Like all extraordinary books, The World According to Garp defies synopsis', wrote the Chicago Sun Times when Garp was first published in 1978. It is a marvellous, important, permanent novel by a serious artist of remarkable powers. Garp is a book that captivates all who read it. Peopled with the most extraordinary characters you will ever meet, here is a novel that will make you laugh, make you weep, and, above all, make you think.
Read More
Like all extraordinary books, The World According to Garp defies synopsis', wrote the Chicago Sun Times when Garp was first published in 1978. It is a marvellous, important, permanent novel by a serious artist of remarkable powers. Garp is a book that captivates all who read it. Peopled with the most extraordinary characters you will ever meet, here is a novel that will make you laugh, make you weep, and, above all, make you think.
Read Less
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $2.98, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Black Swan.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $2.98, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Black Swan.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $3.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Black Swan.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of World According to Garp to cart. $4.99, fair condition, Sold by Magers and Quinn Booksellers rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Corgi Books.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Acceptable. May have underlining, highlighting, margin notes, remainder marks, inscriptions, book plates, significant shelf wear, and/or a missing box or discs. Damaged item.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $15.05, good condition, Sold by Goldstone Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ammanford, CARMS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1983 by Corgi Books.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $15.94, good condition, Sold by The Guru Bookshop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1979 by Corgi.
John Irving's masterful work, The World According to Garp, is not simply a glimpse into the arbitrary darkness--annoyingly delivered by life--that we all must weather, but it is a ride-a-long with a comic genius. With vibrant characters such as Jenny Fields, Roberta Muldoon and T. S. Garp, among other memorable souls, the author rains on his readers a storm of intellectual might followed by the calm of everyman banality. From fanaticism to feminism, sexual misconduct to sexual healing, and then across the plain of family struggles coupled with the always threatening outside world, this is a novel to be celebrated as well as experienced, a hunk of monolithic literature reminding us who the goners are.
courtneyinatlanta
Aug 26, 2010
Not Irving's best, but still great
Another great book by John Irving. It's not quite up to the caliber of The Cider House Rules or A Prayer for Owen Meany, but it's still a fantastic book that is partially autobiographical of Irving himself. A great read.
SeldomSeen
Sep 16, 2008
Beware the Under Toad
An intricate, intimate and, at times, tedious examination of the life of a young, anxious writer. Little is left to the imagination as Mr. Irving covers the entire life and career of T.S. Garp?from conception to last breath?going so far as to include short stories and chapter excerpts from the character?s work (fictional fiction).
All of Mr. Irving?s familiar themes are here including strong feminist women, lust, single parenting, New England prep schools and sudden tragedy. The novel, however, is loose and sprawling. Both A Prayer for Owen Meaney and The Cider House Rules are more developed, better plotted novels. If you?re new to Irving, you should start there even though Garp is better known.
DT07
Jul 21, 2008
This is one of my favorite books. It has amazing characterization and it will always be a classic.
JenB
Apr 5, 2007
Cliches and Lust
As I read on the beach, people would wander up and ask if I was enjoying the book. I had no real answer. Irving puts forth that it is a book about lust and he is right. Life can be described as a competition of lusts (there are beneficial lusts, afterall), but there was far too much sexual lust for my taste. I still read it cover to cover. I can't quite explain why, but I know the answer lies with Garp... and Jenny and Helen and, appropriately, Jillsy. John Irving has created characters that stay with you. They make sense in their extremes. They are the salt of the earth and are caricatures. You will grow so attached to them that you will feel genuine disappointment at their mistakes and heartache at their hurts. I didn't realize how wonderfully constructed the characters were until it was time to give them up.
Irving pulls no punches, so know that anything can happen once you pick up this book. Be willing to be appalled, challenged, inspired and left without answers. Perhaps the only commercial part of the book is that there is an epilogue. The answers that you are left without are the ones that arise within you when you have laid the book aside. I hate to use the old cliche, but it happens. Garp turns your insides around and, once it is over, you are left to ask some hard questions. I don't know how, but John Irving does that every time. That is why this review is not about his writing, but about his ideas. His writing is top-of-the-line. The story catches you before you know it. That is what he does. You don't need this review to know that.
Did I like it? I'm still not sure. I know that I am not ready to trade in my copy to the used bookstore. I think it will remain in my collection for some time.
(A small recommendation goes to those of you who have not read any other books by John Irving. Read "A Prayer for Owen Meany," then read this. Owen is a gentler beginning than Garp.)
