The World According to Garp

This book is in bad shape, it is discolored, stained, torn, and almost falling apart. I only paid a penny for it, but shipping was almost $3.99 so it really was not worth it, because the book was not worth $4.
I will still be able to read it, but it will be quite embarassing pulling it out in front of other people, so I suppose it will be a book I read at home.

John Irving is, quite simply, brilliant. Although this book may seem incredibly long and may often drag on for what appears to be more than necessary, within its almost 600 pages of mostly mundane tales of anxiety and lust, it all really does play a part within the text as a whole. In fact, Irving makes sure that you see how all of these pieces fit together within the last 20 pages (or so) for the novel by flat out telling you how brilliant he really is (a fact that is somewhat unfortunate, as many of these things should have already been rather obvious just by reading the book up to that point). This story of misogyny has a heart that really tries to look at feminism from a completely non-feminist point of view and honestly makes many points that still hold true today, if not more so.
But the real star of the book is, of course, Garp. In Garp, Irving has created a character that is a manic masterpiece of man. He suffers from more anxiety and distrust than any one person really should, which is probably why I found myself identifying with him so easily.
Garp's life is by no means normal, but within the eccentric world that he lives is something that everyone can relate to, a life very common to most people today. The cast of characters that he surrounds himself with means that there is always something new to understand and come to terms with, including those that Garp himself find the most repulsive.
This story, although vulgar and harsh, ends up being filled with an incredible amount of heart and is honestly something that I think everyone should take the time to read.

I went through an extended period in my life where I re-read this book every year(1). It's a very fun read.

You can read it as a character study, watching how Garp changes as he ages and his responsibilities mature. You can read it as an analysis of the writer's experience (the bits about Garp's writing--and especially the chapter of Garps' book The World According to Benzenhurt--are excellent). You can read it as being about his relationships, primarily with women (his mother, his wife Helen, his transgendered friend Roberta, and his many indiscretions along the way).

I first read it as a book about feminism, with my mother asking "Is it a pro-feminist or anti-feminist book?" Well, it was the early 80s.

That isn't the best way to read Garp (and it has some nasty presuppositions, including that the book must be one of those two), but I decided it was pro-feminist. Not everyone agrees. At its heart, though, it's mostly anti-extremes. Garp spends his life trying tearing away from extremism: his mother embraces it as a way to define herself and he fears his own sexual and artistic urges can overwhelm everything else in his life.

It isn't a heady book, though, and it certainly isn't intellectual (in the sense that "intellectual" means "inaccessable").

From a writing standpoint, Garp does some interesting and risky things. It tells a person's story from conception to death, as opposed to skipping to "the good parts."(2) It switches focus from Garp's mother to Garp himself, leaving a protagonist dangling (and it's so well done that we barely notice). And 2/3 of the way through he take an extended break to read an engrossing chapter from one of Garp's books, making the entirety of Garp's life a frame story for that chapter (and in some sense for his writing).

So take that last part. Garp is a frame around his writing, and that writing culminates with that chapter, condensing his whole understanding of his life into that. So what is that chapter? We could argue about that longer than we would about Garp's meaning as a whole. And Garp lets us ask ourselves the question: can one writer's life be summed-up in his writing, or does that miss something important.

When you get to the last line, pay attention. If you find it sad, remember that he was a father and a writer and he connected (in both pleasant and unpleasant ways) with many people. Then re-read the line again.

It bears re-reading.

1) I also re-read Little Women annually, usually right before or after Garp. I don't know what the connection between the two is.

2) Irving likes this technique. When it's handled well, it's extremely effective. If you like it, check out The Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave.

I initially read through Garp unmoved. I was unsympathetic towards the main character, because despite seeming like a "nice guy," he treated women horribly. At the same time, I distinctly felt as though the narrator wanted me to like Garp, and that his failings were actually meant to be seen as virtues. At best, I felt that his failings were meant to be seen as character development, and that, all things considered, T.S. Garp was a pretty good guy. I just couldn't get there, and since I felt that the novelist WANTED me there, it felt like a failing of the book. I really felt like Garp was a big sack of poo-poo.

Irving swayed me, however. Garp's final revolution, or the change from straight turd noggin to his family-centered, back-to-writing gusto finally moved me. Garp began to change, and I began to like him. Which made the end of the book incredibly cathartic, as I gushed ridiculous tears over a man made of paper and ink.

Scoff if you must, but I have come to find characters necessary in my old age. I need someone with whom I can compare sin lists, and sympathize. I need to see some man-in-the-dark click on the light. I need to see redemption and epiphany, or despair, defeat, and tragedy. I need to see a character strung out and tested by the art of a true novelist.

Irving doesn't disappoint. As in The Cider House Rules, he shows himself a fine builder of plot, and more than willing to crank the wheel on his characters. No one knows who a character is until they bleed, and Irving seems to love them so much that he can't help harming them to show them off. I would suggest reading this book first. Be impressed. Then read The Cider House Rules, and be even more so.

I ordered the book pictured here and supplied the ISBN so that I would be sure of getting the correct edition required by my graduate professor. The book pictured is the 1997 edition, which is what I requested. Instead, I received the 1978 edition, which I will now have trouble using in class when my professor is telling us what pages we should refer to during class discussions. The other students will all be on the same page, while I struggle to locate the passages they are reading because the store sent me the wrong edition.

Complex but fascinating book about the life and times of T.S. Garp. His mother is a VERY strong and determined nurse who brings him up alone. Throughout the course of the story we run into nurses, the Ellen Jamesians, a transsexual football player, rapists, assassins, feminists and many other colorful characters and situations. What the point is don't know or care but I LOVE this book. I first read it in high school when I was 16 and have read it multiple times since then. It's full of fascinating characters and incredible adventures. Some of it is pretty extreme but I was never offended or horrified. Irving writes so well he draws you in and you see some of the most outrageous incidents in a clear and reasonable light. This is long but never dull. The movie with Robin Williams is also worth checking out.

Irving seems to be telling the reader, over and over, "Garp is a memorable character." And yet, if it weren't for the author "telling" me this in so many words (well, a lot of words), I'm not so sure I would have come to that conclusion on my own. I had a hard time fully empathizing with Garp and understanding his motivations; at times, his behavior seemed incongruous. I was a lot more enthralled with Jenny, his mother, and the beginning of the book led me to believe we, the readers, would get even more out of that heroine. In fact, there was a lot of "setup" throughout the book, time spent, that never ultimately provided any payoff. But I was certainly drawn in, and was absorbed by John Irving's story and insights. I particularly appreciated the commentary on feminism, radicalism, judgmentalism, human sexualty, even the craft of creative writing. I certainly did a lot of highlighting. Sometimes, I felt that the actual writing cried out for more attention than the story itself, both in good ways and bad -- it was almost a distraction. I wish John Irving had paid less attention to his own clever writing and more attention to his main character, Garp.

John Irving is a spectacular writer and has a style that is gripping and unpredictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was always impressed at his ability to flawlessly weave story lines together. I was also very entertained by how highly imaginative and original a lot of his characters are in this novel. It really is a pretty solid effort all around. My one criticism would be that Garp, the character, isn't as good of a writer as Irving is. So whenever Garp's novels come up, I found the pace slowing down. I think some people might be turned off at points, because this story goes all over the place and can be very funny, and dramatic, and literary, and strange--and people don't like styles to clash as much as they do here, but I appreciate it. I look forward to reading another one of Irving's novels in the near future.

Picking up and reading The World According To Garp is like being told what art is, in relation to life, because no one ever knew the words to describe it before-- or (to my knowledge) since. After reading only the first few chapters I was quick to remark, to anyone who asked, that Garp was "well written, haphazardly constructed" and it is (to the author's credit and not as a strike against him), every bit as much as life is. Because of the manner in which the book was written it took me a few months to get through it-- it would take me days to reflect on the importance of a single *chapter.* In the afterword of the 20th anniversary edition John Irving states that his son, Colin (at the age of 12), told him that The World According To Garp was about a father's fear of the death of his children or of anyone loved. Irving agreed, I do not. Death, and the fear of it, are certainly themes in Garp but no more than many of the other perils of life are: fear of failure, mistrust, disappointment, being unfaithful, pretension, anger, depression, etc. etc. And that's not even mentioning the positives: true love, the joys of sex, lifelong friendships, short friendships that teach lifelong lessons, overcoming disabilities, overcoming criticism, and if the whole book were as fresh in my mind as the jam packed epilogue I could probably add to these lists for days. To say that The World According To Garp is even mostly about any one thing would be belittling the story and the artist who was brave enough to write it. At any time that you get to thinking the lows in your life are too much, you can pick up John's book about Garp's life and have him fill you in on how full of **** you are. Not to say that Garp's life was overly miserable, just that it was life. He was born and he was taught and then he lived and he learned, he lost his way and got caught up in crusades that were never his own, then he had just enough time to find that way again before he was gone. You can tell almost that much about the book just by reading the chapter titles, the meat is in the 600 pages that enlighten you on exactly how. Most of you will never read those pages, though, because there is no mystery to be solved and no dragons to be slain. If Garp hadn't come highly recommended by someone I trust, I would have never gotten through it, either. I would have never laughed with and at it's characters (as it did), cried with and for them (as it did), and fallen in love with them or sometimes simply got attached to them (as, of course, it also did). Leaving The World According To Garp is wanting to go back to it, until you realize that you've always been in it, still are, and until your own death, always will be. If you walk through life with no spiritual beliefs, no direction outside of that your elders or contemporaries give you, no Bible-- then Garp is you Bible. It will not tell you how to live your life, just that if you do your best, life is always livable. I've read a couple of books that I like better than The World According To Garp, but never one as good. It's more interesting than a lifetime subscription to The National Enquirer.

During the summer I was twelve, I carried this book around with me and pored over it. I had it with me in a computer class I took (the class used TRS-80s, to put it in chronological perspective) and I distinctly remember my twentysomething teacher asking, "Isn't that a little... mature for you?" I said, "Nah."

When I was 18, I reread it but I might as well have been reading it for the first time. The sexual references made a lot more sense and I had to laugh at the memory of my pre-teen self carting "Garp" around to summer school with me. The final section, though, was no laughing matter and I distinctly remember being utterly moved to discover the fates of all the characters.

I read it again at 25 and, once again, it seemed like a new book to me -- Garp's marriage, his fear for his children, his mother's perspectives, all struck closer to home for me.

Somebody gave me a copy of the book on tape when I was about to start a long drive at 28, and Irving's introduction is wonderful but the voice of the reader felt so abrasive I couldn't listen to more than a few minutes of it.

Now I'm 34 (roughly the same age Irving was when he published "Garp") and I feel like dipping back into it one more time. I'm looking forward to seeing what works for me, what doesn't work, and what works in different ways. And it'll be good to hang out with Garp again.

In other reviews you will see words like "unique", "original", "brilliant", "permanent", "audacious", "funny", "heartbreaking", "wise". No need to repeat those here.
You can probably read elsewhere too about how the characters are wonderfully well-drawn, that the structure, from the plot down to individual sentences, is consistently well-executed, about how wry and warm and extremely observant and funny John Irving is as he writes in his way -- and it is his way in more than just style, this book being an autobiography of sorts -- about the comedy of the human condition.
If I were to stab at a summary -- a difficult task, as one reviewer said, "[the book] defies synopsis" -- I'd say that the book is about being a writer, about being the real thing.
So here are a few excerpts from this synopsis-defying book, to try to capture its gist:
From the 'Meditations' of Marcus Aurelius:
"In the life of a man his time is but a moment, his being in incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, this body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, his fame doubtful. In short, all that is body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors.'
From the end of Garp's first published story:
"... a storyteller who is accepting of unhappy endings, as if her life and her companions had never been exotic to _her_ -- as if they had always been staging a ludicrous and doomed effort at reclassification."
Garp's kindly old teacher says of the story in his trademark stutter:
"It is rich with lu-lu-lunacy and sorrow."
And a typical Garp-ism:
"Garp took baby Jenny to the wrestling room... Helen claimed that the mat would give the child the misconception that the world underfoot felt like a barely firm sponge. 'But that is what the world _does_ feel like,' Garp said."

Truly an incredible book. This was my first Irving novel and it won't be my last, nor will this particular journey through the life of T.S. Garp likely be final. I think fans of literature in general are pretty much in agreement that John Irving has got a relative knack for writing stuff that makes us think and that he's got a jones for writing in general. It moves us, hits us hard, makes us laugh, makes us cry, et cetera. From a lot of what I've read here and there, "Garp" seems to be Irving's most popular work, with "Cider House" and "Owen Meany" following pretty closely. It's easy to see why "Garp" and its protagonist Garp are so darn likable. Both the book and the character are so oddball and yet so strikingly humanly real. They stand out in a crowd. You want to get to know them, buy them drinks. All of the characters in "Garp" are pretty quirky, from super-independent Jenny Fields and the former Robert Muldoon to the seriously anatomically doomed Michael Milton and little Walt, from perfect Helen to energetic life-living and life-loving Garp himself. Everyone is funny, believable and human. Another thing: "Garp" is so different from books about writers. Read a book by Philip Roth, by John Updike, by Norman Mailer. Not that these are bad writers, but do you notice how they all sort of behave the same way even without perhaps the conscious intent to do so? And how they (most of the time) seem to be writing about themselves? Irving, though he may be accused of doing some autobiographical searching in "Garp" (and these are rightful accusations), turns the narcissistic habits of a great many "great" writers around and points out that autobiographical work is way less imaginative (obviously) and is far less than good fiction, good writing, and what have you. Irving undoes a lot of the work done in "literary fiction" to writers by writers (somewhere in that was a point) and we should all be grateful for it. Just from reading this one book, you can tell Irving is one kick-ass writer, and "Garp" is a book that should be read by anyone and everyone: nurses, writers, feminists, prostitutes, teachers, ball turret gunners, the tongueless, the one-eyed, the one-armed, the anatomically-lacking, adulterers, the happily married, artists, photographers, painters, wrestlers, football players, former football players, transsexuals, former-football-player-turned-transsexuals, biographers, deans, and of course, kids. Yes, yes, yes, read this book.

John Irving is a very thorough and gifted storyteller. I had familiarity with some of his previous work, but only recently discovered "The World According to Garp". In reality, the story does not have a real life lesson or moral. It is just an interesting and entertaining tale about a strange life. As odd and unlikely as many of the characters may seem, one must suspend disbelief and be entertained.
T. S. Garp seemed to doomed to live an abnormal life. Even the manner in which he we conceived is odd to the point where it is not believable. Garp grows up without a father and a mother who describes herself as a "sexual suspect" because she is an unwed mother. Garp grows to maturity at the all boys school which his life seems to revolve around. In his childhood, his mother is a nurse. Through his mother's life, she compiles interesting tales that compile her book. This book makes the reluctant head of the women's liberation movement and vulnerable to radical groups like the ficticious Ellen Jamesians. The alignment with the feminist movements leads to the eventual demise of both Garp and his mother. Along the way, we an interesting cast of charaters. Roberta is the best friend to Jenny Fields, Garp's mother. However, Roberta was once known as Robert or #90. In fact, she once played Tight End in the NFL. Garp also becomes closely associate with Ellen James, the reluctant martyr of a feminist group who cut out their own tongues.
Despite an obvious shadow cast by his mother, Garp's goal in life is to become a successful writer. He does finish three stories. All of these stories are included in the book. Each of the stories give a little into Garp's character. The first two stories are a little drab. However, the third story is actually well done. I almost wish I could read the actual product. The stories written by Garp are included in the book. My only objection to this is that they interupt the momentum of the story.
The book is very well written. I find in remarkable how thorough John Irving is in his writing. Additionally, many parts in the book are genuinely funny. Once I started the book, I found it hard to put down. It is a great book for dedicated fiction readers.

The craft of the novel is simply amazing. Irving manages to design a universe that you tend to believe is some kind of parallel universe to our own - a place where people do things that are slightly off-balance, slightly out-of-kilter. The way the book is put together, how the book comes full circle, and how the events are variously foreshadowed throughout the book, the multifaceted layering and meta-theatrics is simply amazing. And I can appreciate that, and be in awe of that, from the perspective of someone who wants to understand craft as well as the plot itself.

The plot is, perhaps, what makes it both good and bad. Irving takes on a book that has a huge scope. What is it about? Irving himself seems to be struggling with it in his Afterword. It's about life. It's about coming-of-age. It's about death. In a sense, it's about every human experience we feel: love, loss, rejection, remorse, and hate. The novel's quirky plot makes it somewhat hard to absorb, because half the time you are held overly incredulous about what happens to the characters.

The novel takes to long to kick into gear. Perhaps Irving wanted the reader to be really familiar with the characters the way we might be familiar with a family member that we love but take for granted. Unfortunately, it started too slow for me, and for too long, it seemed to be a book about nothing. Simply put, it took too long to get to the point, and although the point in the end is somewhat redeeming, it has come too late.

True to his Dickens ambitions, John Irving's most lionized novel, The World According to Garp, spans decades in the lives of his central figures, T.S. Garp and his Mother, Jenny Fields. Through events in their lives, Irving is able to expound upon feminism, writing, love/sex and the joy and pain of being a parent.

As "Garp" opens, Jenny Fields decides being a mother should not require a woman to share her life with a man. After living out this dream and putting her story into a book, she becomes an icon of the feminist community. The essence of Garp (or the world according to him) grows from being a boy raised in such a way. As a man, he is sensitive, peculiar, introverted and full of quirks and compulsions.

No earth-changing plots are found in this book. Rather, it's the story of people, their feelings, their dreams, their limitations, and (in the end) their fears. Irving loves his characters (even the bad ones) and knows them well. He has a keen insight into why people behave the way they do, and opens up the minds of his characters, letting their thoughts fill his pages. Once a reader understands characters as well as these drawn by Irving, the fulfillment (of both their desires and fears) has a more powerful meaning. Irving's audience will love when Garp loves and will hurt when Garp hurts.

As with his novel The Cider House Rules, I am most impressed with the accuracy and responsibility Irving uses when handling political issues. Clearly, his opinions leak into the novel, but he faithfully presents differing points of view and makes strong cases as to why his own opinions are flawed. In his more famous book centered on the abortion issue, Irving's opinion can clearly be identified as "pro-choice", but he does not make the tragic mistake of over-romanticizing women who get abortions or demonizing those opposed to them. A champion of truth, Irving allows reality to naturally inspire the action in The Cider House Rules, thus insuring his thesis stands strong against anyone who would criticize it as fanciful.

The same is true in "Garp".

Irving's mastery of metaphorical representation creates some of the novels most memorable elements. He gives his reader Ellen Jamesians and presents a scathing criticism of followers who devote themselves to a cause. His youngest character misunderstands a warning given to him while swimming in the ocean and becomes paralyzed with the fear of a beast named "The Under Toad". Irving then shows lets us see how "The Under Toad" follows us all, striking fear in the hearts of all its would-be victims.

I will take from my reading of "The World According to Garp" a series of images, ideas and circumstances (both comical and tragic) that I will never forget. The author's ability to mix humor and bitter drama are unequaled, as this "novel according to John Irving" both entertains and breaks your heart.

The World According to Garp is about many, many things: death, feminism, friendship, infidelity, loss, marriage, parenthood, rape, being a writer--and most especially--lust. In its unique examination of life, there are many lessons to be learned.
Irving's title character is forced to deal with these issues. In this way, Garp is somehow universal. We all go through trials of one kind or another. Even if we disagree with Garp's decisions, we can understand the struggle that living often is. Garp's life is no picnic. But it rarely ever is.
The World According to Garp is the capstone to Irving's three previous novels (Setting Free the Bears, The Water Method Man, and The 158 Pound Marriage). All the themes in Garp can be found (to a degree) scattered through the three earlier stories. The big leap from the first three books to the fourth one is in Irving's plot twisting ability. Garp is nothing if not well twisted.
The character of Garp comes into the world in bizarre circumstances. From there, his life only becomes stranger and stranger. Lust, the thing his mother most misunderstands, dictates much in his life. Misinterpretation (by Garp and those around him) also greatly influences Garp's path. Irving acknowledges that life is rarely black and white. Those characters who come to see it as such do so with their heads in the metaphorical sand. Perhaps this is what most enrages the more rabid critics of this book.
The more of Irving's books I read, the more I have come to believe that Irving is the greatest living American author. Though I often disagree with what he writes (he seems to offend people of all ideologies), his skill as an author and storyteller is undeniable. I would put him neck and neck with A.S. Byatt as the greatest living author period.
The most disturbing thing to me about Irving's writing is the vulgarity. I would argue that he puts it in enough context as to not truly be vulgar. Still, his works are explicit in the extreme. Garp is a whopping example of the phenomenon. Irving does indeed use a lot of stuff some would consider shocking or vulgar, but he does so to illuminate what is wrong with such things.
Bearing all of this in mind, I feel that The World According to Garp is an American masterpiece--sometimes disturbing, more often humorous and insightful. I therefore give The World According to Garp a very high but qualified recommendation.

... there's The World According to Garp to remind you. This book--which is at times hilarious, absurd, heart-breaking, outrageous, and tender ... often all of them at once--is one of the most profound books I've read in a while. As Garp described one of his own books, The World According to Garp is at once funny and serious, and above all it is "true." Irving often steps out of the bounds of what would normally be called common, or at least literary, decency, but the result is to remind us that the world we are living in is really an "X-rated soap opera," just like Garp's, full of comedy and tragedy, love and loss.
"To be full of Garp is to be full of life!" writes one reviewer, and I could not agree more. The World According to Garp was one of those books I wished would never end, but at the same time I was content with how it ended. Well before the end of this book, Garp and his family felt like a part of my own. If you have not read this book, what are you waiting for? Go out and read it! If you have read this book, count yourself fortunate: The World According to Garp is one of the most imaginative and enjoyable books out there.

When reading The World According to Garp we see a world quite similar to our own. Irving presents several themes to his audience that succeed in both driving the plot and eliciting reader sympathy. Lust, one of the dominating themes, appears in each main character except the novel's heroine, Jenny Fields. Jenny, Garp's mother and almost virginal feminist, is the novel's focus for the first 300 or so pages. She is well developed and complex. Sex, for example, is something Jenny possesses but refuses to use. She is sexy and beautiful, but she need not depend upon these qualities and fall into the category of "either a whore or someone else's wife." Jenny is a pure, honest woman and thoroughly entertaining. Garp, on the other hand, is full of lust. It is through his story that we experience love, weakness, and redemption of the human spirit. Irving's novel is brilliant; he fuses drama with an intense level of dark comedy. Satire and an accurate eye for human qualities contribute to Irving's success in this novel. The World According to Garp is the world according to human kind, for in life we all are "terminal cases."

The World According to Garp is a sweeping biography of a young man born of an independently minded mother when such a thing was supposed to be unheard of. We get to experience society's reactions to this interesting family, and the wonderful cast of characters who come to surround them. Both mother and son go into writing, and both find themselves being used in political ways that neither imagined initially. Some reviewers have complained of some of the stark happenings in the book. Yes, there are rapes and child molestations, dismemberings and murders, marital infidelity (consensual and otherwise) and the ultimate horror of burying your own child. Through it all, however, Iriving's incredible prose carries you along. You may find yourself on the brink of tears one moment and laughing out loud soon after. Individual readers will find personal chords struck within the book, as there are many themes and images. For me, the most interesting sub-plot was that of Ellen James and the Ellen Jamesian's. Raped and her tongue cut out as a child, James is horrified that grown women begin to protest this act by engaging in self-mutilation in her name. Irving takes us on a very powerful journey, exploring how and why someone would do this to themselves, and whether it is a sincere act or merely a mindless act of protest born of needing to have an enemy and needing to belong to some group or other. In fact, this is the only thing I would have liked Irving to do in the book that he did not. He makes reference to the essay "Why I am not an Ellen Jamesian" (by Ellen James). He does not provide us with the essay, however, in contrast to other pieces written by Garp himself. Perhaps it is just better to envision the essay, but I believe Irving could have pulled it off. Running through much of the narrative is also Roberta Muldoon, a transgender woman who used to be a tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles (John Lithgow was perfect as the character in the movie version of the book). Roberta's journey and perspective are also fascinating, and show Irving's artistry as an author. The image of Roberta reading Ellen's poetry while Ellen sits by, clearly wishing she could read her own poetry, is truly arresting. Garp is a book that will justifiably be considered a clasic. Whenever you feel the presence of the Undertoad, think of Garp.

Having skimmed the reviews on this site it is apparent I am not the only person who decided The World According to Garp was worth re-reading after 25 years.

The World According to Garp is ultimately about lust and its destructive nature. If you are easily offended (Irving's novels tend to revolve around twisted sexual behaviour and Garp is no exception) you may want to avoid The World According to Garp (and pretty much everything in the Irving catalogue).

But the World According to Garp is more than a series of bizarre sexual encounters. It is a complex, disturbing, and insightful novel. In The World According to Garp, Irving has created some of the most vivid, unique, and truly memorable characters in modern literature, not to mention some of the best lines of dialogue ever put to paper. The World According to Garp is both hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant.

I do have to admit that I did find (as I often find with Irving's novels) that it meanders a little in the middle (I could have done with a little less on the wife-swapping relationship for example). Even though some plot lines didn't engage me as thoroughly as others, all in all, The World According to Garp is a well written, enormously entertaining novel.

If you haven't read anything by John Irving, The World According to Garp is a great place to start. If you read the novel years ago, its well worth reading again.

Reading John Irving's "Garp" is like viewing a horrific car wreck. You know you should turn away, but it's too real, too raw not to watch. "Garp" is filled with images that will haunt me for a very long time. In fact, in the beginning they were so powerful, I almost stopped reading. Some of the passages are terribly sad, some are pornographic, some are funny in a bizarre way, and some are all three. But all are intriguing and uniquely created within Irving's very descriptive style. The characters are riveting and totally unique, but still true to life: Garp's mother, a woman who wanted a child but didn't want to share her body with a man; Roberta, formerly Robert and a star of the NFL; Ellen James, who unwittingly was the basis for a cult of self-inflicting tongue-destroying women; his three children; his unfaithful but loving wife Helen; and many others of complicated natures. They are a pallet of wildly contradictory colors that Irving uses to create this painting of a fascinating American landscape. The book encompasses the themes of man vs. woman, woman vs. man, a father's fears, lust, love, and inhumanity. In the twenty some years since this book first appeared, it has climbed in scope from a best-seller to a classic of contemporary literature. And justifiably so. This book is not for everyone, especially children, but if you have the stomach to see life like it is, or might be, then I highly recommend this book. Interestingly, this book became a movie and gave Robin Williams his first film role as Garp. Interesting, because throughout Garp's voice became interchangeable with Robin's in my mind's ear. Perfect casting.

A frank story about real characters
Jenny, Garp's mother, is a woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. She doesn't hurt people to get it, either.
The Ellen Jamesians remind me of the men who chant (ironic!) outside the women's clinic in my home town... where ANNUAL EXAMS are performed... heart believes in a cause, time could be better spent doing something constructive. (They are so ridiculous that they MUST be real!)
Helen is a decent woman who's a little misguided.
Same goes for Garp. He's as broken as they come without having a breakdown; this makes him human.
Anyone reading the reviews I've written can see that the more realistic the characters seem to me, the more I'll like the story. "Realistic" does not mean "The Nelsons" but, rather, well-rounded, honest, unique, colorful. That describes everyone in THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP.

I first became aware of John Irving and Garp when I saw the movie based on the book. The movie, as any of you who have seen it know, was amazing. And while I love it so much, it comes nowhere near the level of greatness that the book attains. Mr. Irving painted such an incredible group of characters in this novel, from Garp himself, to his mother Jenny Fields, to Ellen James, that one can't help but find several with whom to fall in love.

For me, the sign of an incredible and memorable book, one that demands to be read again and again, is a book that either makes me laugh out loud, or cry, or both. Yes, I admit it, I'm a sensitive reader, one who is not afraid to feel the emotions of the characters while following them along the way on the journey of their lives.

As a writer, I find myself, from time to time, reading something and saying, "I wish I had written that," or, "I wish I had created that character." While this is certainly true, in both instances, with The World According to Garp, I can certainly admit when something is above my abilities. And in the case of Garp, there is only one John Irving. So, knowing this, I can return to Garp time and time again as I strive to improve my craft. It is writers like John Irving who give the rest of us something to aspire to.

If you still haven't read The World According to Garp, move it to the top of your reading list. This is one of the great works of our time.

My first exposure to John Irving's writing was his 'The Water method man'. His writing style attracted my attention with its uniqueness, its nuances of comedy and drama intertwined with moral lessons that made my reading experience both meaningful and entertaining.

'The World According To Garp' is one of his first novels and despite its wholes, it is marked with the very same impulsiveness seen in all early works of the great authors. One can see the inexperience of reconciling the desire to say so much with the need to release the first `great work' while at the same time struggling with the impending sense of not enough time. These three factors are so overwhelming that the impact becomes etched into every page of their debuts. I enjoyed this book, but at the same time was robbed of the craving I get when reading his latter works.

John Irving creates a character he calls T.S. Garp and follows him from birth to his untimely death. Garp is an author, a husband and a father who stands for certain moral principles, commits life's mistakes and ultimately finds the peace we all search.

It is difficult to characterize this piece as `a book about life and death', or `a book about lust, loss and reconciliation'. It is much too rich with complexity and reflection to even attempt to label it. I highly recommend it, but with the caveat - if you like this one, you'll love his latter books.

Halfway through the 688 pages of this book, I felt a revulsion and hated it. The characters where nowhere realistic, or acting in a realistic way. I couldn't identify with any of them. Having survived the weirdness of Jenny Field's choices, the disgusting dog scene, and the overall pessimism about life, what finally got to me was the gratuitous adultery. People engaged in it without second thought, and for no apparent dissatisfaction with their marriages. It did not seem like the characters where real people.

What kept me plodding on is the author's skillful use of narrative and suspense. I kept turning pages so as, in the words of Jillsy Sloper, "to find out what happens." After that low point, I started actually liking the book. It's characters were more farcical - exaggerated caricatures of human beings, than what you normally see in serious literature. It was a Candide of sorts, with Garp's defining quality being his anxiety. The lack of realism only highlighted the true observations on human nature interspersed throughout the book. Some parts were so comical I caught myself laughing out loud many times.

I liked the interplay towards the end with the Feminist movement, how groups will use a work of art to further their own causes, either totally liking it or hating it. The murdering extremists in the book are so rampant in today's world, and Irving displays an acute understanding of how they function. Overall, I recommend this good read.

Irving does not disappoint. This book encompasses the world of Garp, but also his mother Jenny, who becomes the center of the feminist movement (by accident).

Garp grows up to be a man in a time period when it seems as if that is not a positive thing. He makes mistakes, but he atones for them in the only way he can. His relationship with his wife and his children will leave the reader hours after the final page has been read.

Irving delivers a tale that is wonderful, heartbreaking, and beautiful. For me, the writing is spot on. I could not put this book down.

If you are not sure if you will enjoy this read, watch a few clips from the movie. If it appeals to you, this novel probably will as well.

The World According to Garp is the second novel that I have read by John Irving, the first being The Cider House Rules. I must say, The World According to Garp does draw the reader in. I kept reading the book without knowing why. It was entertaining, but something was missing. I think this may have something to do with the fact that it is one of John Irving's earlier novels, before he really developed his craft. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and would have given it 5 stars had it been by any other author, but having read John Irving before I have something to compare. The characters are colorful, but the reader doesnt really care what happens to them...for a better Irving read, I would suggest The Cider House Rules, as its characters will steal and then break your heart. All in all, The World According to Garp was a pleasant story, and I would recommend it, I was just expecting more from Irving after having read The Cider House Rules.

`The World According to Garp' is a very colorful book. The character Garp is a unique and passionate individual. John Irving paints a picture of a man whose life is both strewn with outrageous occurances and surrounded by an assortment of unusual characters throughout. Always a mavrick to the norm, Garp makes his world one of extraordinary excitement and heartbreak. I found myself laughing at times at the originality and absurdity, as well as being touched by the sadness of all the tragic experiences therein. Irving takes you through four generations surrounding the astonishing character T.S.Garp, and across two continents. It is a world of humor, tragedy, joy and realism. How one feels about this entire novel is quite difficult to express in words, but it essentially is a delightful story all in all.

There are some books in existence that are simply must-reads. The World According to Garp is very much one of those books.

Irving has written a novel of such simple complexity that it astounds the reader time after time. With this novel the statement is conveyed that all the nuances of life are important; every minute of your day, no matter how mundane, is integral to your overall existence. You never know what seemingly insignificant instant will arise to change your life in ways unfathomable at the most unexpected of moments. This is something we've all probably thought about at some junction of our lives, but never have I seen it take place in a novel as seamlessly and expertly as in The World According to Garp.

We meet Garp long before he is born in this novel, and we follow his story long after he is gone. (This is ruining nothing of the plot, the chapters on the contents page tell you as such.) I'm not sure most of us would like Garp if we knew him in our regular lives, but he is a character of such complexity, of such "trueness," that one can't help but become enamored with him. His victories are our victories. His mistakes are our mistakes. His neuroses are our neuroses, and so on. You will see something of yourself in Garp, and it will probably be an aspect you are not particularly proud of.

This story is epic in plot, though you don't realize it until you've finished reading. The sentences are expertly rendered, the characters are developed just enough without becoming superfluous; everything about this book works. In my mind, it is an instant classic, to be cherished and read by all.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Absolutely amazing, I was skeptical in the beginning to read this book. I saw The World According to Garp: The Movie, and thought it was an awful concoction, of strange sexual behavior and weird characters I felt nothing for.
Just recently a co-worker of mine urged me to read a John Irving novel (THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP) and the thoughts of the film came back to haunt me. I told him that I hated the movie Garp, and wasn't sure I wanted to read any thing he had written. I have been reading for 20 years and have seen every novel since Cider House Rules come out in hardcover only to glance at it with prejudice, thinking to myself "there is that guy who wrote that Garp book, which became that awful movie." So naturally, I was hesitant, when my co-worker recommended it.
So one day I walked into the local Borders and started to check out the Irving Novels; When this younger guy was peering over my shoulder, and asked me if I had ever read any of Irving's novels? I said No! Never; and he told me if I do read any of them, I have to read GARP first. I began to get nervous. Is this a conspiracy against me to read John Irving? Later that week I saw an old tattered copy of The World According to Garp, for a Dollar on a used book table on Broadway; I thought this must be an omen. So, I purchased the book, and started to read....
Absolutely amazing, absorbing and one of the best novels I have ever read. Irving's words flow to me like a hot knife through butter. I felt apprehension while reading, because I would read the story and wonder how the story was going to continue without sounding too campy or silly. Irving never let me down, he would manage to keep the story going no matter what mud was thrown into the mix. Reading the book was like easing into a warm bad, easy to get started and I was quick to lose track of time.
Reading, The World According to Garp was like watching a Truman Show esq, story, Garp is an individual we watch from all angles, from the points of view of his mother, wife, children and trusted friends and enemies and Garp himself. We are show his infidelities, his insecurities, his neurotic episodes of dealing with his mother, wife, children, sexual exploits, his problems as a writer, etc. The story, is quirky and unpredictable with just the right amount of sincerity, you can't go wrong with. I fell in love with Garp and for the first time in my life I became misty at some moments in the book, especially the ending. To make me misty, is good writing. As I read on, I started to frequent used book shops to see if I can find other copies of Irving's novels. Let me say that there are not too many in circulation, which leads me to believe that people are hard pressed to give away their Irving novels because they are something you want to hold on to. I will say that if you want a Grisham, Nora Roberts, or a James Patterson novel there are plenty to find at the used book stores. If you should find a Irving novel in a used book shop and you haven't read it, buy it or it will be gone when you return in the future. I loved THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, and will read more Irving novels in the future. 6 stars******

The situations are delightfully broad. No one writes their character's prose better than John Irving. No one can write a punchline in a novel, or make as great effect of speech impediments in a novel like John Irving. However, I was disappointed. This was only the second of his novels(A Widow For One Year)I'd read. I also saw Cider House Rules the movie, but that doesn't count. However, the amount of distinctly separate similar images appearing in either two or all three of these stories(as well as his other work) is unbelievably large. Obviously, he wrote this one first, and every author's allowed to have his themes, but they seem so random( the bears, the European prostitutes,the younger man/older woman sex, the self-reflexive novel, the car accidents, the long lost mother), and I'm just getting started! So what, you ask? Well, fair or not, all these clues inevitably make me look for a common purpose, a goal. What is the overall message? As wonderfully colorful, comic, and, about a third through, engaging as it becomes, it seems to me that the theme wanders. Reading the afterword only confirmed my suspicion that Irving doesn't know exactly what it's about, and for me, a novel as long as The World According to Garp has to add up to something.

I first read THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP in 1982, the year the movie adaptation came out. I was a great fan of Robin Williams (MORK & MINDY still being on television at the time), and because I was far too young to view the film, I decided to read its source novel. Actually, I did an oral report on it, much to the chagrin of my 6th grade teacher. It's hard to do an oral report when the rest of the class is awestruck at the use of the word 'bastard'. I did very well, but the teacher did recommend that I stick to less challenging works, considering my age. Thankfully, I did not listen.
In the many times I have reread GARP since, I have never failed to be struck dumb by the sheer elegance and beauty, not to mention brutality, of John Irving's novel. While Irving's writing have too often been described as 'Dickensian', it is truly an accurate summation. Irving presents a family saga rife with bizarre yet realistic characters, all swirling around what very well may the finest character put to paper in the 20th century, T.S. Garp.
Garp is the bastard son (there's that word again) of Jenny Fields, a sometimes nurse and headmistress, who doesn't believe in anyone but herself, and her son. As Garp matures, finding success as an author, Jenny inadvertently eclipses his fame with her own autobiography, which catapults her to the forefront of the feminist movement.
I won't say more about the plot, because nothing else would suffice. To try and describe it any further might inadvertently gloss over the innumerable circumstances that make up Garp's life. Already, many single scenes come flooding back to memory: Garp, as a child, stranded precariously on the roof of a dormitory, trying to find a pigeon; Garp as a teen, experiencing his first sexual encounter, as well as a more fierce encounter with a large black dog named Bonkers; Garp (in arguably the most haunting moment) turning off his car's engine and quietly gliding up his driveway in the dark, as his son whispers, "It's like a dream!"
Irving's other characters run the gamut, from odorific professors to brain-dead war heroes. There's Roberta Muldoon, a former linebacker-turned-transexual; Ellen James, the tragic and unwanting figurehead of a truly weird cult; and Poo, the sister of one of Garp's first girlfriends. Irving weaves his characters and situations together in a breathtaking dance. And despite the dance's immense complexity, he never once loses his step.
Irving has also become famous (justifiably so) for a story Garp pens within the novel, THE PENSION GRILLPARZER. While this story is terrific, it has overshadowed the rest of Garp's work found within the pages of the novel. Irving performs a neat trick, in that Garp's style of writing, while similar to Irving's, is not exactly the same. Irving writes from Garp's viewpoint, ensuring that Garp has a voice of his own. While GRILLPARZER is famous, an excerpt from one of Garp's later novels is equally memorable. In the story, a young housewife is raped, while a police officer tracks the rapist down. While it feels like an Irving novel, it also doesn't; it is far nastier and more grotesque than anything else Irving has written. It is not Irving's story, it is Garp's, providing a telling glimpse into Garp's anguished soul.
GARP is a tragedy, with funny parts. It is a comedy, with heart-wrenching moments. It is riotously funny, and crushingly moving. It is a story of writers, and insanity, and adultry, and terminal cases. Like the best novels, it displays the entire life of an individual the reader would not otherwise get to know. It presents you with places you want to see, and people you wouldn't mind sharing a beer with. It is Irving's best work, and a landmark in American literature.

When The World According to Garp was first published I had just been born. I must confess that until recently I had never heard of this book. Then, Irving publishes A Widow for One Year and all of a sudden everything I read seems to carry a glowing review of that book. More importantly, all reviews have wistful references to Garp and the impact the book had on American culture. Since I'm a lover of good literature, I bought the book in order to find out what the hoopla was all about. Gee, I wasn't disappointed. This book is so imaginative, complex, funny, and yes, weird, that I could not stop reading. Yet, despite the book's wild plot and unorthodox characters, we must not be fooled: this is a book that deals with serious issues. In addition, Irving's ability to include stories-within-the-story further confirms his gifts as a storyteller. I didn't give the book 5 Stars because I felt the last chapter was not needed--somehow it detracted from the book as a whole.

John Irving is quite a storyteller. Read other reviews to get a synopsis, but this is basically the life story of Garp, an unlikely hero. The book is shot with dry wit that had me smiling through most of the book. But the most powerful scenes are the tragic ones. I don't think marital infidelity has ever been so well written about as it is in TWATG. I actually cried on the bus while reading this book. It's a roller coaster.
While Irving is a wonderful storyteller, his characters are still a little flat. Hence my comment about him being no Richard Russo (one of my favorite authors), someone he is consistently compared to. Still, the vibrant storyline and general oddness make this book one heck of a read. Irving's best.

The accomplished fantasist Gene Wolfe has been quoted as saying that his definition of good literature is "that which can be read with pleasure by an educated reader, and re-read with increased pleasure." By that standard, The World According to Garp, at least in my mind, is good literature, one of the best books of the last half century, capturing post war America through the seventies in all its glory and absurdity.

Garp is one of those magical books that I reread every three or four years or so, a novel that affects me differently each and every time I have read it (eight times, as of this writing). Reading the paperback at age 19 in 1979 (remember those great multiple covers?) I saw it as a classic coming of age story, identifying strongly with the young Garp. Nearing age 48, I've come to see it as a cautionary tale about how important it is to cling to those you love, because life can get scary pretty quickly; now, I identify more with Jenny Fields and the older Garp in their roles as terrified parents. No matter how many times I read it, however, I find new things to marvel at, and nuances to appreciate.

I'd like to take the opportunity on this, the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of this worthy, award winning bestseller, to celebrate the novel's complexities and charm, by mentioning some of its themes, settings, and, more importantly, its huge supporting cast. The three main characters, Jenny Fields, Helen Holm, and Garp himself have been rightly celebrated elsewhere. Vivid and memorable and eccentric and oh so human, they are fascinating, their triumphs and travails and quirks making for riveting reading. But, it's the problems they face, and the people they interact with, through which Irving reveals their character, making for a book that's by turns whimsical, poignant, sad, and laugh out loud funny, a book full of sorrow and lunacy, but also grace and hope.

For those of you who've read the book, I merely have to mention subject matter like lust, writing, bears, wrestling, fame, intolerance, and feminism to evoke the book for you. Let me add The Steering Academy, Vienna, and Dog's Head Harbor, just to widen the smile doubtlessly growing on your face. What about Garp's stories and novels, such as "The Pension Grillparzer," Procrastination, Second Wind of the Cuckold, and The World According to Bensenhaver? Now, to top everything off, let me list, in no particular order, a portion of the immense and varied supporting cast to send you deep into a fond reverie: Technical Sergeant Garp, Dean Bodger, Fat Stew Percy, Midge Steering Percy, Cushie Percy, Pooh Percy, Bonkers the dog, Ernie Holm, Ellen James, the Ellen Jamesians, Roberta Muldoon, Mrs. Ralph, Walt, Duncan, John Wolf, Jillsy Sloper, Harrison and Alice Fletcher, Charlotte the whore, Michael Milton, Mrs. Truckenmiller, and last, but certainly not least, the Under Toad.

To those who haven't yet experienced this dark Dickensian wonder, I hope these words and the lists above intrigue you, and lead you to pick up a copy of this ultimately uplifting and, dare I say, inspirational novel. If, as according to the book's final sentence, we are, in the end, "all terminal cases," thank goodness that there are books like this to ease our burdens for a moment or two as we march on towards our inevitable fates.

The seminal book from my youth returns to me often and gets my rare five stars...but how about its foreshadowing of gender issues just now in the mainstream, and of course dancing bears, wrestling, complicated families, and building and eroding of our families in cycles over time... A classic you will recall anytime you want to bust out the headlights of the residential speeder.

Like other reviewers here I read the book years ago and decided it was time to reread it, I am so glad I did. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving is one of the great American novels. Period! Unbelievably easy to read the life story of T S Garp. Ok it may not be for everyone but the book is so very different from the main stream and just a wonderous book that keeps Garp in charater throughout his entire life. John Irving is a writing treasure and so is this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED even for a reread.

John Irving is not your everyday novelist. Foremost a storyteller, he writes funny, quirky and altogether comedic episodes. Here's the difference between him and everybody else: there are consequences to the comedy, and it is usually tragic, similar to real life.
A myriad of colourful characters and a plethora of funny sequences are hidden in this book. All you have to do is open it. When I first found this book, the dust jacket was missing, and I had no idea what is was about. If you really want to know what it is about, you should imagine losing a child, or a loved one. That is the theme of T.S. Garp, named after a lobotomized, highly-sexed ball gunner. The World According to Garp is about everything and anything, but mostly the fear of death, represented by what Garp's children call the "Undertoad", after mishearing the undertow at the New England beach. The Undertoad lives in us all, Irving is trying to tell us, the Undertoad can strike at everybody, and in the novel, this does happen.
The World According to Garp is my favorite novel. It is sad, funny, tragic, hilarious, and true. The realism is heartbreaking, but still not sorrowful.

John Irving's "Garp" is an insightful, spellbinding, heartbreaking, and beautiful book... the labyrinthine structure is a bit tedious at first (Irving provides a five-seven page backstory for each of his tertiary characters!) but the work balances surrealism and contemporaneity more effectively than almost any other novel. I notice that many the store reviews have blasted the book's graphic sexual depictions: yes, it is graphic, and a thin layer of nihilistic blasphemy underscores the plot, yet Irving remains inoffensive and truthful. Also: "Garp" is one of the best novels to read if you would like to attain a passionate desire for fatherhood and/or marriage. Thoroughly engaging and highly, highly recommended.

The first time I experienced "Garp" was as a teenager in my friend Steve's basement, some five years after the novel's 1978 publication. Steve was telling me about that part in the story when Garp hits a car that happens to be occupied by his wife and her student lover. Many details of his account can not be shared on this public forum. I was agog.

"And then what happened?" I asked. Steve didn't really recall, except something about women with their tongues cut out. It was only by reading this novel at last 30 years later that I finally discovered this 20th-century "David Copperfield" of astounding power, humor, and dread.

Especially dread. There's this thing in the book called the "undertoad", based on a child's misunderstanding of the word "undertow" but apt enough it that it symbolizes a sentient, cruel beast of hidden dimension who conspires to wreck one's life just as you are beginning to relax and enjoy it. It's a terrific motif, both whimsical and frightening.

As one gets older, one discovers it's more than a motif, that it claims real victims, including my old friend Steve. What makes "Garp" so brilliant is how it presents the undertoad; in the title package of a marvelously imagined alternate reality where literally nothing can't happen. "Everything has really happened sometime," explains the title character, a struggling novelist who insists his work is not autobiographical despite the obvious connection between life and art.

John Irving's triumph here is dealing with an idea usually fatal to fiction, the subject of creating fiction itself. Throughout the novel, Garp struggles to create great work, often failing, never quite succeeding as he did the very first time, with a brilliant short story entitled "The Pension Grillparzer." I can say its brilliant because I actually read it - the story appears in the novel, as do other pieces the fictional Garp "writes". All amuse, but none compete with Garp's life for sustaining your interest, which may be Irving's way of making a point.

I have a hard time keeping Garp and Irving apart. Reading these reviews, I sense I'm not alone. Garp's actually not that terrific a lead character; one negative review here describes him as "soulless" and I'm inclined to agree. He's also arrogant, rude, distant, a trifle too clutchy with his offspring. One gets the feeling Irving had some issues to work out here, and sometimes they got the best of him. If it's not those pesky ultra-feminists attacking him with their voiceless, reasonless accusations, it's that poor fellow in the car with the missus, who becomes a whipping boy for much of the author's otherwise subtly-presented anger.

At least with the feminists, you have some balance and a laugh-out-loud perspective offered by a transsexual ex-football player who is one with them but disapproves mildly of lesbians because she's into men herself. Roberta Muldoon is a terrific fictional construct, especially in the way she lets Irving have it both ways, expressing solidarity with the sisters but disapproval with their excesses. Here, and nowhere else, "Garp" is a very '70s novel.

Irving keeps you reading his novel's 600 pages because of his way with story. He keeps everything so absorbing and immediate that you dare not stop reading, or skim for fear of missing a sudden twist. His command of story is very much like Dickens' "Copperfield", and if both novels develop more tortuous narratives in the last hundred pages, the undergirding passion behind each of them carry them through to the finish line.

Maybe it helps, writing such a novel around the concept of the "undertoad", that you keep the characters in it as unreal and distant as possible. I think the real secret is being able to write and construct such a story the way John Irving can, and does here.

i swear, this book reads like one long jerry springer episode. complete with prostitutes, feminists with tongues cut out. sex maniacs, a transexual ex-football player,infidelity for days and lots of drama. and oh yeah, it's also about writing and about writers. and about how great writers can toil their whole life in obscurity, while those with little or no talent become huge. it's not always laugh out loud funny, though there were some scenes that did cause me to do that. mainly what i liked about garp was that he was alot like holden caufield. he was trying to save everything. he wanted to make the world safe for his children, but we all know that's impossible. i wonder did irving write this book as opposed to therapy. i'm sure he felt better after finishing it

... I thought this book was an extraordinary read. This was my first exposure to John Irving, and I was very impressed. This story is told on several levels and touches on a plethora of life defining topics. It is funny yet tragic; violent yet tender; at times emotionally simple and at others emotionally complex. It deals with rape, death, and infidelity; it looks at the women's lib movement, at extremism, at writers and writing; and so on. But T. S. Garp, one of fictions most memorable characters, holds it all together. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in great contemporary literature. I'm looking forward to reading more John Irving.

The World According to Garp may not be John Irving's first novel, but it was his first smash-success. It has also remained his most-popular, and perhaps, his best. Most of his recurring themes are present here: the hero who is illegitimate and who never knew his biological father; a heroic, non-sexual figure; humorous, grotesque, Dickensian characters; a New England boarding school for boys that resembles Exeter; writers as characters; the deaths of children; rape; and a story arc that is epic in scope.

The "plot" of the book is impossible to relate because there is no plot - just a lot of story. It follows the life of novelist T.S. Garp, from conception to the grave. He is the son of an unwed nurse who will eventually become famous as feminist and outshine her son's literary efforts.

As in all of Irving's novels, it is all about the journey - not the end point. Indeed, there is no end point in Garp - there is, instead, a sprawling epilogue explaining everything that happens to all the other characters. The pleasure in Garp comes primarily from getting to know and like the characters. Even though they find themselves is preposterous situations, we buy into it because we buy into them. To be fair, some readers may have a problem with length of the selections of Garp's "work" which are included in the text.

Irving, it should be noted, does not receive sufficient credit for his use of language. He is frequently criticized as "too popular" to be a great author. Reading The World According to Garp is more than enough proof that he is a master.

After reading The Cider House Rules, I was delighted to find another John Irving book in my basement. Because The Cider House Rules is such a fabulous book, I was sure this would be too.
Well, I was wrong. Sure, I'll admit that there are some good parts, but The World According to Garp seems mostly like John Irving wanting to make horrible things happen to every character. There is so much violence and death that it takes away from everything else. Yes, I know that life isn't all good, but it's sort of distracting to have someone dying in every chapter. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is Garp's story "The World According to Bensenhaver." This book leaves you with a weird, sort of freaked-out feeling.