A Widow for One Year by John Irving - 1024 Words

A Widow for One Year by John Irving is comical as well as disturbing, a love story with intense emotional force. It is a brilliant novel about the passage of time, the persistence of grief, and the loss of innocence that occurs over time, which is why it would be a great fit for the American Literature curriculum. The Cole family stands out as a paradigm of dysfunction. Ted and Marian Cole, Ruth’s parents, never recovered from the deaths of their two sons, Timothy and Thomas, leaving them weary and broken. Their instability laid the groundwork for a life full of infidelity and a dysfunctional family situation. The novel is set in the mid to late 20th-century. It is full of bizarre coincidences, multiple plot lines, lengthy deviations, and stories within stories, quite like A Visit from the Goon Squad. Although it is set up in chronological order, the reader is exposed to various stories from three set periods in the life of the main character, Ruth Cole. The story begins in childhood and ends in womanhood, taking us through the transitions of Ruth’s life. The novel begins in the summer of 1958, on Long Island when Ruth is only four years old. In the first line of the novel, Ruth has a piece of her innocence stripped from her when she walks in to find her mother in bed with her lover. The narrative states that â€Å"There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep† (151). Although she has seen what no child should see at her age, she is stillShow MoreRelatedPoe s A Hard Nut For Criticism1561 Words   |  7 PagesIt is a pleasant task to estima te Irving or Bryant, but Poe offers a hard nut for criticism to crack. The historian is baffled by an author who secretes himself in the shadow, or perplexed by conflicting biographies, or put on the defensive by the fact that any positive judgment or opinion of Poe will almost certainly be challenged. At the outset, therefore, we are to assume that Poe is one of the most debatable figures in our literature. His life may be summed up as a pitiful struggle for a littleRead MoreThe Life and Lasting Influence of Bessie Smith:1735 Words   |  7 PagesShe was also one of the greatest Blues singers of the 1920s. The road that took her to the title â€Å"Empress of the Blues† was not an easy one. It was certainly not one of the romantic rags to riches tales that Horatio Alger made popular during her time. For a young black woman from the South the journey was anything but easy, and it would require a special kind of person, and Bessie Smith was definitely that. She was a woman who fought for what she believed in and backed down to no one. She had a boundlessRead MoreThe Molly Maguires Essay2074 Words   |  9 Pagespotatoes. In the 1840s, the potato crop was ruined by blight, and the Irish died of starvation by the thousands. Those who could came to the United States. During the 1820s, only fifty-two thousand Irish had come to the United States, but in the nine years from 1846 to 1854, 1.2 million Irish left their homeland and sought a better life in America. The Irish, who were mostly Catholic, came to a country that was overwhelmingly Protestant. The result was a head-on collision. The Irish experienced discriminationRead MoreEssay Edgar Allan Poe3220 Words   |  13 PagesAllan Poe The boundaries which divide Life and Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and where the other begins? Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial (Bartlett, 642). To venture into the world of Edgar Allan Poe is to embark on a journey to a land filled with perversities of the mind, soul, and body. The joyless existence carved out by his writings is one of lost love, mental anguish, and the premature withering of his subjects. Poe wrote in a style that characterizedRead More Biography of Edgar Allan Poe Essay11890 Words   |  48 Pagesengagement in a Boston theatre, and the appearances of both, together with their sojourns in various places during their wandering careers, are to be plainly traced in the play bills of the time. Paternal Ancestry The father of the poet was one David Poe of Baltimore, Maryland, who had left the study of the law in that city to take up a stage career contrary to the desire of his family. The Poes had settled in America some two or three generations prior to the birth of Edgar. Their line isRead MoreJames Madison and the Slavery Issue Essay2515 Words   |  11 Pages The Revolutionary period of the United States was a time filled with much turmoil and confusion as to how this newly found nation, should be modeled. Many delicate issues were discussed and planned out to get the best outcome for all concerned. One of these issues that cast an ominous shadow over the new republic was the slavery issue. Some of the most prominent figures at the head of this nation wanted to bring about an end to it but continuously failed due to the inconvenience of finding aRead MoreThe Studio System Essay14396 Words   |  58 PagesThe Studio System Key point about the studio system could be: Despite being one of the biggest industries in the United States, indeed the World, the internal workings of the dream factory that is Hollywood is little understood outside the business. The Hollywood Studio System: A History is the first book to describe and analyse the complete development, classic operation, and reinvention of the global corporate entities which produce and distribute most ofRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work