Last Night in Twisted River

A Novel

By: John Irving

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable’s girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County–to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto–pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them.

In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River–John Irving’s twelfth novel–depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” From the novel’s taut opening sentence–“The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long”–to its elegiac final chapter, Last Night in Twisted River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.

What further distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is the author’s unmistakable voice–the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: “We don’t always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly–as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth–the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives.”

©2009 John Irving (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Absolutely unmissable . . . [A] big-hearted, brilliantly written and superbly realized intergenerational tale of a father and son.”—Financial Times

“Engrossing . . . Irving’s sentences and paragraphs are assembled with the skill and attention to detail of a master craftsman creating a dazzling piece of jewelry from hundreds of tiny, bright stones.”—Houston Chronicle

“There’s plenty of evidence in Irving’s agility as a writer in Last Night in Twisted River. . . . some of the comic moments are among the most memorable that Irving has written.”—New York Times

It worked for me...

Yes, the underlying plot line was completely ludicrous. Given the facts of events that occurred that fateful night in Twisted River there was no reason for folks to leave town. But I got beyond that and accepted the premise.

Yes, there was a repeat of the much earlier John Irving "sex in the car" scenario, but I forgave this duplication.

I even disregarded the author's political views being forced on both the characters and the listener.

And once I got beyond all that, I though the book was great, and I highly recommend it. Not Irving's best in my opinion, but a recommended read. But then again, I think "Until I Find You" is one of Irving's best but Audible listeners seem to think otherwise.

And despite what seems to be unanimous dislike for the narrator, I thought he did a great job!

Classic Irving

If you are a fan of John Irving you will not be disappointed.

Irving at his Near Best

Only Cider House Rules and Owen Meany rate higher on my Irving index. The plot line is in many ways fantastical, but holds together with Irving's strong control of irony and fate in our daily lives.
I also believe that Ketchum is his best character, and is so vividly drawn, and so well represented audibly, that he alone is worth the price of admission.
Sometimes angels truly do fall into our lives.

Great Story Line

I enjoyed this book, even though the characters are exaggerated. The story is a good solid story. The author does a nice job, and makes me look forward to reading more of his books. It seems like he leaves a part of himself in this book. I recommend you give it a try.

Always an interesting read

great character study on a twisting, bumpy mountain road of life. Drama and humor around every bend.

Irving's Greatest Hits

The narrator is in fine voice and has good, believable and fitting voices for each of the characters. I'd happily listen to him narrate more books. The content of the book is classic John Irving, except this time it feels like a classic Irving who is self aware and having a good wink and nod with the reader. There are blatant and repeated references to his own works, especially Prayer for Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules, Widow for One Year, basically everything. There are nods to people wondering about the intersection between fiction & autobiography in his work. If you're familiar with Irving's work, Last Night in Twisted River is especially fun. If you're not, it's still a good read - it spans about 60 years, there is a looming sense of doom behind every comedic or poignant moment, lovely locations, food, writerly talk that doesn't get too pretentious, death, sex, & love. I worry about the day John Irving stops writing.

Excellent

Any additional comments?

I've read/listened to many John Irving books. The craftsmanship he demonstrates in exposing himself and his craft is really mind-blowing. Like a lot of Irving's books, if you focus on the plot you're missing the point of the book. The plot(s) here are secondary. This book is about generations, love, country, family, friendship, hope, hopelessness, and novel writing. Because I've been through almost all of Irving's oevre, I was able to identify his self-referential musings which dimensionalized the novel all the more.

Not worth 2 credits.

I'm a big fan of Irving, but I've listened to the entire book and I find myself not caring about any of the characters.

Disappointed

I was so thrilled that Irving had written a new book, I saved up my audible credits to purchase it. Then it took me months to get through what has to be one of his most insipid works to date.

I could not feel any empathy for the characters, which is normally what I enjoy about Irving's novels. The more the contrived story went on, the more I wanted it to end. To me, the characters were cartoons set against a completely unrealistic storyline. It was disappointing, to say the least, especially since Irving is a master of bizarre characters set in even more bizarre circumstances. What I have always loved about Irving's characters, is that they had at least three dimensions, and despite the whirlwind of circumstances that defied reality, they were people that could be related to.

Perhaps these characters seemed one dimensional to me because they had no basis in the author's perspective, or perhaps I have simply grown tired of the artifice. Either way, it took a strong act of will just to finish this book, and the ending was as predictable as I was afraid of.

lackluster

John Irving is a great writer but this audio book doesn't do his writing justice