Tag: fiction

Queen Esther by John Irving

On By Rick McIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

John Irving was once one of my favourite authors.

I found him very philosophical. And very precise in plot and prose.

Five of his novels have been fully or partially adapted into the films The World According to Garp (1982), The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), Simon Birch (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999), and The Door in the Floor (2004).

At some point I lost interest. He hasn’t written all that many books.

I couldn’t get through 2022’s The Last Chairlift.

And I only made it through about 1/3 of Queen Esther.

I’d agree with this Guardian review:

The once-great author revisits St Cloud’s orphanage all too briefly, in a novel that begins with an adopted girl but wanders all over the place.

… So we approach a new Irving with caution but still a small flame of hope, which burns hotter when we learn that Queen Esther – a mere 432 pages – “returns to the world of The Cider House Rules”. That 1985 novel is one of Irving’s very best, set largely in an orphanage in St Cloud’s, Maine, run by Dr Wilbur Larch and his protege Homer Wells. …

Queen Esther by John Irving review – a disappointing companion to The Cider House Rules

Viennese-born Jew orphan, Esther Nacht, is another great fictional character, however. She could have made the book worth reading. But I couldn’t get into her story.

Queen Esther published November 2025.

Irving has homes in Toronto and Pointe au Baril, Ontario.  On December 13, 2019, Irving became a Canadian citizen. He has said he plans to keep his U.S. citizenship, reserving the right to be outspoken about the United States and his dislike of Donald Trump.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, happiness, health & fitnessLeave a comment

I’d quit 3 of the last 4 new novels focused on a dysfunctional woman complaining about her life.

Too depressing.

YET quite enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, the debut novel by Gail Honeyman. (2017)

I laughed out loud many times. A bit of a black comedy.

Eleanor Oliphant, our heroine, is a disaster. Anti-social. Disconnected from society and culture. A functioning alcoholic. Potentially suicidal. Perhaps slightly autistic.

Her only previous relationship was abusive — ex-husband putting her in the hospital multiple times.

Somehow … you can’t help but cheer for Eleanor.

She lives in Glasgow, Scotland, and works as a finance clerk for a graphic design company.

The novel deals with themes of isolation and loneliness, and depicts Eleanor’s transformational journey towards a fuller understanding of self and life.

It’s modern. Exploring loneliness in an internet age, the vulnerability of being uncoupled in a culture that prizes relationships.

The character I liked best in this book is Raymond Gibbons, an I.T. help desk co-worker who awkwardly tries to help Eleanor.

Uniquely, the most important relationship in this novel is friendship.

Name another hit novel without some kind of romance central to the plot.

Jenny Colgan, reviewing for The Guardian, described the novel as “a narrative full of quiet warmth and deep and unspoken sadness” with a “wonderful, joyful” ultimate message. …

Sarah Gilmartin of The Irish Times called the title character “one of the most unusual and thought-provoking heroines of recent contemporary fiction”. …

Hum by Helen Phillips

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

I only got about 40% through this book.

GREAT plot. But the dysfunctional family was simply too depressing for me.

Hum (2024) is Helen Phillips 6th book.

It’s a dystopian novel set in the near future.

The air is polluted. World has heated up, requiring more air conditioning. Water supply questionable.

People spend a lot of time in ‘wooms’, something like a climate controlled capsule.

 “hums” – humanoid robots – are increasingly taking the jobs of humans.

Mary is out of work — and hears of an opportunity to earn several months’ salary by receiving an experimental facial injection, and takes it. The injection will render May’s face unrecognisable to the ubiquitous hums. She’s a guinea pig for a form of adversarial AI.

What could go wrong?