Blurb says:

"An absorbing and moving book about obsession and loss, truth and storytelling the signs we carry on and inside us, Until I Find You is John Irving's giant tapestry of life's hopes. It is a masterpiece to compare with Irving's great novels..."

This is the third Irving I have read and I don't know what it is with him, I really enjoy the book and get really engaged by it I demolished 900 pages of this one in 4 days, but I find his work flawed. In 'A Prayer For Owen Meany' Irving puts all of Owen's speech IN CAPITALS A STYLISTIC CHOICE WHICH BECOMES GRATING. In 'World According To Garp' the story again is engrossing but Garp himself isn't exactly a likeable guy in my opinion.
In 'Until I Find You' the story follows Jack Burns from the age of 4 to almost 40, his life marked by the absence of his father, and the various attempts to find him. Although I enjoyed the book, I am hugely critical of the level of unpunished sexual abuse contained within it. At 8, Jack is sexualised and frequently molested by the 16 year old daughter of his mothers lover, and yet she herself is scandalised when he is abused by a woman who is supposed to babysit him, but he and Emma are lifelong friends seemingly because of this experience and not in spite of it. Women seem to have no problem with molesting Jack as a child, because of his beauty and his fathers reputation of being a womanizer, and I found this aspect of the novel very uncomfortable to read.
The narrative turns 3/4 of the way through the novel and the discovery of the extent of his Mothers anger and bitterness at his absent father is a lightbulb moment for the reader as well as for Jack, and these revelations are very well written. I can't give the book 10 out of 10 but I did enjoy it.

This is now going out as a bookring:

BOOKRING RULES:

Please Journal the book when it arrives so everyone knows it's in safe hands, journal again once you've finished and then PM the next after you on the list, last one on the list sends it back to me, thanks.

Participants :

Annodyne - thank you for shipping INTL
Jaynereader - UK
arturogrande - thank you for shipping INTL
Annet74 - Netherlands - thank you for shipping INTL
boagat - Germany - thank you for
shipping INTL
mafaldaQ - Greece - thank you for shipping INTL
Hawkette - Aus
Mocha Girl - Aus (subject to change of location)
KLL - Aus - thank you for shipping INTL
Rrrcaron - USA - thank you for shipping INTL
Vamperstein8782 - UK

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent today to Annodyne - NB early pages are loose

The book is now with me, having arrived this morning. At over 900 pages, this may take me a while to read! I hope to make a start however, by the end of the week.

Not finished reading yet, but at page 611, there is no doubt that I will finish, and this entry is by way of just putting a shape to my thoughts so far.

I'm always in two minds about John Irving. His books include some I've abandoned after a few pages, and such gems as The Cider House Rules and Widow For One Year, which I found to be of far more depth than his more typical style of introducing far too many oddball characters in increasingly bizarre situations.

Until I Find You begins like that, and I really had a struggle to keep reading the early part of the book, particularly as the account of Jack's sexual molestation throughout his childhood is relentless and fairly sickening.

As Jack becomes an adult, and becomes the master of his own fate, rather than as a victim of the people he finds himself with, the book takes on a different tone, and incidents from the past which seemed merely tedious or meaningless to begin with become significant.

I'm enjoying it! I'm with you though RD...it is a compelling read, but flawed. It is hard to warm to any of the characters, with the exception of Jack himself, and the women characters in particular are either insane or predators, or both. And yet. And yet, here I am, finding my efforts to keep reading despite all this, rewarding.

I'll update when I've reached the end....meanwhile, I've a good book to get back to..

Off it goes...posted today to Jaynereader.

...and off it went into the ether, as it appears not to have been delivered by Royal Mail
:-(

Here goes with a replacement copy which has happened along at the right time to continue the ring. Posted today at Newton St PO, Manchester at 12:15 pm. Fingers crossed ever so tight for a successful journey to Sheffield and beyond!

It's arrived safely this time!!! It's next on the list to be read, thanks RDWirral and Annodyne (so sorry that your other book also got lost).

Just checking in to let you know that I'm just over half way through and enjoying it so far. I'll be pming the next reader in the next few days.

This is only my second Irving book, my first was Garp and I also have A Prayer For Owen Meany to read. I didn't enjoy this as much as Garp, the fact it took me ages to get through the first half shows that, but I did warm to Jack, especially after the truth is revealed about his mother. Her actions mean that Jack is unable to have a meaningful or enduring relationship with anyone, with the exception of Emma, who happens to also be one of this abusers.
Thanks RDWirral for the chance to read this. I will keep looking out for his books. I've got arturogrande's address and this will be sent off tomorrow.

Sent off today 2nd class to arturogrande.

Sorry I've not had chance to journal this before, but things have ben absulutely hectic!

I've got a couple ahead of it, but I'm planning to get to it shortly.

Hmmm - I too had a BIG problem with the child abuse in the first section of the book which - with the exception of that inflicted by Mrs Machado - seems to be presented in a very matter-of-fact, what do you expect manner. How the older Jack managed to have such a deep relationship with Emma - one of his chief abusers - is never really explained.
Irving's skill as a writer came to the fore when the true extent of Alice's deception is revealed, and it was the quality of the writing throughout which almost made up for the sex abuse passages.
I think the book tended to run out of steam and lose momentum by the end.
All in all, it was a good read, although far from the best thing Irving has ever written.

Thanks for sharing, and I'm sorry I've had this book for quite a long time.
It's now on its way to Annet74.

Oopss...forgot to let you know I received this book. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and I'm afraid I'm just not going to get around to reading it. So, time to send it on. I have PM-ed the next reader on this list.

The book arrived yesterday. Thank you.

I liked the book, but I liked other Irving books more. The way the abuse was described like its something normal, almost caused me to put the book away. But I read on and really liked the rest.

Just received and I will read it asap!

I couldn't find time to read it so I am forwarding it to the next at the list! I will try to find it later and buy it so that I can read it without stalling it!

Arrived with me, after a little note in the mail box demanding presentation of ID at the post office - very strange!!
Thank you, am looking forward to this one.

A journey through tattoo worlds, Scandinavia, then a single-ed school as the opposite sex, to becoming a star, and all the trapping of fame and superficial encounters...to dicovering who you are....what an epic book!

The abuse of the young Jack London, and the depth and enduring-ness of the relationship with Emma is odd and in your face.

Again, a quirky characterisation by Irving, and upon reading the journal entries here, it seems I have read the same group of others of his.

Received in the post today. Thanks!!

Sorry it took so long to get to, but I have finally finished 'Until I find You'. I really enjoyed this book. I've read a lot of John Irving and in many ways reading this was a very familiar experience. I noticed quite a lot of themes similar to other books - a son with a single mother, the wrestling, the way Irving tells story. At first I was a bit worried that it would end up being a rehash, but in the end I think this was a very original story. I have to admit, I didn't even really think about the abuse until others commented on it in their posts - perhaps because Jack/Irving tells it all so matter of factly. I'm in two minds about it now.

Anyway, I'll get in touch with Rrrcaron and get the ring moving again. I'm afraid the book is falling apart at the front a bit and it is getting worse. I'll try to stick it back up before I send it on.

And, finally, posted this morning. It should be with Rrrcaron in a week or so

I received this book in the mail yesterday. The first section of it is taped together. I hope it holds out- it is a big one. I have a read in progress at the moment, but will get to this one within the week.
Ruth

What a wonderful read this was. I've read many of Irving's novels, and this one rates right up there with the rest of them. If only Jack had searched for his father earlier. What time he could have saved on his chronological therapy, lol. My apologies for having the book so long. I guess it's one of those books you just can't race through, at least I couldn't. Sending on to next reader.
Ruth

Sorry, for some reason I obviously never got round to journaling that I'd received this... just unearthed it from a toppled tbr pile and didn't even remember getting it, hence me checking the journal entries! Sorry everyone.