Darcy Lewis' Favorite Fiction

I read this book after returning from a trip to New Orleans many years ago.

The author so captures the essence of this unique and lovely city.

I found myself laughing out loud as I sat reading alone.

One to reread again and again.

This book was one of the most touching love stories I have ever read. You're swallowed, tossed around through time, and continually mindful of the impossibility and paradox of their love, but you hope for the best. Make sure you have a big box of tissues for this one, it will leave you in both smiles and tears.

I actually disliked the parents in this book...or did I? Their actions in any other child's life might not have been so detrimental, but they turned their son Christopher's world upside down. And yet, they were human, too, and are entitled to some leeway simply for living with him. Then again, perhaps they were obligated to be a bit better than the average parents.

For many years, when asked, I would say that "...Garp" was my favorite book. Why? The storytelling. The characters and character development. The use of words. Maybe I just love John Irving.

One memory from the book still comes into conversation many years after I read the book, especially when I go to the beach with my kids: "The Under Toad"

From "...Garp":

"It was Walt's fourth summer at Dog's Head Harbor, Duncan remembered, when Garp and Helen and Duncan observed Walt watching the sea. He stood ankle-deep in the foam from the surf and peered into the waves, without taking a step, for the longest time. The family went down to the water's edge to have a word with him.

"What are you doing, Walt?" Helen asked.

"I'm trying to see the Under Toad." Walt said

"The what?" said Garp.

"The Under Toad," Walt said. "I'm trying to see it. How big is it?"

And Garp and Helen and Duncan held their breath; they realized that all these years Walt had been dreading a giant toad, lurking offshore, waiting to suck him under and drag him out to sea. The terrible Under Toad."