The World According to Garp

The second (first being UIFY) Irving novel to grace this reader's eyes was his 3rd and vaulted him into the "everyone-shall-henceforth-read-the-crap-out-of-your-books-from-now-on" status. The story spans a time frame of about 45 years and includes the main character's entire life, most of his mother's, and just the tip of his father's. Just the tip?

The best of the book was written when Garp was amok with energy; his passion for writing, running, cooking, taking care of his two boys, and trying not to be sexually involved with too many baby sitters or son's friend's mothers. Then people start dying left and right and Garp (the character) has less energy, and is less amok... less entertaining. 

I'd wager Irving pours a lot of himself into his books, or the two I have read, therefore tending to rewrite similar themes. This book was a sort of manifest destiny in its day, I presume, for it was written almost mocking feminism in that the feminists embraced an unintentional feminist book in the story - I'm guessing it has a feminist aura about it now, too. Before reading the book I heard it described in one word as a book about "feminism". I got the same sort of feeling  finishing UIFY where the main character's life was "the" story told to his therapist revealed in the last 100 pages or so of the 800(+?) page book.

It seems like Irving has these sort of planned out conclusions ready before starting his books. His stories are thrilling enough for fiction, its the way he spans his stories to his "manifested destinies" that make it Literature.