John Irving - World According to Garp: A Novel

Pros: Beautifully written, meaningful and moving

Cons: Some small stretches of the imagination, plus, one large section of Garp's own writing that is a little difficult to get through.

Review: I was turned off to John Irving's writing due to an irrational prejudice developed several years ago based upon seeing snippets of the horribly castrated movie version of the novel presently under review, and after seeing and loathing the film, The...

Pros: Engaging and entertaining book.

Cons: The hideous movie adaptation.

The Bottom Line: John Irving at his finest...this book will keep your interest to the very end and leave you wanting more. Just don't see the movie first!

Review: I'll confess: I have a love/hate relationship with John Irving. Two of his books ("Garp" and "Owen Meany") are on my all-time favorites list...even after 600+ pages, I found myself wanted more when I finally turned the last page of those two Dickensian ...

Pros: Absurd but immensely entertaining characters.

Cons: Chapters that showcase Garp's writing.

The Bottom Line: If you're in the mood to be charmed, this is a good pick.

Review: Surprisingly, this is probably the least smutty book you'll ever find that's largely about sex.

No, that's not really fair. John Irving's The World According to Garp is really about the life of T.S. Garp . (It's just T.S. It...

Pros: Amazingly written

Cons: I hated every character, and everything that happened to them.

Review: I hated it.

I despised it.

I wanted to tear out the pages of this infuriating tome. I longed to set fire to it and dance around it in some sort of pagan rite, freeing me. I wanted to do away with this, this thing, lest I be...

Pros: Eloquent and crude: a great combination

Cons: Too long

The Bottom Line: Excellent.It depicts the darker side of life, the rise of feminism as a role in modern-day life, and a story about a boy named Garp.

Review: I recently finished The World According To Garp for my term paper and must say, it is a VERY interesting book. If you are one of those people who reads a page and then puts the book down to watch TV, then this is the book that you should read because it...

Pros: This is a great book to learn many of life's lessons.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Wonderful story telling from beginning to end. Great humour and unforgettable characters. One of Irving's best.

Review: I was 15 years old when Garp and Irving entered my life and they taught me many things that will hopefully, never be forgotten.

Life lessons in no particular order:
1. Don't have sex with your kids babysitter.
2. Don't have sex...

Pros: Interesting from cover to cover, grabs you and holds you, leaving you wondering what's next

Cons: Can be a bit shocking, but that can also be a good thing

The Bottom Line: This book is both touching and shocking. It makes you feel connection to a wide variety of characters that you would never imagine having something in common with.

Review: The first time I read this book was in high school. The second time I read this book I was 23. It meant much more the second time. With good literature it's easy to get distracted by the surface events of the story. If anything is obscene or ...

Pros: A great book, with interesting characters

Cons: Starts off a little slow

Review: "The World According to Garp" is a semi-autobiographical book in the tradition of "Tom Jones" and "Moll Flanders" chronicling the life of a man, his friends, and his family.

The book begins by describing the way...

Pros: Great characters and a rich story

Cons: not one darn thing, although its not for kids

Review: If you saw the movie The World According to Garp trust me the old adage about the book being better than the movie has never held more true. I read this book as a 12 year old because a friend of mine had a copy and told me it had some "dirty...

Pros: fascinating characters, original plot line

Cons: may be hard to swallow for some more conservative readers

The Bottom Line: This book tells horrible things in the lightest, most chipper tone. It has creative characters, and plot. In short, something for everyone.

Review: I love this book. My mother's best friend gave it to me as a gift, knowing I have a reading style much like Garp's own. I like to reread a book over and over again until I practically have it memorized.
I've reread Garp about fifty times, and I...