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Loading... Until I find You (2005)by J. Irving
Work InformationUntil I Find You by John Irving (2005)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Family Drama From the Dust Jacket" "'According to his mother, Jack Burns was an actor before he was an actor, but Jack's most vivid memories of childhood were those moments when he felt compelled to hold his mother's hand. He wasn't acting then.' "So begins John Irving's eleventh novel, 'Until I Find You', the story of the actor Jack Burns. His mother, Alice, is a Toronto tattoo artist. When Jack is four, he travels with Alice to several North Sea ports; they are trying to find Jack's missing father, William, a church organist who is addicted to being tattooed. But Alice is a mystery, and William can't be found. Even Jack's memories are subject to doubt. "Jack Burns is educated at schools in Canada and New England, but he is shaped by his relationships with older women. John Irving renders Jack's life as an actor in Hollywood with the same richness of detail and range of emotions he uses to describe the tattoo parlours in those North Sea ports and the reverberating music Jacck heard as a child in European churches. "The author's tone -- indeed, the narrative voice of this novel -- is melancholic. 'Until I Find You' is suffused with overwhelming sadness and deception; it is also a robust and comic novel, certain to be compared to John Irving's most ambitious and moving work." Its not a bad book but John Irving has done much of the same stuff in other better books. If you want to read an Irving novel don't start here. It is the story of Jack Burns life from childhood to early middle age. The book is divided into five sections and some are more interesting than others. The first part in the Northern European countries probably the most interesting as Jack and his mother go looking for his father. The next section about Jack's school days in New England are kinda creepy because of the sexual abuse the suffers at a young age. His first abuser a girl named Emma who is over 5 years older than he is becomes his best friend over time and it is their exploits in the movie business that takes up the next part of the book. Once Emma and Jack's mother are off stage and Jack works with a therapist to understand his childhood and the real story of his parents relationship the story wanes. New characters pop up and disappear and in the end I didn't really care what happened I just wanted the story to end. Loved this book. It could have been a tad shorter but I still loved the density and unbelievable amount of detail. I also really adored how this book ended and wanted to give Jack Burns a big hug for finally loving himself and being comfortable with what his family and his childhood. Excellent book!!!
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. Belongs to Publisher Seriesdetebe (23621) El balancí [Edicions 62] (533) Keltainen kirjasto (371) Keltainen pokkari (21) DistinctionsNotable Lists
The story of the actor Jack Burns. His mother, Alice, is a Toronto tattoo artist. When Jack is four, he travels with Alice to several North Sea ports; they are trying to find Jack's missing father, William, a church organist who is addicted to being tattooed. But Alice is a mystery, and William can't be found. Even Jack's memories are subject to doubt. Jack Burns goes to schools in Canada and New England, but what shapes him are his relationships with older women. John Irving renders Jack's life as an actor in Hollywood with the same richness of detail and range of emotions he uses to describe the tattoo parlors in those North Sea ports and the reverberating music Jack heard as a child in European churches. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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