I haven't read it yet :)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

bookboxed

I am taking this out of eblanco001's bookbox and replacing it with How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan.

I love the eccentric characters and the quirky, laugh-out-loud dialogue. As I noted when I read A Widow for One year, Mr. Irving is a very fine writer, better than most; however, as I also noted before, he comes across as sexually obsessed and twisted, certainly he and I are not sharing the same "family values", at least in regards to matters of intimacy. This doesn't really express how abhorrent some of his scenes are. In some ways I felt he had things in common with his terrorist/anarchist/pornographer character. Some of his scenes feel like a violation, a rape of the reader and a deliberate attempt to degrade; to my mind anyway.
Despite this author's amazing talent in writing I still thought some of the scenes were stupid, especially the "bear in heat" scene. That struck me as a failure in writing, both as a revenge or an absurdity, as it was neither satisfying nor funny. I also didn't like how the book ends for Lilly, it seemed like a cheap ending, a cheat by the author almost. I felt Mr. Irving could have done better by her, but maybe he was making a point, "posing" her in imitations of another famous writer.
What I liked best about the book was the dialogue and the characterization, and how imaginative Mr. Irving is. I also liked the relationship between John and his father and grandfather, and how John helps his father with the fulfillment of his dream after they come back from Europe. He writes with an amazing sense of the absurd and this is what kept me reading.

This book will be included in Svoight's I've Been Everywhere Bookbox.

Put into the I've Been Everywhere book box and sent on to Izzy5000 in Colorado.

This book returned in the I've Been Everywhere Bookbox, thanks for including it! This one looks good so I will give it a try and then find a new home for it.

Released as part of the Wishlist Tag Game, I hope you enjoy it!

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The book arrived today - thank you so much!
On to Mt TBR it goes! Nearer to the top, this one.

Quirky, to say the least!
Not my favourite John Irving book,but not terrible.

Wishlist book sent to lils74 in Nepal.
Enjoy!

This arrived today as part of a great 3 book package--all books I've had on my wishlist--thank you so much, Keeta1. I look forward to reading it and will update when I have. Thanks again for sending them all so far!

I'll start by saying that I'm very very hesitant to leave uncompleted a book sent to me by other BCers. It really bothers me and I tend to put a lot more effort in than if it's a book I've gotten for myself, including pushing through boredom, or coming back to it sometime later as often a changed mood helps me get into a book I previously didn't like. But now it's time to be honest and admit that I don't think I will ever finish this book. John Irving is an extremely talented writer, but in this case, it just isn't enough. Despite several tries and completing a certain amount of the book, I have neither connected with the characters nor felt drawn into the plot. Quite a few things were odd, and I just didn't get it. I think it's time to let this go and hope it will find a reader who will connect with it better than I did.

Just a week or so ago I found a bag of books that I thought I'd already released--and this was in it, oh dear; I really thought I'd set this traveling ages ago! So I took this with some others and left it on the remarkably active (or so it seems to me) bookswop shelf here. It's tucked just outside between the hotel and restaurant.