Resumo de The World According To Garp

From his improbable conception in a recovery ward for soldiers to his equally improbable death by angry militant mute, we follow TS Garp through the various stages of his life, including schooling, first love, various sexual encounters both mundane and unconventional,marriage, work, friendships and children.

From the outset, Irving establishes the life of Garp as an interesting, if unusual one. His mother, Jenny Garp, yearns for a child yet despises men. As a nurse in a paediatrics ward, her longings are noticed by the hospital powers that be, and she is moved to the emergency ward for soldiers in order to rid her of such whimsical fancies. This move, however, is the event that enables her to fulfil her desires, as it puts her in contact with a soldier whose service to his country resulted in severe burns, brain damage and a penchant for masturbating at any opportunity. Jenny, who is assigned to minister to him, helps him with his needs and helps herself to his seed, resulting in the birth of TS Garp nine months later.

From this slightly unconventional beginning, Garp continues to live a slightly unconventional life, emerging as a lovable and somewhat quirky character who writes for a living andwrestles, figuratively, with his libido and literally as his sport of choice. His life is populated with equally quirky characters, not least his mother, but also his first love, various prostitutes, a wrestling coach,students, fellow writers, rape victims, transsexualsand political protesters. With these characters, Irving weaves a tapestry of events involving Garp and his circle, touching on a wide range of issues such ascareer, parenting, love, family, death, infidelity, sexuality, betrayal, and friendship. Garp progresses, with his self awareness, tongue in cheek humour and optimismthrough the various stages of his life, along with his mother, wife, children and friends.

Irving's writing leads us through the World According to Garp as if relating an anecdote to us over a coffee, which suits the novel well. The narrative after Garp's eventual death, however,loses its momentum somewhat, meanders a littleand seems more of a postscript than anything else. Though some of the events within Garp's lifeseem quite improbable at times, Irving, for the most part, is enjoyable and able to make the reader believe that this is part and parcelwhen one liveslife.

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