The Fourth Hand (2001)

Very strange plot line. ( )

If I had flipped open these early pages set in Japan under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have continued. Remember that dreadful Sofia Coppola movie? Where the whiney female character kept whining about l and r sounds getting mixed up? The Japanese language has a perfectly serviceable "r" sound, thank you. How else could one have Hirohito, Kurasawa, Morita, etc.? It's Chinese that has an "l" sound but not the "r," idiots. So complicated! Why would Irving set parts of his book in a country he's never visited? (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.)

Ho, ho, no "lobe"? Are they staying in a youth hostel? What unproper, proper or capsule hotel in Japan wouldn't provide a crisp cotton blue-and-white yukata?

Despite my gripes, I was traveling and waiting around a lot while reading this. I can say this about Irving: easy travel reading.

It wasn't just the language problem that felt wrong about Japan. Japan would be a very strange place to hold a women's conference. Honestly, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, even India would be more appropriate. All those places have far more women in high positions in journalism, academia, govt and business than Japan does. The interpreters might well be female, though! Let's just say the proceedings at the conference would be quite different. As would anything taking place in Japan.

Also striking here and elsewhere in the book: how seldom Irving attempts descriptions of landscapes, cityscapes, Kyoto, etc. Yes, he does it at the lake in Wisconsin a little. But, otherwise, the lack was really striking to me. He's on a helicopter coming from Narita and he doesn't describe the sensations or the view?! Can one really conduct an everyday conversation under such circumstances? I'm going to make a point of avoiding the one set partly in India, Son of the Circus. Irving's affection for children and family is well known, so it was also dismaying how "little Otto" was depicted--like by a writer who has never cared for a child for even an hour. The characters might as well have been slinging around a bag of potatoes. I had reservations about how the character coped with the loss of his hand--dressing, carrying stuff, opening doors. I can't comment on the football material because I skipped over it.

The vast majority of observations about journalism were banal too. Our character wants to teach a course at a top journalism school (like my own) on how TV news lacks any context! This was a hot topic circa 1962, 1972, 1982 but this novel is set around 1999. On the first few days of a journalism class, even in high school, you learn that the top half a single newspaper page contains more news than a 1/2 hour broadcast. Anyone in TV news is well aware of that and how print/writing journalists regard them. Hell, privately TV people tell you as much: "We have to make it as dumb as possible." Blah, blah. Even putting aside the internet demands for a moment, by this time the significance of nat'l news broadcasts had been eroded by rise of local, cable, etc--as the Bill Clinton campaigns demonstrated.

OK, most readers won't be annoyed by the above, I suppose, even if they recognize the errors, the sloppiness. How is the sex and love story? I just couldn't care about this shallow Wallingford character one way or another. No emotional engagement. And his misogynistic depictions of women sometimes verged on Updike territory. The free-loving, Queens-accented makeup girl comes to mind but Updike would have a better ear for speech. Of course, Doris is the most compelling character here. This is how we get to know most people, or at least interesting people: in a series of reveals and hints. But why would this couple make any sense? ( )

Rarely have I been so disappointed - happens when one's gods turn out to have feet of clay. Compared to Garp, Owen Meany, Cider House, Hotel New Hampshire, A Son of the Circus, this was not my hero at his best. Not going to disrespect one of the great writers of our age but read his other works instead and don't judge by this. ( )

In this story of a "disaster news" network reporter who loses his left hand in a freak lion maiming, Irving looks at the nature of destiny, personal morality, the things that give meaning to life, and love. It covers a lot of ground, but it all fits together. It is also a searing commentary on the 24 hour news cycle, which seems to underscore the importance of the characters' discovery of meaning. ( )

Well, I think the climax of the story was when Wallingford had his hand bit off. Then, it drug on longer than it needed to with a few too many sex-scenes for my liking. I would definately lable this book a romance novel, if not erotic lit because of how many times the characters within it had sex. I'm not sure whether or not I would say it glorifies romantic relationships even though I would classify it as a romance novel. The characters within it are also very quirky and at times unbelievable.

Nothing in this book impressed me, nothing quite made me turn my nose up at it. It's a meh book for me though I did enjoy the author's attempts at character growth, which novels that are of poorer quality neglect. ( )