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Loading... Until I Find You (2005)by John Irving
None. the subject matter is hard to read, a bombardment of abuse of the main character, ugh; incites the same reaction as Bonfire of the Vanities did; a favorite scene: Emma vs. Mrs. Machado, too bad it was only about 2 pages long; I didn't like this book but decided that it warrented 2 stars for the massive size, partial credit to the author for effort (  ) EhEh | Apr 3, 2013 |  We follow Jack Burns from an early age and on into maturity. As a child he is taken by his Scottish mother from Canada to tour Europe in search of his father who had deserted his mother. On his return to Canada we follow him through school, college and eventually into his career as an actor. But it is not until his mother dies that he begins the search of his own for his father, and what he discovers is very different from what he remembers from when he was a child. Until I Find You is an involving novel, and one needs a good memory for many of the characters we meet in the early pages will reappear in one way or another much later, one also needs to remember events for we may well get a different slant on them as the story unfolds. But of course it is Jack that we follow throughout; and as a child he is a bright and endearing, but he may well loose some of our affections as he grows up for he is not always best behaved, but I am sure that if you stick with him and understand what made him he will reclaim your feelings, for ultimately this is a very touching and moving read, and Jack really does come out of it with honours. Along the way we encounter an array of those characters beloved by Irving, the misfits, the mis-formed, the eccentrics and those on the borders of acceptable society, as well as some truly caring individuals; there really are those who are watching over Jack for his welfare. It all adds up to a typically engrossing Irving novel, humour and wit intermingle with passages that are moving or touched with sadness or even tragedy. Never predictable but ever inventive, and of course beautifully written as one would expect from Irving, it all makes for a very worthy read. (  ) presto | Jan 7, 2013 | http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/2005/11/until-i-find-you-by-john-irving.htm... It was alright. John Irving seems to be re-writing his own story the way he wished it had happened--the hairy sexually dominant older girl, for example. But a few things were left sloppy and the author's voice could be so frustrating. As with all John Irving novels, I wanted to shout at him for drawing all the wrong conclusions about people, yet I couldn't put the book down. (  ) CozyBookJournal | Apr 13, 2012 | I finished this behemoth of a book Thursday night. I'm torn about whether to recommend it or not. It's John Irving after all and the writing itself is exactly what you'd expect. I've always loved Irving and A Prayer For Owen Meany is probably my favorite book ever. So I personally was completely caught up in the story. I read 800+ pages in the time it usually takes me to read a 300 page book. There were times I literally couldn't put it down. That said, the story itself is disturbing. It's about a child who is sexually abused. It's about memory and what we think we know and how we are changed when we find the truth (in this way, it was reminiscent of the excellent Julian Barnes book, The Sense of an Ending). There are graphic scenes in the book. That probably won't surprise you if you've read any other Irving. But the scenes don't feel prurient. They simply feel like reporting a story. Or, as Irving says in this book, telling the whole story in chronological order. So, would I recommend it? Maybe. Did I think it was a good book? Definitely. (  ) jennyo | Mar 24, 2012 | 9  Stef.Gyssels | Aug 3, 2011 |
 One of the problems with this novel is that Mr. Irving never finds a persuasive voice for narrating these events. The repeated acts of sexual abuse committed upon the prepubescent Jack play neither as awful, realistic acts of abuse nor as metaphorical, Grand Guignol encounters. As a result, the whole book is suffused with a smarmy but cartoonish aura: the reader is unable to sympathize with Jack as a poor abused child or to regard his experiences as some sort of farcical parable about the wicked ways of the world.
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