A Widow for One Year
by John Irving
The first John Irving novel I read was The Cider House Rules, and even though I didn't enjoy A Widow for One Year, I still appreciated his immense talent I first fell in love with years ago when he introduced his readers to Dr. Larch.
As is the case with all his novels, John Irving writes with intensity, detail, and a mind-boggling amount of planning. There is nothing random in this book. Events that seem pointless at first are resurrected at the most unsuspecting times, leaving readers exclaiming, "Oh!", "Aww," "What?" or a combination of all three. The novel spans the life of Ruth Cole, whose childhood traumas shape her into an incredibly unlikable young woman. Her faults are understandable, since Irving always develops his characters, but there was no point in the story that I ever wanted her to succeed. Rather, I hoped she would disappear from the narrative altogether. Unfortunately, when other characters took the lead--such as her womanizing, horrifically egotistical father, her emotionally ruined mother, or her mother's impressionable teenage lover--I found myself with the same reaction: wishing they would also disappear.
I am well aware that real people have problems, that these problems stem from childhood traumas, and that many people have had less-than-normal first sexual encounters that stay with them the rest of their lives. However, for a novel to be considered enjoyable, I usually like at least one character to root for, or one plot line that I'm even remotely interested in. A Widow for One Year seemed to be filled with an abundance of mentally ill characters, and equally sick plot lines. It's my policy to avoid spoilers, so instead I will give disclaimers:
If you're a woman, don't read this book. Any mother will be emotionally scarred from this book, especially one with a son. Motherless ladies will still, most likely, find this book terrible. The relationship the protagonist has with her father is abusive and border-line incestuous. If frequent and graphic sex scenes will bother you, don't read this book. I don't consider myself a prudish reader, but when nearly all the sex scenes invoke the theme of mother-son or father-daughter, and when a major portion of the plot gives the reader a front-row seat of Amsterdam's prostitution district, I have no problem admitting my level of distaste.
As a side note, this is the novel that inspired the film The Door in the Floor. My mom had seen the movie and felt it her motherly duty to warn me from ever watching it; it was one of the upsetting films she'd ever seen, she said. I promised her I'd stay away. Since the titles were different, I had no idea I'd broken my promise when I read A Widow for One Year. I have since made a new promise to my mom: if I ever have a daughter, I'll be sure to warn her of both titles.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of John Irving's novel The Cider House Rules here and his memoir here!
As is the case with all his novels, John Irving writes with intensity, detail, and a mind-boggling amount of planning. There is nothing random in this book. Events that seem pointless at first are resurrected at the most unsuspecting times, leaving readers exclaiming, "Oh!", "Aww," "What?" or a combination of all three. The novel spans the life of Ruth Cole, whose childhood traumas shape her into an incredibly unlikable young woman. Her faults are understandable, since Irving always develops his characters, but there was no point in the story that I ever wanted her to succeed. Rather, I hoped she would disappear from the narrative altogether. Unfortunately, when other characters took the lead--such as her womanizing, horrifically egotistical father, her emotionally ruined mother, or her mother's impressionable teenage lover--I found myself with the same reaction: wishing they would also disappear.
I am well aware that real people have problems, that these problems stem from childhood traumas, and that many people have had less-than-normal first sexual encounters that stay with them the rest of their lives. However, for a novel to be considered enjoyable, I usually like at least one character to root for, or one plot line that I'm even remotely interested in. A Widow for One Year seemed to be filled with an abundance of mentally ill characters, and equally sick plot lines. It's my policy to avoid spoilers, so instead I will give disclaimers:
If you're a woman, don't read this book. Any mother will be emotionally scarred from this book, especially one with a son. Motherless ladies will still, most likely, find this book terrible. The relationship the protagonist has with her father is abusive and border-line incestuous. If frequent and graphic sex scenes will bother you, don't read this book. I don't consider myself a prudish reader, but when nearly all the sex scenes invoke the theme of mother-son or father-daughter, and when a major portion of the plot gives the reader a front-row seat of Amsterdam's prostitution district, I have no problem admitting my level of distaste.
As a side note, this is the novel that inspired the film The Door in the Floor. My mom had seen the movie and felt it her motherly duty to warn me from ever watching it; it was one of the upsetting films she'd ever seen, she said. I promised her I'd stay away. Since the titles were different, I had no idea I'd broken my promise when I read A Widow for One Year. I have since made a new promise to my mom: if I ever have a daughter, I'll be sure to warn her of both titles.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of John Irving's novel The Cider House Rules here and his memoir here!