THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP - John Irving

As is the case with most who've read it, I cannot say enough wonderful things about John Irving's joyous, hilarious, and ultimately moving novel about ahead-of-her-time feminist Jenny Fields, a nurse who becomes a famous writer, and her "bastard son" T. S. Garp, who becomes an almost-famous writer.  At turns comedic and tragic, rejuvenating and heartbreaking, odd and quirky yet feeling completely real in its own world, the story involves Jenny's rise to fame while raising her son to adulthood, Garp trying to find his own place in both the literary and real world while dealing with the fallout of his mother's fame and notoriety.  Irving is incredibly skilled here, even the passages of text that are of Garp's own short fiction speak in a completely different voice that not only tells Garp's story but also gives you insight into him as a character.  Set mostly in the 1960's and 1970's, the book deals with a lot of the sexual and political movements of those times, as reflected through the incredibly open-minded Jenny Fields and her son, but the novel is so humane in its depiction of life and all that it has to offer to those willing to embrace it, even those moments that shock never feel false or forced. The 1982 film version, starring the late Robin Williams in what was perhaps his most refined, best-ever performance, comes incredibly close to capturing the world contained within the novel ... but as usual, nothing compares to the book.  Particularly so in this case of Irving's fascinating, exuberant gem about living every day true to yourself ... and as if it were your last.  *****