Any
book that has been made into a movie starring Robin Williams has to
be approached
with a certain amount of trepidation, it's not the type
of thing to inspire confidence. Of course, one way of bypassing this
is to realise that the entirety of the book didn't make it onto the
silver screen - because John Irving's novel is the typewritten equivalent
of an epic, charting the life and times of the eponynous T.S. Garp.
From
the very beginning of the book there is a certain amount of black
humour at play. Garp is conceived by Jenny Fields who, not wanting
to go through life with a man, has sex with a fatally injured ball
turret gunner who winds up on the ward of the war hospital in which
Jenny works as a nurse.
Jenny
has a massive influence no Garp's life, taking many forms: she enrols
Garp in wrestling class when he can't decide on a sport to pick up;
she becomes possibly the most famous feminist in the US after publishing
her life story ('A Sexual Suspect') while her son struggles as a 'real'
writer; he can do nothing without reference to her over-riding confusion
at male lust.
Garp
does manage to achieve much for himself, gaining a small but dedicated
following of his
writing, as well as marrying the daughter of his
wrestling coach and having the standard 2.4 children. And yet, he
remains almost forever in pursuit of something else - something which
he can't put his finger on.
The
class of writing in this novel is superb, with two moments shining
through. One is a discussion
involving 4 characters in groups of two,
discussing the fact that one of them is having an affair - it would
have been possible to have made this section convoluted, but one reading
and you get it all, it exudes fun while discussing serious issues.
And one particular scene involving not so much fellatio interrupto
as fellatio amputato will have any man crossing his legs in astonishment.
The
afterword in the edition which I was reading actually, I felt, detracted
from the novel - Irving coming over as a touch smug or superior, my
advice is to stick to the actual story and revel in a master storytelling
exercise - the life of T.S. Garp is one that will have you unable
to put this book down.