George Irving Books

A book using 1984 to focus on totalitarianism in the 20th Century it has been broken down into three parts. The first part deals with the book and the author, Orwell, while the second part deals with many of the ideas within the book, like Big Brother, the virtue of the lie and totalitarianism. The last part deals with the future - is there anything beyond or after totalitarianism? Published in 1983 I don't think the writers foresaw many of the changes that were to happen, making for a very interesting read. While interesting it isn't really worth reading more than once, being somewhat dry. Get it used.

King's book deals with the performance of Arthur Conan Doyle's short play "A Story of Waterloo" by eminent Victorian actor Henry Irving and a devastating review of this production written by George Bernard Shaw in 1895. The play is about an old and feeble soldier who has played a heroic role at Waterloo and pathetically dies while reliving his finest hour, thereby bringing the house down (in the theatre, that is). King uses this intersection of two remarkable theatrical careers to consider the Victorians' retrospective glance at the Napoleontic wars, the nature of Irving's performance, which by modern standards would be inconceivably sentimental, Irving's relation to his audience, Shaw's development as a critic and playwright, Irving's leading lady Ellen Terry and her son, the theatre director, designer and Irving acolyte Edward Gordon Craig. An instructive and entertaining read for anyone with a broad interest in the theatre and (cultural) history. Highly accessible, but marred by some unnecessary excursions into academic obscurities that the opening chapters had led me to believe were going to be avoided. Still, fascinating stuff.

"The Skunk Ladder" is the second funniest McManus story that I have ever read. The first is "Crick Ritual".

Some books are meant for audiences with interests in themes such as death of adolescent children, its affect on the married couple, how each copes, father-daughter bond and sexual relationship between older woman and younger man. "A Widow for One Year" addresses these themes in fine writing. Ted Cole, the husband, is a flawed character who turns to adultery more avidly after the accident that kills his two teenage sons. Ruth Cole, the mother, mourns by withdrawing from the world and withholding affection from her younger daughter conceived after the accident. This is Mr. Irving's first novel I read and it easily met my expectations. The only thing I wish he had reconsidered was length of the book. At over 400 pages the book begins to loose some of its early magic by page 325 or so. Also, I recommend watching the movie version in which Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges are great as a couple.

Unfortunately this is the first John Irving book that I've read and I must admit, it's put me off somewhat. I should have started with the books he is known for - that is, Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp. This was published in 1998 - maybe he's getting lazy and sloppy in his old age.

I quite enjoyed the first half, although the excessive use of italics and parentheses drove me a little nuts. I found the middle part, which was led by female characters, to be wholly unconvincing. I don't think he gets women at all! The obsession with sex was a bit much as well. And by the end, I didn't care any more - I just wanted to finish the book.

I don't really understand the point of the book. I didn't think it was a particularly gripping story, nor did it offer some new and unexpected insight into the human condition.

It's not the worst book I've ever read but it's entirely forgettable. I am not even sure it would have been published had Irving been an unknown, first-time author.

Irving is an excellent writer, with fluid prose and clear characterizations. His plots are compelling, and the stories involve effective human drama. But this book strikes me as self-indulgent to a too-large extent. The main characters are all wealthy folk, that live in a rarefied atmosphere redolent of specialized inks and more specialized neuroses. They are all either writers or writers-to-be - as though this were the only proper human ambition to have.

And the worst of it is that the writer who is his main character is writing about a writer - an endless loop of navel-gazing. Outside of that, there is real drama in the family interrelationships. All the characters, their actions and relationships revolve around the central drama of the deaths of 2 brothers, and the separation of their parents.

It is an excellent read, though I found the writer-writer-writer theme annoying enough to intrude into my suspension of disbelief.

When I think about a book written by John Irving, the picture that comes to mind is a vine; a vine that weaves within itself and spreads thick in it's own mass. This is the 3rd Irving book I have read. Irving uses some of the same themes in his many novels. Boarding schools, younger men with older women are some that immediately come to mind. This particular book is about a family that lives in The Hamptons. The father, Ted is an author of children's books. The wife, Marion, is also an author but she does not begin her career as a writer until later on in life. The family is ripped apart when a car accident kills their 2 sons. They have a daughter, Ruth, after the accident in an attempt to bring their family back together. When Ruth is 4, Ted hires a student, Eddie, to help him with his writing for the summer. At least, that is what he says. The book is split into 3 parts and covers almost 40 years. Irving takes these 4 characters and begins weaving his plot in such articulate detail, it hovers on the line of genius. After reading these books, I always feel like I missed the true meaning of the story and feel obligated to read it again. I did enjoy this novel, however, I felt overwhelmed on occasion in parts that dragged. I lost patience at times. This still does not take away from my respect for this writer who I think is one of the best in the business.

An absorbing and quite a disturbing novel on so many levels. Vintage Irving at his best. Loved it as I do all of this great writer's books. Five stars at the very least.

I have to agree with many of the other reviewers that refer to the author's "cute" and "self-absorbed" writing style. I could forgive that, however--the man did actually meet and/or know many of the figures he writes about, so his pedestal-perching is somewhat deserved. What I can't overlook is how he glosses over what I thought this book would be all about--the songs themselves. He drops titles here and there, but rarely goes into any depth regarding their creation or impact. More space is devoted to Cole Porter's wardrobe than his entire score for "High Society." If you're looking for a song-by-song breakdown of the impact these men had on popular music, this ain't it. If you're looking for a more gossipy "dish" on what composer did what and where with whom and what they were wearing, you will not be disappointed.

There are some wonderful stories and insights in this book, but the reader has to battle through Sheed's annoyingly 'cute' prose to get to them. If you can ignore his style, you will learn new things about each of the great American songwriters. The chapters on some of the less heralded composers - such as Lane and Whiting - are major contributions to our understanding of an art form that had a glorious but all too brief flowering.

This is a comprehensive, enthusiastic and entertaining book about the greats of American popular music in the 1920s, 1930s and beyond.

I bought this book because of my interest in the subject matter. I was disappointed in the author's (Wilfred Sneed) writing style which became laborious, and at times redundent. I do not, however, argue with his opinion of the various composers...it's his book and he's entitled to state his views. I would recommend this book to anyone with a desire to learn about the great 20th century composers, but unless they have a deep interest I believe they will tire of it before they finish the Berlin and Gershwin chapters.

The author is very knowledgeable about the individuals and about the music which he writes, however, his style of prose is somewhat difficult to follow. As one of the reviews cites, the author writes in a gossip stlyle of writing. The chapters on Berlin and Gershwin are by far the best. After that I think he wanders far too much astray and mentions material that I consider oblique and unnecessary. Needless to say, I was disappointed in the book.