A Widow for One Year: A Novel

Amazon.com Review:
John Irving's A Widow For One Year is the epic story of a family, dysfunctional at best, unable to cope with tragedy--or with each other. The unabridged audiobook, narrated by George Guidall (The Cat Who Sang for the Birds, The Inner Sanctum, The Legacy) draws the listener in with a crisp, methodical vocal presentation. Guidall portrays each character with a convincingly distinct voice, accurately impersonating the characters' intonations and verbal habits. The interaction between characters is both conversational and believable. We first meet Ruth Cole in the summer of 1958 when she walks in on her mother having sex with 16-year-old Eddie O'Hare, the assistant to Ruth's alcoholic father. The death of Ruth's older brothers (years before she was born) turns her mother, Marion, into a zombie who is unable to love her surviving daughter. Ted Cole is a semisuccessful writer and illustrator of disturbingly creepy children's novels. His womanizing habits prove he's "as deceitful as a damaged condom," but he remains the only stable figure in Ruth's life. The tempestuous tale fast-forwards to the year 1990 when Ruth's soaring writing career is faring far better than her lackluster love life. The final segment of the novel ends in 1995 when 41-year-old Ruth is ready to fall in love for the first time. This profoundly absorbing story expresses the depths of misery and the healing power of love. Irving writes as a true storyteller, and Guidall executes the narrative with vigor and enthusiasm. (Running time: 24.5 hours, 14 cassettes) --Gina Kaysen

Tom woke up, but Tim did not.:
Some books are meant for audiences with interests in themes such as death of adolescent children, its affect on the married couple, how each copes, father-daughter bond and sexual relationship between older woman and younger man. "A Widow for One Year" addresses these themes in fine writing. Ted Cole, the husband, is a flawed character who turns to adultery more avidly after the accident that kills his two teenage sons. Ruth Cole, the mother, mourns by withdrawing from the world and withholding affection from her younger daughter conceived after the accident. This is Mr. Irving's first novel I read and it easily met my expectations. The only thing I wish he had reconsidered was length of the book. At over 400 pages the book begins to loose some of its early magic by page 325 or so. Also, I recommend watching the movie version in which Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges are great as a couple.

The best book of Irving's I've read yet:
Is love too strong a word to describe one's feelings toward a great read? Admiration, definitely -- I'll even freely admit to affection. But love? I have to imagine that everyone who reads John Irving's A Widow for One Year struggles with that question, simply because it is one of the most perfectly put together pieces of fiction I have yet encountered. I still think about the characters -- especially protagonist Ruth Cole -- I even miss them. A Widow for One Year is Ruth's story. It begins when she is four years old, and her portion is tangential in the first third of the novel while Irving tells the story of her parents. Ted Cole is a successful children's book writer and illustrator who has affairs with "young mothers" under the guise of using their children as models. Ted's relationship with his wife Marion has been over since the grief over the deaths of their two sons, Thomas and Timothy, has made her an emotional zombie. (Ruth's birth was an attempt to repair the loss, but Marion will not allow herself to love her daughter.) Ted hires college student Eddie O'Hare, an aspiring writer, to be his assistant for the summer of 1958. Soon after, Marion begins an affair with the boy, and Eddie soon discovers his job is more than advertised. The second portion of the book begins in 1990, when Ruth is 36 and a successful writer on her own. She is still greatly affected by the decisions her parents made during her childhood, and is at a reading of her latest novel when she runs into Eddie, now 52 and a less successful writer (all the main characters are writers, yet this never becomes tedious). During research for her latest novel, intended to be a departure from the semiautobiographical tomes written so far, Ruth gets herself into a situation that tests her to her limits. This thread lasts through the rest of A Widow for One Year, and Irving makes unexpected choices for his characters, never allowing the reader to predict just what they will do next. I'm fascinated by how skillfully Irving assembled this story of two generations, carefully referring to past events that enhance the present narrative, and deftly paralleling those events with the novels the characters themselves write (all the main characters are professional writers, yet this never becomes tedious) -- and especially drawing the story around so it reaches a full circle of sorts. Also of note is Irving's ability to create even-handed personalities: people who do something despicable one moment and admirable the next, retaining their likeability in the process. Readers will be both literarily satisfied and emotionally moved even while they are crying tears of laughter at a couple of slapstick scenes. John Irving is really a writer who has something for everyone, and A Widow for One Year is the best book of his I've read yet. The audiobook read by the extraordinary George Guidall only enhances the experience. Not only are his characterizations awe-inspiring, but his Dutch pronunciation is immaculate. (A movie was made of the first portion of A Widow for One Year. The Door in the Floor stars Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges as Marion and Ted Cole, respectively, and Elle Fanning as young Ruth.)

Irritating and pointless:
Unfortunately this is the first John Irving book that I've read and I must admit, it's put me off somewhat. I should have started with the books he is known for - that is, Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp. This was published in 1998 - maybe he's getting lazy and sloppy in his old age. I quite enjoyed the first half, although the excessive use of italics and parentheses drove me a little nuts. I found the middle part, which was led by female characters, to be wholly unconvincing. I don't think he gets women at all! The obsession with sex was a bit much as well. And by the end, I didn't care any more - I just wanted to finish the book. I don't really understand the point of the book. I didn't think it was a particularly gripping story, nor did it offer some new and unexpected insight into the human condition. It's not the worst book I've ever read but it's entirely forgettable. I am not even sure it would have been published had Irving been an unknown, first-time author.

I love John Irving and this is one of my favorite books:
I've read a fair amount of contemporary fiction and I have to say few things pull me in and keep me interested like a John Irving novel. I actually "save" his books for longer travel because there's nothing more annoying than arriving somewhere and hating the book you have and not having anything else to read. Initially the book bored me with the romantic undertones in the first few chapters but that quickly changed when the book transitioned to the second half. I've noticed this before; Irving often connects various stories in one longer book which do tie together well in the end but give off different tones and voices and styles. In this book the first half I see as somewhat a romance which bored me awfully. I'm happy that I trudged through the first half to get to the second part which was amazing. The first gave me the necessary background to really understand the psychology of the the main character's background. If you find the beginning slow DON'T GIVE UP ON IT. Move past it and you will be well rewarded with a wonderful book. All I can say is that I have a very short attention span and have a hard time finding books that don't bore me. This one I tore through in no time (after the initial romantic part) and don't remember enjoying a book like that since The Alienist or Red Dragon or Stone Butch Blues. Yes, I have an eclectic taste in books but all of them have a strong voice, strong pace and strong character development with the necessary background building to make me feel like I am really a silent (invisible) witness to the character's lives.

Enough Damage To Go Around:
John Irving's novel, A Widow For One Year, takes readers on a life-long journey through the lives of several characters. What struck me about this book was the story's common thread of psychological dysfunction and how one person's damage profoundly affects others. In the first part of the book, a sixteen-year-old aspiring writer named Eddie gets his dream job of working with a famous writer named Ted Cole. Upon arriving at the Cole residence, Eddie is soon seduced by Cole's wife, Marion, who has retreated from life due to the death of her own teenage sons some years early. Marion has had almost nothing to do with her four-year-old daughter, Ruth, at this point. Finally, Marion abandons her family, leaving Eddie and Ruth wrecked. The story then shifts forward in time and focuses on Eddie and Ruth, both of whom have become writers. Eddie struggles with his craft as much as he does with being abandoned by Marion. Ruth is more accomplished but finds herself in Amsterdam's red-light district working out her own demons. This part of the story was a bit strained, but in the context of the first part, makes sense. Finally, Irving brings it all together in the last part. Marion returns home after her long absence. The ripples she created come home to roost but in an articulate way for all involved. What I enjoyed most about this book was Irving's ability to relate the cause and effect of a tragedy's consequences. The Marion character is not a sympathetic one, yet she earns respect along the way. At the same time, the other characters plow through life carrying burdens that were placed upon them by others only to realize that at some point they can put them down. There's a lesson there, one that sadly many people learn too late.