A review by andrew61
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
4.0
I first discovered John Irving in the early 1980s and I cannot remember if I read Garp first or saw the Robin Williams film but thereafter I anticipated each new book and can recall the joys of reading one of his new works over the subsequent years.
I was lucky enough to see the author talking to Jeanette Winterson ( and there is a great reference to her book The Passion in this novel) in Manchester when it came out and grabbed a signed hardback but have only now got round to reading a paperback version.
The Story is set in two time frames and is about a Mexican dump child Juan Diego and his mind reading younger sister Lupe. We see Juan Diego in 2011 in his 50's and earlier as a young teenager. In the early 70's he lives with the Dump boss Riviera el Jefe) and the local Jesuit priest Pepe is astonished at Juan's intelligence and reading skills. When a new priest from Iowa arrives and various mishaps occur overlooked by the mind reading Lupe the story moves with Irving's usual prose style into bizarre situations. There are some memorable scenes in these extracts as the children move from the Dump to a children's home and then the local circus.
In 2011 Juan, a successful writer goes on a trip to the Philipines, via Hong Kong to honour the dead father of a character in the 1970's a young American dodging the Vietnam draft. In this section he encounters two strange women , mother and daughter who appear to cast a sexual spell over Juan much to the consternation of Juan's pupil and fellow writer. Again a plot full of bizarre and comic incidents but with a magical feel enhanced by Juans recollection of his childhood through dreams.
This was definitely a book I enjoyed although I noticed the recurrence of themes visited in previous novels such as abortion, circus, orphans, transgender , and Catholicism so hope this is not the final novel of one of the greats of American literature .
I was lucky enough to see the author talking to Jeanette Winterson ( and there is a great reference to her book The Passion in this novel) in Manchester when it came out and grabbed a signed hardback but have only now got round to reading a paperback version.
The Story is set in two time frames and is about a Mexican dump child Juan Diego and his mind reading younger sister Lupe. We see Juan Diego in 2011 in his 50's and earlier as a young teenager. In the early 70's he lives with the Dump boss Riviera el Jefe) and the local Jesuit priest Pepe is astonished at Juan's intelligence and reading skills. When a new priest from Iowa arrives and various mishaps occur overlooked by the mind reading Lupe the story moves with Irving's usual prose style into bizarre situations. There are some memorable scenes in these extracts as the children move from the Dump to a children's home and then the local circus.
In 2011 Juan, a successful writer goes on a trip to the Philipines, via Hong Kong to honour the dead father of a character in the 1970's a young American dodging the Vietnam draft. In this section he encounters two strange women , mother and daughter who appear to cast a sexual spell over Juan much to the consternation of Juan's pupil and fellow writer. Again a plot full of bizarre and comic incidents but with a magical feel enhanced by Juans recollection of his childhood through dreams.
This was definitely a book I enjoyed although I noticed the recurrence of themes visited in previous novels such as abortion, circus, orphans, transgender , and Catholicism so hope this is not the final novel of one of the greats of American literature .