Review of Last Night in Twisted River, Etc.

I recently finished the latest novel by John Irving, Last Night in Twisted River. While I enjoyed it, the sad moments stayed with me longer than I would have liked and it lacked the satisfying, ongoing reveal of Until I Find You. If you intend to read the novel and don't want any detail spoiled, stop reading now.



The book takes us into another little know world much in the same way that his last novel brought out the history of the modern tattoo though this time we see the business, the New Hampshire logging industry, from the point of view of a camp cook. The same camp cook is later a restaurant chef and owner which provides another interesting backdrop for the novel. Some of the other Irving elements are also present, familial though not incestuous relationships, a private school education (with wrestling), and extended view of a single life. None of Irving's novels including and since Garp could be considered snapshots and LNiTR is no different. The story is a saga and follows a single family of men from the New Hamphire woods to Boston's North End to Iowa to Vermont and ultimately to Toronto. The book is riddled with death of several varieties which the drive the book to its conclusion and its suspense is not of the usual kind. The story is a long chase over the course of many years without the violence of No Country for Old Men and it's enjoyable if not on the same level as some of Irving's other novels.

Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

I read this after LNiTR and it was easily the greatest reading experience I have had in the last five years. The characters are wonderful, their interactions are moving, the language is terrific. A truly great book in my humble opinion. That is all I will say except to tell you that you should read it, then we can meet for a drink and talk about it. I have read a couple of other books since, Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle and A Geography of Time by Robert Levine. They were both fine but nothing compared to the experience of LtGWS. Looking forward to reading The Finkler Question and to writing about it when I'm done.