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Title: The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving ISBN: 0-345-36743-X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.72 (18 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Irving¿s darkest creation
Comment: In The 158-Pound Marriage the narrator, a writer of unsuccessful historical novels, recounts the story of his ménage à trois. When on holiday in Vienna, he falls in love with Utch (short for Utchka, which is Russian for calf). Not much later they are married and get two children. Their relationship seems free from problems until by some magical coincidence they meet Edith and Severin Winter. Without much ado both couples dive into an unknown adventure when they decide to try switching partner for one evening. At first this positively influences their marriages, but then the truth enters the scene as a fifth player. Suddenly trust seeps away and leaves them all alone with their bizarre foursome.
The 158-Pound Marriage is surely a black and ruthless book. And that is exactly what you would never expect from the author of The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Admittedly the novel starts with a crazy scene that only John Irving can dream up, but after the main characters are introduced the spirit of the story turns dark and moody. Irving keeps the irony alive, but gets hooked into the conflict between the two couples. Even the predominant playfulness between the sheets cannot lighten up the story. It drags the reader through a maze of moral questions and dilemma's.
The story is brilliantly written and again proof that John Irving is one of the greatest authors of our time. Personally I like the cheery and witty tone of his later novels (Marriage was his third novel) much more. This does not mean that they are not as deep and wicked as The 158-Pound Marriage, at the contrary, but they surely have less difficulties in keeping my attention focussed on the story.
Rating: 4
Summary: Vintage Irving
Comment: 158 Pound Marriage is classic Irving. It runs similar to Garp, but with a darker twist. I tried some of Irving's more recent material and found it bogged down in detail, lost, and missing the biting style of his earlier works. I found 158 Pound Marriage in a book store (chain) and decided to try it. I thought, since it wasn't one that I had heard of, that it might not be worth the effort. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the Irving style and confidence I had such pleasure reading in Garp and Cider House. If you are on the fence about Irving, you should probably pass on this one, but for those die-hard fans, check it out!
Rating: 2
Summary: The End
Comment: It took over 18 months, but I finally got around to reading all of Irving's novels. In retrospect it would have made more sense to start with the first one (Setting Free the Bears) and move to the last one (The Fourth Hand), but it didn't work out that way. Maybe I'll have to do that someday.
Anyway, given that this was the last one I read, my perception of "158-Pound Marriage" suffers a little because I know that Irving went on to write much better books like "The Cider House Rules" (still my favorite), "World According to Garp", and "A Son of the Circus". I think if I had read Irving's books from first to last, I might have been discouraged from reading the later, better works.
For a book featuring a menege a quatre (or however it's spelled), "158-Pound Marriage" did not come off as especially erotic or exciting to me. If your idea of eroticism is making love on a wrestling mat, then I guess you could call it erotic, but I didn't find it especially alluring. Of the four parties, Utch (the narrator's wife) is the only one close to sympathetic and is the one hurt the most by the failed four-way relationship, while the others come off as selfish, ironic jerks, especially the unnamed narrator.
Since the story begins at an almost arbitrary place, it was hard for me to figure out why these two couples decided to become involved. I would think something like that--considered so taboo in society--would require a lot of thought, but they just seem to launch into it with little care. I never understood why Irving gave the couples each two children, because the kids are invisible for most of the story and that grown-ups would do this sort of thing with children around (sometimes while the kids are sleeping in the same house) is reprehensible and serves to make the adults even less sympathetic than they already are.
The relationship begins almost arbitrarily and so too does it end almost arbitrarily. One day Severin and his wife simply decide to pull the plug and that's that. There was a little bit about how Severin and his wife were growing apart and all that, but it seems to me that once you've committed yourself to such a love quadrangle, there would have to be some sort of impetus to make you stop and go cold turkey. It's not like I have any experience with it, though, so what do I know? ;-)
Anyway, one thing I have really grown tired of since reading all of Irvng's novels is Vienna. I've never been to the place or even seen much of it, but the place just annoys me because it's featured in the first 5 of Irving's books. (Setting Free the Bears through Hotel New Hampshire) By the time I got around to this book, it had really become tedious. So too did all the talk about wrestling, which becomes even more tiresome in Irving's memoirs. I'm glad the author finally grew out of the need to work it into EVERY novel.
Everyone who's read Irving's work has their favorites. Mine remains "The Cider House Rules", while my least favorite is "Fourth Hand". I would place "158-Pound Marriage" at about second-to-least favorite. I wouldn't recommend this novel, simply because the author has much better ones available. But if you're collecting the whole set, like me, then you'll want to read it just to say you did.
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Title: The Water-Method Man by John Irving ISBN: 0345367421 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Setting Free the Bears by John Irving ISBN: 0345367413 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving ISBN: 034540047X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Son of the Circus by John Irving ISBN: 0345389964 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Imaginary Girlfriend (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by John Irving ISBN: 0345458265 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 26 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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