annieb123
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
The Last Chairlift is a long-lens family saga by John Irving. Released 18th Oct 2022 by Simon & Schuster, it's 912 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in 4th quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
The author is possibly (probably?) the most well known and one of the most well respected authors alive, with a career spanning almost 6 decades. He's an Oscar winning wordsmith and has had a long and illustrious career, winning every possible accolade from his peers. Whilst this is not his best work, it's an amazing, flawed, complex beast.
The plot defies description. The only possible comment is that the book blurb does *not* give a clear overview over the content of the book. Technically, it's unquestionably brilliant, containing everything including the kitchen sink, wrestling, a matryoshka setup with multiple layers of characters and even different formats piggybacking off one another. There's a lot of commentary on sexual politics, power dynamics, society, humans in general, and -unquestionably- very much more which sailed right over my head.
There will definitely be doctoral theses aplenty written about the symbolism in this meaty book. For fans of the author and for readers who are quite adept and erudite with literature analysis, this will be a 5(+) star read. I found it complex and difficult to maintain an interest. It's an ultra-marathon, and throughout much of the read, I felt like a 5k runner poseur.
Four stars (because I couldn't stand to give John Irving a 3.5 star rating).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.