Until I Find You

1034 pages later, I've finally reached the end. It only took about 2,5 years to get there but this time I'm glad I persisted, adamantly trying and trying and yes I did finish the book. The book being "Until I Find You" by one of my favourite writers John Irving.

Some books you just have to get through, even if they're not the best, the greatest, the most brilliant from beginning to end piece of literature you've ever read. The reason for me adamantly sticking to it - despite the IMHO rather long winding story - was simply the fact that I had to read it for my love of writing. Yes, as simple (or not) as that, I read and I'm inspired, I read and I learn, I read and I get tips and hints on how to (or not to.)

As usual, Irving is a master stylist, I love his great care of details and his silly little divagations, his, his professed love for semicolons - bless him for that on behalf of a world with too little semicolons! -, I rather dig his overuse of "notwithstanding", the way he turn quite disturbing moments and happenings into humour - survival instinct - and in this epic story about a stolen childhood gave me both the occasional laugh out louds, giggles, shudders of embarrassment and tears. It was just all the times and sentences in between that never really captured me completely. Hence the more than two years of slightly bad conscience for not feeling that want to finish reading-urge for this book.

Most of my favourite books are written in first person singular - that's such a simple yet powerful way to get the reader absorbed - and in the case of this book Irving actually did write it like that to begin with. Until he was cautioned that that would somehow make the readers think of the book too much as a complete autobiography and that the story would benefit from standing on its third person singular legs. Apparently it was a lot of work to change from first to third - and alas I think it was a mistake.

But yes, I'm proud to say - again - I did finish the whole book, every page of it, yes I did and I very much enjoyed the milieu descriptions, the characters - major and minor -, the travelling all over the world, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Zurich, Toronto and more. The tattoo artists in every port, the organ players - the constant obsession about wrestling, not so much - and most of all, I do so love it when Americans actually take their time and effort to write and spell "strange" names and words correctly. Ah, there's just too much silliness of the other kind going on in movies, TV, books, magazines, blogs, online...

Would I recommend the book? Well no, not unless you're interested in reading over thousand pages just for the love of someone's mastery way of writing, because interesting enough the story in itself never really quite moved me (perhaps you've guessed that already.) For those two ingredients in solid good company I suggest you read some of his other work, like "Hotel New Hampshire", "A Widow for One Year", "The World According to Garp", "The Cider House Rules"...