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Title: A Son of the Circus (Bookcassette(r) Edition) by John Irving, David Colacci ISBN: 1-56100-575-4 Publisher: Bookcassette Sales Pub. Date: September, 1994 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 9 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.74 (80 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Circus dwarfs and transsexual murderers - Vintage Irving
Comment: A Son of the Circus is certainly John Irving's most ambitious novel to date, if not his finest. Irving fans who adore the eccentric characters and bizarre, over-the-top plot twists that Irving is known for will find much to enjoy in this novel. Rest assured, there are enough prostitutes, transvestites, transsexuals, midgets, and instances of mistaken identity and sexual confusion to keep die-hard Irving fans entertained for hours. While this book rates behind Garp, Owen Meany, and others on the long list of Irving's works, it is a pleasurable read and surprisingly quick for its 682 pages.
As with any Irving novel, an attempt to summarize the plot in a few short words, or even paragraphs, would fail miserably. Once again, Irving has chosen a colorful locale as the backdrop for his zany cast of characters - this time, it's in Bombay, India. There we meet Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla, an Indian who has lived most of his life in Canada but returns periodically to his place of birth. Daruwalla is an orthopedic surgeon by day and closet screenwriter by night. He is also a life-long fan of the circus, of which there are many in India. His cast of friends includes several circus performing dwarfs, the perpetual star of Daruwalla's detective movies (who always seems to be slightly in character), the movie star's long-lost twin brother, who is in training as a Jesuit priest, and the local police detective investigating a series of murders at the posh country club. With a group like this, and the inevitable intrigue and suspense of an upper-crust murder mystery, the action and the comedy are in abundance.
And yes, there is the slightly sentimental element that Irving has such a gift for. Daruwalla is a man who feels he has no home. As his father once told him, an immigrant is always an immigrant. He worries he will never be fully accepted in Canada, and will never truly be able to consider himself an Indian. His story is as much a comedic jaunt through India as it is a story about a man in search of his inner identity. And as always, Irving blends these themes with grace and tenderness.
Rating: 4
Summary: Double lives
Comment: I try to cut authors some slack wherever possible, so I'm giving A SON OF THE CIRCUS four stars rather than three, but it's really more like three and a half. John Irving seems irresistably drawn to transsexuals, yet his portrayals of them continue to be some of the silliest and least convincing I've read. I'm not looking for political correctness, but I do appreciate characters I can believe in. Fortunately, A SON OF THE CIRCUS does have some. The protagonist, Dr. Daruwalla, is well-drawn and likeable. His informally-adopted movie star "son," John D. (a.k.a. Inspector Dhar), is intriguing. Nancy, a displaced American married to a Bombay policeman, is heartbreaking.
Among other things, this is a book about twins, and Irving uses "twinning" in interesting ways throughout the story: several characters are referred to by more than one name; the real crippled boy Ganesh is mirrored by a similar character in Dr. Daruwalla's screenplay. Dr. Daruwalla himself lives not one but two double lives -- as a respectable orthopedic surgeon and a writer of trashy cop movies; as an immigrant in Toronto and a not-quite-Indian in Bombay.
This novel disturbed me and I have found myself thinking about it quite a bit in the few days since I finished it. If you're the sort of reader who believes these are good things, you may well enjoy it too.
Rating: 4
Summary: Wonderful Characters
Comment: Wonderful character though some perverted and slimy. It was very well written. The story was good not great. I enjoyed the authors character a lot.
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Title: The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving ISBN: 034536743X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 14 July, 1990 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Water-Method Man by John Irving ISBN: 0345367421 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 13 June, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Widow for One Year by John Irving ISBN: 0345424719 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 23 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving ISBN: 034540047X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 30 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Setting Free the Bears by John Irving ISBN: 0345367413 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 30 May, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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