home

__ Until I Find You By: John Irving __ Author Background: John Irving published his first novel at twenty-six. He was born March 2, 1942. He has received many awards for his previous books (__The World According to Garp__, __The Cider House Rules__, and __A Prayer for Owen Meany__). He sets many of his books in the setting of New Hampshire and Canada, and many of his books follow the same themes and have similar aspects. He has married several times and has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Irving has homes in Vermont, Toronto, and Pointe au Baril with his current wife, Janet Turnbull. (From the book) Literary Period/Country: Published in 2005, this book is pretty current and has issues that are relative to today’s society. Irving uses his personal past experiences with writing his books. Certain parts that occur in this book (missing/absent parents, drugs, tattoos, prostitution, lesbianism, film-making, and sexual themes) are aspects that are fairly common in today’s world. By tying these themes into his novels his readers are able to relate to his books and become aware of certain lifestyles that may not be common to everyone. Setting: Set in various places of Canada, New England, and the North Sea ports of Europe, as well as Hollywood. The first half is dedicated to Jack’s childhood with his mother searching for his father and him attending an all girl’s school (just recently adding a few boys to their student body) “it was the time of the hippies…they witnessed anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.” (Page 94) The second half is primarily about him on his way to Hollywood to become an actor. The book takes place around the 1970’s and 1980’s. Characters: ·  Jack Burns- main character, introduced to sex at a young age, became an actor for Hollywood ·  Alice Burns- “Daughter Alice,” Jack’s mom, tattooist ·  William Burns- Jacks runaway dad, plays the organ, addicted to getting gospel music tattooed to his body ·  Emma- Jack’s first friend at school, tries to get him to become “mature” too early, criticized by her mom for being too imperfect ·  Leslie Oastler- Emma’s mom, she becomes Alice’s lover. She also contributes to Jack’s early sexual development ·  Mrs. Machado- an older Asian woman whom Jack wrestles with in his early years. She forces sex onto Jack without him fully comprehending what was going on ·   Mrs. McQuat- “The Grey Ghost,” a teacher at Jack’s school, notorious for appearing out of nowhere, becomes a great help for Jack ·  Mrs. Wurtz- another one of Jack’s teachers who is extremely apologetic and rewrites the plays into what she wants them to be about ·  Claudia- Jack’s one fling who makes him forget about Mrs. McQuat ·  There are also various tattoo artists, church workers, prostitutes, and students that help Jack along his progression Themes: ·  Older Women and Temptation- Older women come and go throughout Jack’s life and the part of him that is like his father cannot help but be attracted to them. This theme throughout the story has Jack grow up a lot faster than what a normal boy would have and allowed for the next theme of acting to take affect. ·  Acting- Throughout the story he is not only acting in plays but also acting in his own life. After his sexual encounter with Mrs. Machado and how he and Emma are treated by their parents, he begins to lie his way through certain situations. This shows that sometimes to find who you really are you sometimes have to be someone you are not. ·  Sex and Puberty- This is common throughout the story because from when he is five years old Emma is persuading his penis to do things it is not ready for. Jack also has sexual encounters at a very young age which was similar to his father. Having this relation he is also able to find himself. Plot Summary: The book opens with Irving stating that “Jack Burns was an actor before he was an actor” and he is reviled as very innocent by being “compelled to hold his mother’s hand” during certain moments of his life. Jack’s mother, Alice is a tattoo artist from Toronto. They travel to some North Sea ports when Jack is four, trying to find his father. Jack’s father was an organist who has a very risky reputation with young church girls. His father, William, is also addicted to tattoos (especially of organ sheet music) which is why Alice is compelled to search every tattoo parlor in the North Sea ports. Jack attends school in Canada and New England. From a very young age Jack was subjected to sex and older women, which is a bad combination for him. Emma, a few years older than Jack, tries to prepare him for the puberty that is a few long years away. This leads to him being exposed to certain things that one his age should not have been. She encourages him to have wet dreams and dwell on his fantasies with certain older women that his “little guy” is attracted to. Emma’s mother is Jack’s mother’s lover which opens up many…slightly awkward situations to his life. His is introduced to sex early on with an incident with Mrs. Machado, his nightly nanny and wrestling partner. Jack was a good actor in his first school but plays unusual roles do to his size. He usually plays the leading lady roles in the plays and has wonderful memorization and improvisational skills work well for him in his home life when he begins to rebel against his mother. Jack travels to Hollywood to become an actor. On that road he discovers the truth behind certain things that his younger self thought that he understood. Literary Devices: ·  Rhetorical Questions: o  Page 89, “Did his pace never slow? Was there ever a woman who made him stop walking? Did the fire and brimstone only leave his eyes when Bril was asleep, or did Hell burn even more brightly in his dreams?” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 104, “If William knew what his son looked like, as Femke had said, how many times might Jack have seen him and not known who he was? But how could he //not// have recognized William Burns? Not that William would have been so bold as to take off his shirt and show Jack the music inscribed on his skin, but wouldn’t there have been something familiar about his father?” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 222, “…the strain of the moment, or something hemorrhoidal, or a stab wound inflicted by one of the older girls backstage? Wasn’t the blood, and his reaction to it, his best witness?” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 241, “How could he go from being //not old enough// to being //too old// in such a hurry?” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">·  Foreshadowing: <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 44, “It was unfortunate that Jack’s mother didn’t let him take a close look at the finished tattoo, for had the boy seen what Lindberg meant by a //personalized// version of Alice’s Rose of Jericho, he might have realized that there were other things that were not as they seemed.” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 55, “…and there was that over familiar sound of the camera shutter again-when Jack was holding his mother’s hand in front of the Domkirke. Someone took their picture as they were about to return to the Bristol. <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 75, “Years later, when a naked woman played the cello for Jack, he would remember Hannele…” The line “Years later…” is used a lot throughout the story to contribute to foreshadowing. <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 104, “From that day forth, he’d tried to imagine his father stealing a look at him.” The camera from page 55? <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 129, “Forgetting Emma of her name would be impossible. Even the pain she caused him seemed natural—as if Jack had been born to serve her, or she’d been born to lead him.” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 180, “The discovery, that same week, of Gordon’s dead hamster in the chalk box should have forewarned Jack. Talk about an ill omen!” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">·  Imagery <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 67, “...but without the golden glow of Ingrid Moe’s skin, Oslo seemed plunged in an eternal darkness.” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Changed Nativity Scene: Page 87, “The Red Lion was a hotel favored by sales reps. A previous guest had left a sizeable amount of marijuana in one of Jack’s bureau drawers. Jack…used it to replace the bedraggled hay in a crèche his mom had given him at Christmastime…Thus Jack’s Little Lord Jesus lay in a bed of pot, and Mary and Joseph and various Kings and shepherds…were knee deep in hemp.” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 96, “God’s holy noise pursued them past the police station…It was a sound both huge and holy. It compelled even prostitutes, who are disinclined to do anything without being paid, to give themselves over to it absolutely—to just //listen//.” <span style="color: #d99594; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themetint: 153; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore; msothemecolor: accent2; msothemetint: 153;">o  Page 109, “Nico Oudejans, his eyes were a robin’s-egg blue, and high on one cheekbone he had a small scar shaped like the letter //L//.” Personal Response: John Irving has become an author that I would read a lot more of. Although his books follow similar paths he is amazing at making them all uniquely different. It is such a good read with some awkward parts but the actually story line is wonderful. The book was a little confusing at first with all the traveling but the reader learns so much about tattooing, boxing, and the other side of prostitution. I never thought I would say that I enjoyed a book about prostitution but this book changes it. At times it was hard to not compare this book to __A Prayer for Owen Meany__ but I believe that by reading that first it prepares you for Irving’s style. His awkwardness is used in a way that creates a very beautiful storyline; it also makes it hard to put the book down. His foreshadowing is fun to encounter and it always ends up being accurate. I would recommend this to who ever enjoyed __A Prayer for Owen Meany__ and who is not afraid of a few awkward situations.