January 28, 2007

the world according to garp

i just finished reading john irving's the world according to garp. for me, it is his best novel, although it's the only book i've read from him aside from a prayer for owen meany whose film adaptation, simon birch, drove me to seeking john irving's works. the world according to garp has been hailed as funny and horrifying and heartbreaking. for me, it is also TRUE.

the novel tells the story of t.s. garp's life characterized by his fears, mostly, by his fears as a father. the story is aptly ended with the line: in the world according to garp, we are all terminal cases. no matter how we try to make the world a safe place, we all end up dead.

the novel at times can be weird, sometimes even downright scary; but most often, it is both funny and inspiring. if a novel evokes varying emotions from the reader, then it is indeed a good read! the world according to garp evokes varying degrees of feelings and thoughts. so read it! :D

i originally planned of returning the book to the bookshop that rents/sells it and get my $9 rental fee excess but after finishing it, i don't want to part with it anymore. yeah, i'll hold on to it so that i can always reread it or go back to it to search for the quotable quotes that grabbed my attention such as:

in the world according to garp, we are all terminal cases.

imagining something is better than remembering something.

in this dirty-minded world, you are either somebody's wife or somebody's whore -- or fast on your way to becoming one or the other.

between men and women, only death is shared equally.

lust makes the best men behave out of character.

and i just found out from google that there's a movie adaptation to this starring robin williams and glenn close! wow! i'm on to my next search! :D

again, go grab a copy of
the world according to garp! i guarantee it's a very fine read indeed! :)

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