Queen Esther by John Irving B+ I kinda wish I hadn’t reread The Cider House Rules (a few characters show up, Esther is adopted from the Dr. Larch’s orphanage before the events of Cider House Rules), as that one was so good, which made this one feel…unneeded. And it’s not even Esther’s story. It’s her son’s story, so false advertising with the name…John Irving is such a fantastic writer, and I sorta wish this one hadn’t been written as The Last Chairlift was so much better (he said The Last Chairlift would be his final long novel. This one is 400 pages compared to Chairlift’s 900ish.)
That's the second (and last) book I read in January! I think you're being a little generous with that B+...like you, I thought it was kind of unneeded. And I was actively irritated that we had an interesting titular character who winds up being on the periphery of the story. I would've been more charitable if the book was titled Queen Esther's Son. Also, I thought the book needed more of a story, especially since it was over 400 pages (I believe it was 408?). I kept waiting for something to happen and instead, I got hints of activity and then a lot of repetition. I felt Irving leaned too hard, and too long, into Jimmy losing his virginity in order to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War; in fact, the majority of the book seemed to be set during Jimmy's year studying abroad in Vienna. Which would've been fine...if the book had been called Queen Esther's Son. Also, I got *really* tired of certain repetitive phrases, especially poor Hard Rain (possibly my favorite character in the book) "💩-ing her brains out in the bathtub". I think that was supposed to be a bit of comic relief in a book that touched on some pretty heavy topics, but it didn't work for me at all. I'm thinking B-, maybe a C+. I was expecting better from Irving.
