When I start reading something from an author, I generally like to stick to that author and both collect and read all his or her works, or at least a majority of them.
Last year, I decided to introduce myself to the works of John Irving. The first book I picked up, The Water-Method Man, was probably not a good choice to start with. The beginning got off to a slow start, with lots of minutiae-like details. The book begins with the discussion of a problem the main character has with his penis. His penis ends up being a pretty central theme to the book.
The first 80 pages or so seemed, to me, almost clinical in their boredom, but I kept with it, because once I start a book I like to finish it. Well, the book picked up in both the pace and the subject matter, and I really enjoyed the last one-third of the book.
Next, I picked up A Widow for a Year. This book I liked right away. The language was more conversational and moved at an enjoyable pace. I particularly liked the use of the family photographs in the story. Family photographs are a main theme in this book and the way they are introduced at the beginning and continually weaved throughout the novel are nicely done. There's a balance and almost a poetry to them.
I just finished reading Cider House Rules. Like Water Method Man, this book is tedious in the beginning. There is a lot of discussion of medical procedures, particularly as they pertain to the female genitals.
The main character is geeky and a loner and lives for tiny details. However, this book enthralled me. When I first started reading it, I told a friend who said, "Oh that book is so sad." I thought, "great. I'm voluntarily going to make myself miserable." But in hindsight, I don't think 'sad' was the right way to describe it. Solemn, maybe.
But definitely enthralling. The deeper I got into the book, the deeper I wanted to go. In fact, deep is a good descriptor for this book. The main character, Dr. Wilbur Larch, was very deep in the way he questions life and everything in it. By the time I got to the last 120-plus pages, I no longer felt like I was reading. I felt like I was watching the movie unfold before me. I literally saw those last 120 or so pages with my eyes.
The bottom line is, Cider House Rules is intense. The intensity builds, and I very much enjoyed it.
I am now reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. I'm only on page 8 and I'm finding it very tedious. But then I turn to the back cover, where Stephen King writes "Extraordinary... original... enriching... and a rare creation. Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave this richly textured and carefully wrought world." How could I not go on after that?
I know, with complete confidence that I will read page 9, and 109, 209, 309, 409, 509 and all 617 pages of this book.
Waiting for me on my bookshelf is The Hotel New Hampshire. It's the last one I own, for now. If Owen Meany is anything like Cider House Rules and Hotel New Hampshire is anything like Owen Meany, there will be more books up there before long.
If you're an avid fiction reader and you like to read almost anything you can get your hands on, even you would need perseverance and patience to get through the first half of any John Irving book. But in the end, they all will be worth it.
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