Letzte Nacht In Twisted River (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I am a long-standing fan of John Irving; "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is one of my Three Desert Island Books. I found it very difficult to assign an accurate # of stars to "Last Night in Twisted River". On the one hand, there are pages of beautiful, clear and evocative writing. On the other, there are pages and pages of tedium, so many instances from previous works that repeatedly took me out of the story, and made me wish it had a stronger editor. I was ready to give this just 2 stars, but Mr. Irving's afterword went a long way to redeeming the book for me and made me glad I stuck it out.My final recommendation for "Last Night in Twisted River": if you have not read any Irving before, start with "The World According to Garp", "A Prayer for Owen Meany" or "The Cider House Rules". If you are a dedicated reader of Irving, read this book as an interesting window on his writing; you will probably find his Afterword rewarding as well. Really wanted to give 3 1/2 stars. If forced to choose only one, Irving would be my favorite author. That said, the book was VERY slow to start - reminded me of Owen Meany in that way. Lots of Irving biographical references, book-within-a-book plot device (which I never tire of), and, most interesting to me - a surprise main character. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was nonetheless. Ketchum reminded me of Neal Cassady. A strange confluence of authors/books/history that I love. Laughed out loud numerous times. Irving is a superb writer. All in all, not my favorite of his, but definitely worth the read.
What do You think about Letzte Nacht In Twisted River (2009)?
I found this book difficult to finish. Although well written, I got bored with the story.
—bellissimo2
