The World According to Garp

by John Irving

Book Overview

Winner of the National Book Award "Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it." --The New Republic"Wonderful . . . full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking." --Washington... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345418018
• ISBN13: 9780345418012
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The World According to Garp

Irving crafts a novel with such rich and provocative characters that I became fascinated with, and enjoyed thoroughly. Garp is a captivating and relatable character, who leads an eccentric lifestyle influenced by his mother and the women around him. It's such a beautiful book and goes to some dark places, which I found to be enlightening and it was great to read something that I felt was so raw and powerful. It holds nothing back, it's tenacity and wit and humor is never dull or uninteresting. A great read for anyone doubting themselves or their experiences. It quickly became my favorite book I've read so far, and although it's been twenty two years since its release, its subject matter remains relevant and universal. An enthralling and convalescent read, I came to find.

Black Comedy Shines Bright

This a dark, dark novel about the lunacy of the modern world. Those who appreciate gallows humor will find this book - though extremely tragic - the funniest they've read in a long time. "The World According to Garp" works precisely because it possesses a distinctly un-American prospective of reality, that is that not everything ends happily, not all promise is fulfilled, and there are not an unlimited number of chances in life. If you need an uplifting novel, don't bother with this one; similarly, stay away if you need a mental escape. But if you can handle reality, in all it's ghastly manifestations, pick up this book and laugh at it all.

In the words of T.S. Garp, "We are all terminal cases."

I first read THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP in 1982, the year the movie adaptation came out. I was a great fan of Robin Williams (MORK & MINDY still being on television at the time), and because I was far too young to view the film, I decided to read its source novel. Actually, I did an oral report on it, much to the chagrin of my 6th grade teacher. It's hard to do an oral report when the rest of the class is awestruck at the use of the word 'bastard'. I did very well, but the teacher did recommend that I stick to less challenging works, considering my age. Thankfully, I did not listen.In the many times I have reread GARP since, I have never failed to be struck dumb by the sheer elegance and beauty, not to mention brutality, of John Irving's novel. While Irving's writing have too often been described as 'Dickensian', it is truly an accurate summation. Irving presents a family saga rife with bizarre yet realistic characters, all swirling around what very well may the finest character put to paper in the 20th century, T.S. Garp.Garp is the bastard son (there's that word again) of Jenny Fields, a sometimes nurse and headmistress, who doesn't believe in anyone but herself, and her son. As Garp matures, finding success as an author, Jenny inadvertently eclipses his fame with her own autobiography, which catapults her to the forefront of the feminist movement.I won't say more about the plot, because nothing else would suffice. To try and describe it any further might inadvertently gloss over the innumerable circumstances that make up Garp's life. Already, many single scenes come flooding back to memory: Garp, as a child, stranded precariously on the roof of a dormitory, trying to find a pigeon; Garp as a teen, experiencing his first sexual encounter, as well as a more fierce encounter with a large black dog named Bonkers; Garp (in arguably the most haunting moment) turning off his car's engine and quietly gliding up his driveway in the dark, as his son whispers, "It's like a dream!"Irving's other characters run the gamut, from odorific professors to brain-dead war heroes. There's Roberta Muldoon, a former linebacker-turned-transexual; Ellen James, the tragic and unwanting figurehead of a truly weird cult; and Poo, the sister of one of Garp's first girlfriends. Irving weaves his characters and situations together in a breathtaking dance. And despite the dance's immense complexity, he never once loses his step.Irving has also become famous (justifiably so) for a story Garp pens within the novel, THE PENSION GRILLPARZER. While this story is terrific, it has overshadowed the rest of Garp's work found within the pages of the novel. Irving performs a neat trick, in that Garp's style of writing, while similar to Irving's, is not exactly the same. Irving writes from Garp's viewpoint, ensuring that Garp has a voice of his own. While GRILLPARZER is famous, an excerpt from one of Garp's later novels is equally memorable. In the story, a you

Incredible-credible

I had always heard of the film version of the book, but I never knew it was an adaptation of an already existing novel. To me, it was always one of those movies people always tell you you have to rent; until one night, to my surprise, I discovered an old hard-cover, early edition of it sitting on a shelf in the Bookmobile. The author's name sounded to me like that of an already-dead, nineteenth century writer, but when I picked it up and saw the back-cover photo of John Irving, I couldn't help laughing! He looked young, even muscular - let alone, still alive. Anyway, I checked it out and read it. And read it. And read it. Every morning and then every night, while communitng on the subway (my usual reading time) I laughed, I cried, I was in a different place. Once I laughed non-stop for so long that it became contagious throughout the train-car I was in (a memorable experience indeed). I was in The World According to Garp. It is one of my favorite books of all time - definitely among my top five. As a father, a husband and a human being, it has had a tremendous effect on me. Of course I recommend it.

Awesome!

This has got to be, by far, the best book I've ever read. I was 17 the 1st time I read it. I found it laying around my parents house and, out of boredom, picked it up and started reading. Up to that point, I had never been one to like reading. "I'll wait for the movie" was my motto. I got the suprise of my life. It was the 1st book that ever made me laugh out loud and it was the 1st book that ever made me cry. John Irving certainly has a knack for conveying all emotions. I've been a book lover ever since, and yes...I have read all of John Irving's books.

Not a typical classic

I recently read the novel A World According to Garp by John Irving. I was skeptical at getting into a six hundred page classic novel like this one. Often times I find that the books I like best are somewhat the least popular books. I also have found that I find a lot of `classics' to be boring. With the World According to Garp I found that six hundred pages can go by very fast if the book is good enough. The book feels like it is written as a biography by someone who has spent their entire life hanging over the world of Garp before he was born and after he died. You come to know the character of T.S. Garp like he's your best friend. You know his mother long before he was born and you witness the incredible and somewhat disturbing story of his conception. Then the book goes on and you hear the story of Garp growing up, getting married, having children, and dying. Garp is not president and he isn't a world renowned athlete or anything else all too exciting. Garp is only a mildly successful, but like his mother, a well known author. His life is not too much out of the ordinary and is in fact a very believable life despite the fact that it is fiction. For having what is mostly an ordinary life it is difficult to believe a story about the life and times of T.S. Garp could be that interesting. However, I guarantee you'll enjoy the story and if you're like me, you'll wish there was a continuation of the last chapter, "Life After Garp." Even after six hundred pages you'll be left wanting more when John Irving sums up his entire story with the last and best line of the book, "But in the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."