genial

dieses Buch funktioniert ausgesprochen gut als Hoerbuch und der Sprecher bringt die Geschichte und die Charaktere zum Leben. John Irving ist manchmal ausschweifend, fast langatmig, aber genau das finde ich bei einem Hoerbuch, wo man (ich zumindest) nicht mal eben drei Saetze, oder drei Absaetze, drei Seiten, zureck geht, um Verpasstes noch mal zu hoeren, eher vorteilhaft ;-). Ich habs genossen!

2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

A Great Lumberjack and a lot of Navel Gazing

I really struggled with this book and it is very hard to give a fair review. Extremely great story telling is mixed with tiresome rambling on the challenges of writing and self-reflection. John Irving is one of my most favorite authors and I might be overly critical now, but this is not one of his best books.

The story itself is bizarre, but has the right measure of reality to it. Dominic Baciagalupo, a crippled camp cook in the logging community Twisted River and his son Danny have to run and hide, because of the accidental death of an Indian dishwasher. They leave their live long friend Ketchum behind to whom Dominic is tied by a mysterious bond. While Danny grows up to become a successful writer, father and son continue to keep moving until they finally end up in Canada. All these years they stay in close contact with Ketchum and he is somehow the center of gravity in their lives.

What I really like about the book are the great characters and the colorful mosaic of little stories, which finally blends into the big picture. The 3 major characters are:

Ketchum, this incredibly rough and straight forward macho of a man, who loves the logging work, enjoys hunting and the simple live in the woods, learns to read at old age, because he has a passion for books. While appearing simple and a bar-brawler, he knows more about life, loyalty and love than the rest. In my eyes, he is the real hero of the story.

Dominic, who never got over the death of his first wife, has just one goal in his life, he wants to protect his son. He appears to be a softhearted and somewhat tragic figure, but that makes him probably a very likeable man, especially to a lot of women.

Danny, Dominic's son, is obsessed with writing and probably too self-centered to really fall in love with a woman. He goes through a myriad of relationships, but only on or two leave a permanent mark on him. The only real love he shows, is the love to his only child.

The part I did not like about the book, is the author's endless rambling about writing itself. You have to endure lengthy explanations, how and why Danny changes events of his life and makes them part of his books. The books and the content of these books become an additional layer in the story, but it does not really add value to it. Without that, the story would be half as long, but perhaps twice as good.

1 Person fand das hilfreich

Ein guter Irving (aber nicht sein bestes Buch)!

John Irving ist und bleibt mein Lieblingsautor, somit ist diese Rezension sicher nicht objektiv. 'Last Night in Twisted River' ist eindeutig nicht sein bestes Buch (Das bleibt für mich 'Widow for One Year'), aber es ist immer noch ein echter John Irving: ausschwiefend erzählt, mit unzähligen Aha-Momenten für Kenner seines Gesamtwerkes, stellenweise unglaublich komisch, absurd und witzig, aber auch nachdenklich mit melancholischen und traurigen Momenten. Ganz wie das Leben eben. Toll vorgetragen von Arthur Morey. Empfehlung!

1 Person fand das hilfreich

Enjoyable

Partially deceiving for an author like John Irving, still overall enjoyable, No masterpiece though.
PS: The fairy tale end feels like displaced.

Nicht Irving's bester Roman ...

... aber doch ein großes Buch. Typische Irving Motive (Verlust eines Kindes, Menschen in Bärengestalt und zwei Hauptfiguren, die von Ort zu Ort ziehen) und ziemlich bizarre aber doch lebendige Charaktere. Was etwas nervt, ist die permanente Altersarithmetik - ständig wird errechnet, wer wann wie alt ist und in welchem Verhältnis sein/ihr Alter zu dem anderer Figuren steht. Ganz toll gelesen!

enttäuschend

Meiner Meinung nach ist "Last Night in Twisted River" definitiv Irvings schlechtestes Buch. Ausschweifend, ziellos, langatmig. Ich hab bis zum Schluss nicht verstanden, was mir der Autor mit dieser Erzählung eigentlich sagen will. Die kurzen spannenden und gut erzählten Passagen machen da auch nichts mehr wett. Ich bin Irving-Fan, aber das hier war nix...