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A Son of the Circus
by John Irving (Goodreads Author)
by John Irving (Goodreads Author)
I used to love John Irving, read most of what he wrote (The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Cider House Rules, The Water Method Man, The 158 lb Marriage) until A Widow for One Year and The Fourth Hand, which I hated and quit him over. So I was hesitant about A Son of the Circus, but then ended up falling in total love with it, and all the characters, even the minor ones.
The story is wacky, the main character Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla lives part-time in Canada and part-time in Bombay. He and his brother both married Austrians (sisters). Dr. Daruwalla is an orthopedic surgeon and has three daughters (orthopedics feature predominantly in this book, oddly his own children play next to zero role at all) and a pseudo-son named John D. In addition to practicing medicine, the doctor has a secret occupation, that of screenwriter. The movies are terrible and star John D as Inspector Dhar.
This book made me remember how witty John Irving's dialog is, and his gift for making such entirely preposterous set-ups completely believable. There is serial killing, family drama, cultural values, twins separated at birth, sex changes and tons more (but no wrestling or New England, which seems weird for John Irving). At times I wondered why the doctor's daughters weren't featured in the story, but maybe that was to highlight how tight the bond is between him and John D, who isn't real kin but is loved just as much. Spanning several countries and time-lines and story-lines as this book does, most writers would confuse and overwhelm, but even though it took me several days to finish reading this 633 page book, I knew exactly where I'd left off every time I returned, and immediately got engrossed in it. I love the constant theme of not belonging and feeling foreign, and wondered how a white American could write about those things so perceptively, especially as racism affects those of color - I learned that John Irving lived in Vienna in his youth and has homes in Canada, and the rest I attribute to his being a brilliant author.
The story is wacky, the main character Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla lives part-time in Canada and part-time in Bombay. He and his brother both married Austrians (sisters). Dr. Daruwalla is an orthopedic surgeon and has three daughters (orthopedics feature predominantly in this book, oddly his own children play next to zero role at all) and a pseudo-son named John D. In addition to practicing medicine, the doctor has a secret occupation, that of screenwriter. The movies are terrible and star John D as Inspector Dhar.
This book made me remember how witty John Irving's dialog is, and his gift for making such entirely preposterous set-ups completely believable. There is serial killing, family drama, cultural values, twins separated at birth, sex changes and tons more (but no wrestling or New England, which seems weird for John Irving). At times I wondered why the doctor's daughters weren't featured in the story, but maybe that was to highlight how tight the bond is between him and John D, who isn't real kin but is loved just as much. Spanning several countries and time-lines and story-lines as this book does, most writers would confuse and overwhelm, but even though it took me several days to finish reading this 633 page book, I knew exactly where I'd left off every time I returned, and immediately got engrossed in it. I love the constant theme of not belonging and feeling foreign, and wondered how a white American could write about those things so perceptively, especially as racism affects those of color - I learned that John Irving lived in Vienna in his youth and has homes in Canada, and the rest I attribute to his being a brilliant author.
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