Negative Positive
Title: IRVING LITE
Review: I consider John Irving my favorite author of fiction. I always look forward to each new novel. Having read all of his previous works, I have to say that this is definitely not up to his HIGH standards. The characters were not fully developed, nor did his writing entrance my imagination. I was not moved by, nor did I have any strong feelings for, any of the characters. To me the writing was like an outline for a movie (I understand that there is already a movie in the works). This might be one of those rare casees where the movie is better that the novel. If you are looking for a great novel, read "Empire Falls" or any of John Irving's previous books, but not "The Fourth Hand." Hopefully this new novel is one small bump in the road for Mr. Irving and he will return to his high standards with his next effort.
Is the review positive or negative? 