The World According to Garp has been hailed as the best book about women written by a man. That was the same thing they would later say about "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb. I guess for the late 70's when this was written it must have been extremely hard hitting. I think Lamb's book was more enthralling about women's issues, but this book has many other qualities to it as well.
The literary devices that Irving uses greatly enhance how his message is put across. Instead of doing an in character narrative of the continuous plot line, Irving uses the fact that many of the characters are writers to use their future writing to comment on the current situation. This does two things, one it gives a sense of destiny and drive to the novel which appears in many of Irving's novels, but more importantly it takes the reader back from the action. It puts the reader in the position of someone analysing the events instead of participating in them. Through this, and through the direct wiritings of the characters, he can make huge controversial statements that are associated with the character and then respected or depised in their own right, instead of making Irving the one to hold all the blame. The way he does it gives a great amount of thought to the reader.
I was looking at a wikipedia article about this and I came across four quotes that they used that I think exemplefy the "themes' of the book.
The first was Garp's first line; "Mom." I thought it was interesting that they would be so interested in just the first line but i'm going to extrapolate the thought much farther to say that this book can be seen as a coming of age novel. It follow's garps life from his mother's conception, all the way through his death. At first you get many glimpses that are similar to "the dead poet's society" of a small private boys school, but then it does something beyond the capacity of most novels (which may be why this one was 600 pages) and it actually grows up all the way. Usually a novel will end when the young man has finally grown to become a mature person and leaves the reader to imaging what they might go on to do. This novel goes until you experience Garp's anxiety over his children as they grow up and his very mature relationships with other characters.
The second of these quotes is "beware of the undertoad". The "undertoad" is a mispronounciation of the undertow experienced at the beach that Garp's family often frequents and a symbol for the anxiety of Garp and his wife Helen. Garp is about the most paranoid parent there can be and thats coming from me who thinks he has the most paranoid parents in the world. They stunt and eventually very badly hurt their children despite and sometimes because of their worry which to me is very alarming and very plausible. It seems that many partents these days don't really let their kids do what they want which can be good and bad I suppose. Its good because it keeps the kids a bit more safe while they can't make proper decisions, but bad because it can maim them. I wonder how I will feel about this in 20 years.
The third quote is "Three quarters isn't enough" which refers to the amount of penis which was bitten off by one of the characters. This is the theme of "lust" and in many ways feminism that show up in the book. Lust is a constant topic of Jenny Fields who at first simply doesn't understand it and is marginally annoyed by it and then begins a crusade against it with her other feminists. Lust causes a huge amount of problems for the characters in this novel, from rapes to affairs it screws royally with people, but I don't know if I agree with the simplification of lust being a deeply unavoidable problem, mainly centred around these despicable men. Though Irving shows women in the grips of lust as well, it seems he is scolding men for much of it who force women to deal with their lust. I think it's ok though because though it seems he is saying all men are pigs, he is only showing a portion of the population, and is also showing that this lust isn't the end of the world. Very difficult topic for sure and I really don't fully grasp it.
The fourth quote it "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases". As we watch Garp growing up, we enjoy his successes and ambitions in a way that motivates us to accomplish more with our lives. As the novel comes to a close and people drop like flies, energy and production become increasingly important. Garp spends much of his life furiously trying to write more and more and more and yet life gets in the way and he doesn't write much at all, then he dies young. His children feel that they have to live up to the "energy" of their father who was always running, always going. THe running seems interesting to me, as does the idea that comes up late in the book that Garp "is just fucking around in the garden". These are seemingly pointless and repetitive endeavours that never really change much of anything. There is nothing really gained by these activities, at least nothing produced. The emphasis is put on creative processes like writing or painting and when someone isn't doing their purpose in life, they are wasting time. One of those eternal questions it seems, like what is worth while to do? Should we just try to have as much fun and happiness as possible or should we get going on our life's work? I keep a list of all the books I've read and I wonder if its worthwhile to read these books that so many other people have read as well, that are seemingly pointless at times.
I was listening to CBC radio when I heard an interview with a concert pianist who said that his teacher had forced him out into the world because he was too technical. His playing was "right" but there was not personality behind his music. He had to develop as a person to be able to play the piano as well as he wanted. I like that a lot.
Book was great.
Five out of six encyclopedia britannicas.
Andrew
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