The World According to Garp

Summary (from the publisher): This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes, even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with lunacy and sorrow, yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries–with more than ten million copies in print–this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: “In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases

Review: It's hard not to like Irving's novels because of how rich they feel - rich and full bodied in detail, plot, character, length, hilarity, sexuality, description. Despite the scornful reprimand I once received from a librarian who saw me checking out one of Irving's books, I continue to read and enjoy his work. The World According to Garp is no exception. This novel follows the life, from conception to death, of T.S. Garp, the bastard son of nurse and feminist Jenny Fields, the husband of Helen, the father of Duncan, Walt, and Jenny, and the author of three novels. Garp's life feels extraordinary and full of impossible occurrences, yet Irving pulls it off. Perhaps this is largely due to the quality of the characters Irving has created. As a reader, I believe that this could all happen to Garp and friends because they are so extraordinary themselves - they do not follow the status quo and do not follow the predictable and expected course followed by those around them.  

This novel felt very characteristically Irving, probably because thematically, it echoes many of his other works. Recurring themes in Irving's works that also occur here are wrestling, writers, bears, Vienna, unusual sexual relationships, absent parents, and tragic accidents. Many of these subjects are biographical - Irving is writing what he knows, and helps explains why he is able to pull of successfully a book that includes such characters as the "Ellen Jamesians" who have had their own tongues removed as a form of protest. 

Metawriting is a central aspect of this novel since Garp is a writer. At regular intervals,the reader, just like Garp's family and friends, gets to read his short story or excerpts from his current novel. While in the past I have been frustrated by this writing device, such as the deviations to relay folk tales in Watership Down, in this case it is critical to understanding Garp as the main character. Much time in the book is spent discussing his work and the impact of his fiction, and it would be difficult for the reader to truly grasp this if they did not have any understanding of Garp's writing. Reading Garp's fiction allows you to learn more about him, such as the violence in The World According to Bensenhaver, his novel written after his son's death. This metawriting extends to the narrative device used in the novel, where it constantly is quoting Garp saying "Garp wrote" and "In her autobiography, Jenny wrote." It feels as if the narrator is reporting and researching Garp's life and detailing it to the reader. The whole novel is insistently focused on the written word and the process of writing.

Where this book faltered - the title. After reading it, I'm surprised Irving didn't go with The Under Toad instead. Jenny's characterization - she drops out of the novel after the first section, and I kept wanting to see and learn more of her. Of all the characters, I feel that I understood her the least. Finally, I didn't totally enjoy the final chapter of "Life After Garp." I didn't like the fast, sweeping tidying up of each of the story lines in that chapter, although I suppose in some ways it is more satisfying knowing what happened to each character than an open-ended conclusion. 

Stars: 4