
A Son of the Circus
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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John Irving
About this listen
Once, 20 years ago, Dr. Daruwalla was the examining physician of two murder victims in Goa. Now, 20 years later, he will be reacquainted with the murderer.
©2007 John Irving (P)2007 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Critic reviews
"Ringmaster Irving introduces act after act, until three (or more) rings are awhirl at a lunatic pace....His Bombay and his Indian characters are vibrant and convincing." ( The Wall Street Journal)
"Irving's nimble humor springs from compassionate insights into cultural and sexual confusion and alienation, baffling questions of faith and purpose, and the kind of hope that thrives in even the most jaded atmosphere." ( Booklist)
"His most daring and most vibrant novel.... The story of circus-as-India is told with gusto and delightful irreverence." ( The Washington Post Book World)
Loved it
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I loved the plot of this book. Although it was slow to start, it was definitely worth persevering. It was rather different to the other John Irving books I've read. David Colacci brought this to life really, really well. It was especially notable when Dr Daruwhalla was getting exasperated and angry! A stellar performance and a narrator I shall keep an eye out for on Audible.
The characters in the book are as lifelike as in any novel of Irving's, or indeed anyone else's. Mr Setna (I don't know the spellings, since it was an audiobook, so please forgive me that!) the steward at the Duckworth Club was superb. And how about Patel, the police commissioner!
I particularly enjoyed following Martin Mills and his change from blind faith to doubt. Both he and John D are 39 in the story, which just happens to be the same age as I am, so it was interesting to hear about how Martin was still finding himself. Me too!
The only thing I find annoying about Irving's writing style, and it's evident in all his novels, is his overuse of beginning a sentence with the word 'that'.
'That his something or other was big or small was evidence of his whatever...'. That kind of thing. I just find it overused and ultimately annoying as a result. But that aside, I loved this book!
A sleeper
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Memorable characters
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A good story but it did get a bit long
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While I believe this is not one of the authors favourite works it is strange to see so much of the work from here repeated in a later novel.
Overall I like the novel there are numerous storylines running through the book and most of them are wound up satisfactorily with only one or two left open (who keeps ringing him about the murder of his father) or begging for a bit more detail (raouls time in prison or ganesh's time in the circus).
Great story well told
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Good fun
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An enjoyable book but it went on a bit.
Good narration
A Son of the Circus - OK but a bit long
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The narrator is excellent, adding considerably to the humour and maintaining the pace throughout.
Bombay brilliance
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Dr Daruwalla is the common thread of the narrative and is the only wholly sympathetic character. He is an orthopaedic surgeon of Indian origin based in Toronto who makes trips to India to study achondroplastic dwarfism, about which you will learn quite a bit. There’s a surprising amount of medical detail in the book about this genetic disorder as well as, for example, about sex-change operations and the symptoms of terminal AIDS. The doctor also writes story-lines for an Indian detective series so one learns about Indian cinema as well as circus acts, the transgender Hijra communities, prostitution and the Jesuits! In addition there is a serial killer at large and the doctor gets involved in trying to solve the crime.
As a consequence of all these diverse threads there are not only many characters to keep track of but there are also un-signalled jumps back and forth in time. An ambitious and complex book that gets better in the latter parts.
Not as good or memorable as A Prayer for Owen Meany, but in the end a satisfying listen.
Enjoyable but takes time to make sense
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An entertaining listen. As usual, Irving delivers.
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