3 A Widow for a Year, Until I find You
(I haven't read his other novels, which are unlisted.)
I'd place Avenue of Mysteries somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3.
Second, it covers the usual territory we'd expect—and mostly love—when reading a John Irving novel: orphans, prostitutes, an orphanage, a mild-mannered and mostly inoffensive protagonist writer who resembles JI (this novel's hero even happens to be named Juan Diego!), vulgar and dominating female characters, tragic accidents, and a circus: and unusual sexual situations.
This novel was more self-referential than any of his others. Juan Diego is an author who not only has his own "abortion novel," but a novel about the circus, and being the recipient of criticisms or speculations similar to the ones Irving has received himself about his own writing: "It wasn't that Juan Diego wasn't political, but, as a fiction writer, he was wary of people who presumed they knew what his politics were (or should be)." (The author has a long-standing debate with a traditional Catholic author, a former student, about abortion and the evils of the Catholic church.)
Hearkening back to The Cider House Rules, we encounter a scene in which a character goes on a diatribe about the "rules" of the Catholic church, their harm, and the need to subvert such arbitrary and damaging precedents.
I was happy this novel avoided the 3/5ths slump that pervades most of his novels (partially achieved by the fact that AoM is a hundred or so pages shorter than his others).
In the end, it was enjoyable to be in the mind of John Irving again. I expect we'll see one more novel from him but, I truly hope he'll explore new territory—and please, John, can you give us better female characters?
First, where does it fit in relation to the Irving Canon?
-Tier 1: The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany
-Tier 2: The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, Last Night in Twisted River
-Tier 3 A Widow for a Year, Until I find You
(I haven't read his other novels, which are unlisted.)
I'd place Avenue of Mysteries somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3.
Second, it covers the usual territory we'd expect—and mostly love—when reading a John Irving novel: orphans, prostitutes, an orphanage, a mild-mannered and mostly inoffensive protagonist writer who resembles JI (this novel's hero even happens to be named Juan Diego!), vulgar and dominating female characters, tragic accidents, and a circus: and unusual sexual situations.
This novel was more self-referential than any of his others. Juan Diego is an author who not only has his own "abortion novel," but a novel about the circus, and being the recipient of criticisms or speculations similar to the ones Irving has received himself about his own writing: "It wasn't that Juan Diego wasn't political, but, as a fiction writer, he was wary of people who presumed they knew what his politics were (or should be)." (The author has a long-standing debate with a traditional Catholic author, a former student, about abortion and the evils of the Catholic church.)
Hearkening back to The Cider House Rules, we encounter a scene in which a character goes on a diatribe about the "rules" of the Catholic church, their harm, and the need to subvert such arbitrary and damaging precedents.
I was happy this novel avoided the 3/5ths slump that pervades most of his novels (partially achieved by the fact that AoM is a hundred or so pages shorter than his others).
In the end, it was enjoyable to be in the mind of John Irving again. I expect we'll see one more novel from him but, I truly hope he'll explore new territory—and please, John, can you give us better female characters?
missyjohnson's review against another edition
2.0
would have prefered to give a 1.5 rating instead of 2. this took me FOREVER to read. I am not even sure why I kept reading. The entire book felt as if it were taking Juan Diego's beta-blocker. Miriam and Dorothy were mildly intriguing but not enough for me to think about who or what they represented. too long and too slow...............
adamgifford777's review against another edition
4.0
This is the best book John Irving has written since Son of a Circus.
sejpot's review against another edition
This book has such demeaning and objectifying descriptions of women. Completely unnecessary, the story can be told without constantly mentioning how women are always unconsciously saying they want sex.
roseleaf24's review against another edition
3.0
I have a hard time summing up my thoughts about this book. I didn't exactly enjoy it, though I found it harder to put down the further I got into it. It was almost magical realism, but not enough that I found it easy to quit as I usually do with that genre. It instilled enough curiosity and frustration to keep me reading.