an insane reader's mostly fantasy thread

[rickscales]

Originally Posted by Mr Mephisto

Actually, it already is.

Good book, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. I actually preferred The World According to Garp. I like Irving, but he has a lot of recurring themes; misogyny, mutilation (often of children), death, quirkiness.

He's no Joyce, Flaubert, Chekov, Dostevsky, Shakespeare or Steinbeck.

Wonderful post Mr Mephisto. I am actually reading The World According to Garp right now, and I am liking it more than Owen Meany. My girlfriend is reading Hotel New Hampshire, Owen Meany, and Cider House rules simultaneously right now, and she has read Garp previously. We discussed the very point that you presented today: Irving's works seem to have extremely similar themes or motifs.

Besides the ones you listed, we noticed: New England, bears, strong female characters (similar to your suggestion of misogyny), and violence.

You are very right when you say that Irving is none of the authors you listed, but I must contend that he is at least two or three Salingers, one Thoreau, or FIVE Amy Tans. (eh... I got nothing.)