Last Night in Twisted River

I adored Garp, liked Hotel New Hampshire, but John Irving has clearly jumped the shark with this one. The classic mash-up of Irving elements are present (bears, wrestling etc), but in an almost perfunctory capacity that adds little or nothing to the story. The book rambles on and on, with pages and pages of excessive detail (especially on forestry and Italian cuisine) that is too ostentatiously supposed to demonstrate how much research the author has done, but which makes it only more aggravating when there are glaring errors (just to quote one: "dormi pur" does not mean "sleep clean", as any Italian could have told the author). My main beef was with the characters: the three generations of male protagonists are insufficiently sketched show more out, and with all the flashbacks their characters fuse together. As for the female characters, I'm wondering if there were any. I was reminded of the Sixtine Chapel ceiling, where Michelangelo (who wasn't too familiar with or interested in female anatomy) depicted all the women with the musculature of builders. Likewise, the female characters in this book are huge, bulking figures that tower over the men like primitive goddesses, but have no distinct personalities - let alone a female one; most of them look and act like transvestite body-builders. There was a great 250-page book hiding in the current 550 pages; and possibly an even greater one if Mr Irving will one day address his demons which for now are still hiding behind these disconcerting she-male giants. show less

Just as the New Hampshire logging river twists and turns, so does the telling of John Irving's newest book. The reader has to pay careful attention (much as a logger does on a rolling river) to the various turns in the plot. Two accidental deaths occur in a remote NH logging camp at the beginning of the book. The close proximity in time and place of these cataclysmic events increase their impact on the lives of the camp cook, Dominic, and his son Daniel. Twelve-year-old Danny is at an impressionable age when he accidentally kills one of his favorite people in the world. His father is also devastated; however, his main concern is to protect his son. They flee Twisted River and the certain wrath of the loony deputy sheriff.

The complex show more story develops much in the same way that we as humans gradually mature -- by revisiting key events in the past and trying to make sense of them. The book covers a 51-year span. During the course of their flight, we are transported to various locales -- a logging camp, Boston, a midwestern college town, a small Vermont village, Toronto, and finally back to NH. The characters' thoughts and feelings take us back and forth to these places as we become witnesses to the same events seen through different eyes.

These wounded characters change names so often that Irving usually refers to them as the cook (Dominic) and the writer (Daniel). It is an interesting aside to note the parallels between Danny Angel's (Daniel's non de plume) and John Irving's writing careers.

Don't be fooled by the quirkiness of characters and situations. There is much depth to be found in Irving's recurring themes of accidental deaths, early sexual experiences, prep schools, wrestling, bears, and (to this reader's chagrin), even Irving's liberal political commentary. Despite these commonalities, there is nothing predictable about Irving's books or his writing.

This is one of Irving's long, detailed novels that will appeal to real readers who appreciate excellent craftmanship in writing. The twisted story lines make for a challenging though satisfying story about parental love. This is another Irving story that is a "marvel...(that) simply couldn't be stopped." Enjoy the journey. show less

What a chunk of work this is at 550 pages. It's more like 3 novels in 1. oh ... I will correct that last bit .... It's more like 3 really good novels in 1

It is gripping but laid back, emotionally raw but forgiving too. A book about loss, both out of nowhere and loss that is a long time coming, bit very much about loss.

I'd long forgotten just how good John Irving is as a writer, how his focus never wanes, and how his characters have weight.

You can read the blurb for the drift, I hate just seeing the blurb repeated for a review. Besides, it's a very long drift indeed.

Loved the places and the people. I'm so full of it right now as I've just finished it. All I can say is put this on your TBR list.

John Irving’s Last Night in Twisted River covers a lot of ground, and time. From 1954 to 2005; from New Hampshire, to Boston, Iowa City, Boulder, Toronto, and finally Point Au Baril Station, Ontario. The time and geography are necessary to separate three generations of a family from tragedies that occur early, and even before the story begins. While Dominic Baciagalupo and his son Danny perform a slow flight from a renegade constable, punctuated by long periods of stability, their life-long friend, the woodsman Ketchum, remains rooted in Coos County, New Hampshire. All three are wonderful and distinct people, as is every major and minor character. Irving can populate and describe places as well as he does people, and does so with each show more stop the fugitives make. Even at over five hundred pages the book never flags for long. Irving provides the detail to keep the story compelling throughout. show less

If you like John Irving, you will find this novel touches familiar territory. It's full of his trademark bears, freak accidents, and general craziness. The man has almost too much imagination, and I think this book could have benefited from a smaller cast of minor characters, but as the story flows, it carries the reader on as relentlessly as the Twisted River carried logs in the heydey of the timber industry in New England. Once in a while, it also ducks the reader under, or spins you frustratingly around in a whirlpool for a bit, before pushing you out and on around the next bend. Some elements were distracting to me, there were one or two instances of foreshadowing that came to nothing, and I struggled with my disbelief some of the show more time. (Irving does have the ability to make me accept some pretty fantastical stuff, but here, he lost his grip on me a time or two.) But after failing to "get into" the last two Irvings I attempted (Son of the Circus and The Fourth Hand), I was happy to recognize once more the genius of the man who wrote A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules in this one. I may give it another read one of these days, because I suspect it will reward a second go-'round. show less

The Short of It:

Unforgettable characters and a truly unique story are something reader’s expect from an Irving novel. Last Night in Twisted River delivers on both counts.

The Rest of It:

The story begins in a New Hampshire logging camp in 1954. Twelve-year-old Daniel accidentally kills the local constable’s girlfriend, which forces him and his father to flee town. As fugitives, they move from place to place, making friends along the way.

Told over the course of five decades, Last Night in Twisted River is many things. It’s definitely a story about a father and a son, but it’s also very much a story about friendship. In this novel, friendships remain true and loyalties prevail.

I fell in love with many of the characters in this show more novel. Dominic could not love his son more. The passages where he reflects upon Daniel literally caused my heart to ache. Some may argue that Dominic’s decision to flee does more harm than good, but when it comes to the protection of your child, people often make rash decisions. I didn’t hold it against him.

Oh, and Daniel!. He’s flawed in many ways. He seems to pick all the wrong women and has a tendency to drink too much, but the love that he holds for his father is enough to make you love him. He’s cautious, until he’s not. Which is sort of an ongoing theme throughout the novel. He grows up to be a writer and it’s through his writing that we get to know the real Daniel.

My favorite character of all though is Ketchum. Ketchum is their logging friend who remains a constant source of support for them. Although he is my favorite, I’ll let you experience him for yourself when you pick-up the book.

I do have this to say about Irving’s depiction of women… I’m not sure if he loves them or hates them! In this novel, the women are very bold, surly types. Most have questionable manners and lack good hygiene, yet they are quite important within the story itself. I enjoyed them, because although they lacked social graces and often, common sense, they were endearing in some way.

I love how Irving is able to walk a reader through a story. He takes your hand, and glides you through the chapters as if you’re a character in the story. I don’t believe there was ever a moment where I felt lost. His voice comes through so clearly. It’s one of the things that I love about Irving’s writing.

Last Night in Twisted River is a bit long, but well worth the effort. It will be on my fave list for 2010 and will probably be a favorite of mine for a long time to come. There aren’t many books that you want to reread right after finishing. That’s how I felt about this one. show less

This was my first John Irving novel and the word "operatic" comes to mind. Even though this novel is long, the plot is tight and interesting. I never thought I'd read a novel which has a tight plot, but still manages to ramble on and on as well as keep my interest - but there you have it.

The premise of the novel seems, at least to me, is the making of a writer. Daniel Baciagalupo and his father flee a 1950's New Hampshire logging town after Daniel accidentally killed his father's lover. On the run the Baciagalupo rediscover their Boston roots and spend a large part of the novel dodging a vengeful and crazy New Hampshire sheriff.

After attending some very exclusive schools, Daniel becomes a successful writer, has a son and keeps in touch show more with Ketchum, an extinct species of Americans who embodies New Hampshire's motto of "Live Free or Die". Ketchum manages to rant against everyone and anyone, the hippies, Catholics, conservatives and liberals; ironically the embodiment of extreme libertarian hates all other extremes - yet, in my opinion, his character is the glue that holds the story together.

The story moves back and forth in time, despite Irving's weird sex scenes, violent actions and some funny (and not so funny) deaths, the plot revolves around Daniel becoming a writer and gives Mr. Irving the opportunity to take out his ire on "dimwitted" book reviewers and sensationalistic media, which I thought was hilarious given the context.

This is one of those books that I, personally, really like. The book is polished (but not overdone), the characters are very engaging and each one, even the minor ones, has their own history full of prose as well as many insights into parenthood and the joys and pains that come with it. show less