John Irving

:This article is about the author. For the billionaire, see John E. Irving

His stature

Irving's literary stature is a subject of some debate. Advocates consider him the heir to Charles Dickens, a populist who uses eccentric characters and heavy doses of comedy and pathos to gain an audience for his politically liberal social perspectives. Detractors dismiss him as an author of crude sex comedies that exploit melodramatic circumstances to manipulate readers. Both perspectives have credence: Irving's body of work is uneven, and his meandering plots and relatively plain prose style do not compare well with the work of such praised contemporaries as Philip Roth, Richard Ford, Cormac McCarthy, and Joan Didion; Irving, on the other hand, enjoys a wider audience than all of those novelists combined?particularly among younger readers?and is frequently cited by younger literary writers, such as Robert Clark Young, as a major influence. Arguments about Irving's merit tend to reflect the division between those who see literature's primary value as aesthetic and those who believe that for a work to be great it must influence culture writ large. Regardless of the differing opinions on the critical merit of his work, Irving is guaranteed to be one of the few American novelists of his era who will be read and discussed for many years to come.

Related Topics:
Charles Dickens - Philip Roth - Richard Ford - Cormac McCarthy - Joan Didion - Robert Clark Young

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