A review by leilatre
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
3.0
My relationship with John Irving is complicated. It's been years since I read a book of his, and this one had parts that really interested me (everything from Juan Diego's young life) and parts that really didn't (present day). Luckily (I guess) both storylines were well integrated with one another, so there was a lot of bouncing back to the past to keep me engaged. Did I really understand all the symbolism around Miriam and Dorothy? I'm sure I didn't.
Anyway, good enough story. I've never loved some of the over-the-top events that happen in Irving's stories, but I expected them, just the same, so I didn't let them pull me out of the story, as I might have when I was younger.
I must also include my funny formative years John Irving story here: When I was too young to see The World According to Garp in theaters (pretty sure it got an R rating), I was SOOO invested in the previews that I bought the paperback book and started reading it (the internet tells me it was 1982, so I was 12). My mom found it and decided it was too racy for me, so she threw it in the kitchen trash can and scolded me for reading it. I later sifted through the kitchen trash, pulled it out, and carried on reading it. Only to find that I didn't really enjoy it that much so I never finished it anyway. When I read other Irving novels as a young adult, it all made sense to me that my mom needn't have worried because his style just didn't interest me that much and it felt like much ado about nothing. Anyway. That has nothing to do with this particular book. At the same time, my reaction to this particular book probably could have been predicted given my earlier history with John Irving. [insert shrugging shoulders emoji here]
Anyway, good enough story. I've never loved some of the over-the-top events that happen in Irving's stories, but I expected them, just the same, so I didn't let them pull me out of the story, as I might have when I was younger.
I must also include my funny formative years John Irving story here: When I was too young to see The World According to Garp in theaters (pretty sure it got an R rating), I was SOOO invested in the previews that I bought the paperback book and started reading it (the internet tells me it was 1982, so I was 12). My mom found it and decided it was too racy for me, so she threw it in the kitchen trash can and scolded me for reading it. I later sifted through the kitchen trash, pulled it out, and carried on reading it. Only to find that I didn't really enjoy it that much so I never finished it anyway. When I read other Irving novels as a young adult, it all made sense to me that my mom needn't have worried because his style just didn't interest me that much and it felt like much ado about nothing. Anyway. That has nothing to do with this particular book. At the same time, my reaction to this particular book probably could have been predicted given my earlier history with John Irving. [insert shrugging shoulders emoji here]