I love getting lost in a big book, but 450 pages of this 900 page novel seem to be an extraneous stream of consciousness, verging on nonsense.
The story is a sort of coming of age memoir, narrated by Adam, the son of a ski instructor, who left him in the care of his grandmother for 6 months during the winter ski season.
The characters are quirky and memorable in their own way, but Irving appears to belittle most of them by calling them derogatory names, especially the grandfather with dementia - why?
I don't understand the point, if any, he is trying to make with all Adam's girlfriends having some sort of physical ailment. In fact, all of the character's sexual proclivities seem exaggerated. Is he making fun of them?
I get the social commentary, but I thought it was more mean than funny.
This book was just too long and meandering for me - and I think the characters deserved better.

John Irving fan here; Owen Meany might be one of my favorite characters ever.

That said, in the past I have devoured every John Irving novel I picked up, NOT this time. A long meandering read going nowhere. The themes, the writing, everything was John Irving but it just did not work for me. I feel so guilty writing this, like I am maligning an old friend but I honestly felt cheated as my expectations were high. I suspect this may be Mr. Irving's last book but I will hold out hope that it is not and I will once again be enchanted.

How can I even review what was my most anticipated novel of 2022, and one of my most anticipated novels of the last half-decade or so? Truthfully, I can’t, at least not well enough to do this tome (912 pages!!) justice. All I can say is, John Irving is BACK.

<i>The Last Chairlift</i> is rambly. It’s unwieldy. It’s, frankly, a mess, and newcomers to Irving should steer far away. But present is his magic, from the beginning to the end: 80 or so years in the life of our first-person narrator, Adam, and all the wonderfully quirky and odd people in his life. This is an Irving novel, and familiar territory is once again explored: missing fathers, strange sexual inclinations, a boarding school in New Hampshire, politics, commentary on Vietnam, wrestling. It’s all present, and the reason I’ll read these things as covered by Irving again and again is, these topics obviously mean a lot to the author as he has spent the last 40 years covering them—with grace, with a deft touch.

A couple things do set this novel apart from others in Irving’s oeuvre: our main character is a novelist and screenwriter, and a solid chunk of this story is told by way of a screenplay. It’s the only way those parts of the story would work, as Irving explained in a recent interview, and when reading those sections that is very clear. Those who don’t enjoy reading screenplays might need to stay clear; I felt those sections made for some of Irving’s most suspenseful and involving and evocative writing… ever, maybe.

I really feel I need to reread this—and soon. There’s just so much. You really FEEL this book’s length, which is not a complaint. After waiting so long I wanted something substantial, and Irving delivered! Is this my favorite book of the year? Maybe, probably, it’s hard to tell. I’m so indecisive these days. Fans of vintage Irving will find lots to enjoy here.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending an ARC my way.

As with all of John Irving’s works I find The Last Chairlift hard to categorize or describe so I will do neither. I read it it in chunks. I was at once amused, perplexed, and confused. There is something for everyone in this book and you won’t really know what it is until you get fairly well into it. Some will give up too early, don’t..
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance copy for review..

I always enjoy John Irving’s writing. The Last Chairlift is another beautifully written story. It is long and probably could have been more than one book but it is an amazing story. I deeply enjoyed it.

I'm not sure how to describe the plot of this other than to say it's A Prayer for Owen Meany recycled with another 30 years of political commentary and anti-Catholicism tacked on. It's unwed mothers and sexual outliers and wrestling and Vietnam, now with skiing, ghosts, AIDS, a pantomimist, Moby-Dick, an infant emeritus. I didn't like the book that much, but Irving is such a fantastic writer that I was still absorbed in the story and didn't realize how little I liked it until it was done. It started out somewhat strong and then seemed to get a bit disjointed and almost devolved into more anecdotal stories stitched together rather than feeling like part of something bigger. I hoped it would all pull together in the end with a big conclusion, but I don't feel like it did. In a story of small characters, my favorite was Matthew, the littlest one and the biggest priority. 3 stars for the writing but the story was a let-down.

I absolutely loved A Prayer for OWEN MEANY…this is not the same.
It is good, but a lot of reading to get to the end.
Really it is just the story of a young man’s life and the people around him. How they get on with their lives and deaths.
I do recommend it, but you must be a patient reader, it takes awhile to get where it is going.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC.

Waited a long time for John Irving to write another book, and this one delivered 110%.
Great book, about a different kind of family, and the son born to a ski instructor. Her sisters, their husbands and children and a small man, in her life. Great story, that you won’t put down.

The latest (and quite possibly last) novel of John Irving is a fine work of literary fiction. It’s not “A Prayer for Owen Meany” good, but it’s alright. Whereas “Owen Meany” was masterfully plotted with continuous points of tension and well-timed reveals, Irving’s new book meanders through the latter half of the twentieth century, presenting fascinating characters and the occasional powerful and poignant event.

In varied outlets, I’ve seen this referred to as a book about skiing and a book about ghosts. It’s neither of those things, though they both figure in the book. I would say it’s mostly about sexual identity and sexual politics in America. The story follows the life of Adam Brewster and his unconventional extended family of a lesbian mother who marries Adam’s father figure (Elliot Barlow, a man at the time who subsequently transitions to female) and has a simultaneous long-term committed relationship with another woman. Other major characters include his lesbian cousin and her committed partner, the partner, Em, being Adam’s lifelong crush.) At some point in reading, it occurred to me that this group was thick as thieves and there was really no ingroup dissent or conflict among them, and I wondered why that worked [instead of being painfully boring,] and I think it’s because they’re faced with so much outgroup [or edge of group, e.g. Adam’s aunts and – later – wife / ex-wife] pressure that it forces them to be closer in all ways.

Earlier I said that the book meanders through the second half of the twentieth century, but it actually continues through almost to the present-day. The biggest criticism I would offer is that the last twenty-ish years are rushed through and the author frequently seems to forget that there are characters that should have interesting life events. Instead, the book engages in long strings of “as-you-know-Bob” exposition on American politics, and when it’s not ranting about politics, the end reads a bit like a family Christmas letter. After what is the novel’s undisputed most moving moment, an event masterfully imagined and articulated, it’s kind of a slog to the end. [Which is, unfortunately, the last twenty percent of the book or so (at least it feels that way.)] Putting it another way, Elliot Barlow (aka. “the snowshoer” / “the pretty English teacher” / “the little wrestling coach”) is arguably the most likeable and compelling character in the book, and very little of interest occurs after she is out of the picture.

I enjoyed reading this book, but – as I say – it can be a slog compared to many of Irving’s earlier works. It’s worth noting that this book features multiple writer characters and an editor character, and still would have benefited from a heavy-handed editor. It does have a couple chapters that read as screenplays, and they are intriguing and make for a nice pace change. If you’re an Irving fan, you need to read this book. If you’re not yet familiar with his work, start elsewhere.

This is classic Irving. It's dramatic and uncomfortable and funny and LONG. It's a bit of a slog but totally worth it.

I love John Irving for continuing to include his usual quirks in The Last Chairlift! There's an unusual family with a weird mother and countless family drama, sexuality, politics and lots of New Hampshire-isms.

The only downside is that this book is about 100-200 pages too long in my opinion. Sometimes you get a few chapters of descriptions of a forest that are lovely on their own, but bogs the story down because I just wanted to get back into the quiet drama!

Adam Brewster shares the story of his life in this elegic first person narrative. In 1941 his mother, Rachel (Ray) comes back pregnant from the National Skiing Championships in Aspen, Colorado. She is just 19 years old at the time and her decision to stay mum about the father and have her child as her “one and only” has repercussions that reverberate through her entire immediate family. The Brewster's live in Exeter, Vermont, where Ray’s father has taught at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy. Ray herself is not academically inclined and leaves her son Adam with her mother and sisters during the ski season to work as a ski instructor in Vermont (first in Stowe later in Bromley for my fellow skiers of the Northeast). His grandmother and his grandfather’s home aide really raise Adam.
All of Adam’s family members are quirky in their very own ways - a unique Buch of people but basically this is the story of Adam's life and the later half of the twentieth century, the changes in education, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, the Reagan Era and the AIDS crisis all the way up to the early 2000s. It was very interesting to read a perspective about things I have lived but had never deeply questioned (I was quite young in the early 80s).
 
I was very excited to read a brand new Irving and he does cover all the topics that one expects him to cover in a novel: New Hampshire, unusual mothers, absent fathers, writers, ghosts, prep schools, dysfunctional family relationships, wrestling, sexuality, politics, cultural changes, etc.. I loved that this novel celebrates unique families and found families and the affection they share. It exhibits tolerance and understanding for those who are different.
 
The major drawback for me was that The Last Chairlift is quite long - a meandering book to take your time with. I was reminded of Isabel Allende’s Violeta that I read at the beginning of this year !

There is no doubt that Irving is a great writer, but his newest book just isn’t up there with his best. It bogged down in too many places and as much as I hate to say it, became a chore to finish. Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and SImon & Schuster for the ARC. An important thing to get out of the way....I love John Irving. Many years ago I went through a huge Irving phase and read almost everything he has written, but in the past few years, I've taken a break. Since I finished my reading goal for the year I figured there was no time like the present to dive back into a 900-page epic. I don't know why I ever took a break from John. If you like his books you'll love the Last Chairlift. It has all the usual Irving tropes, themes and heart we've come to expect. Irving has said this is the last of his long novels so I suggest you just read it. I consider myself lucky to be alive at the same time as John Irving and am so happy he keeps writing these stories for us.

Always have loved John Irving, and this novel is definitely not a disappointment! Characters are weird and lovable as only Irving can make them. Loved this book!

The Last Chairlift by John Irving is a massive (900+ pages) novel with a lot to say! It is the story of Adam Brewster, child of unwed single mother Ray, who leaves him in the warm, capable hands of his grandmother each winter while Ray works as a ski instructor.
Adam’s coming of age, his relationship with his eclectic family and friends, and his search for his father is at the heart of this character-driven story. But there is so much more! The reader observes Adam, born in 1942, as he grows up in post World War II America. Along the way, he experiences and learns to navigate extended family dynamics, mother/son issues of closeness and conflict, wrestling, politics, gender issues, love and war, faith and aging. As a character, Adam seems informed by some of John Irving’s own experiences—small town New England, wrestling, skiing, and life as a writer. It is a delight to follow Adam’s rich trajectory as he grows and matures. The cast of characters is large, varied, and quirky, and I particularly liked Adam’s cousin, Nora.
I am a huge fan of John Irving’s works, and this is no exception. I enjoyed every character, every cleverly titled chapter, and yes, every one of the 900+ pages. Irving is one of a handful of truly great American storytellers. I hope he has more insightful tales to tell in the coming years!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

"There is more than one way to love."

The Last Chairlift is a masterpiece by the incomparable brilliant John Irving. I must confess to being a huge John Irving fan. My love for his unique writing style and vivid imagination started with The World According To Garp. It grew to worship with the whirlwind The Hotel New Hampshire and became pure awe with the poignant The Cider House Rules but the one that lives in my heart and solidifies John Irving as a genius writer for me is A Prayer For Owen Meany; the one book all should read.

To try and describe these stories is difficult. They need to be read with your own experiences because there is so much to take from them depending where you are in life.

The Last Chairlift is very much the same. Summarizing it's the life story of Adam and his eccentric family including his single Mom a once famous skier whose one night stand gave her Adam. It's Adam's journey to discover who his father is and if that even matters. Then there's Em a selective mute; sometimes you just want to stop the constant bs talk. It's about the ghosts who haunt our minds about how without change we can't move on like Adam's step dad who marries his mom to hide his transgender wishes and his mom's female lover. It's about the author's anger and how he can't take it anymore.

Reading and listening to the saga of one ordinary man trying to navigate life through this turbulent world I felt the anger, the sadness, the just being fed up with how prejudice, especially of sexual orientation, has heightened and we as a society are going and staying backwards.

Over 32 hours with 15 narrators, almost a 1,000 page novel, this tale will not be for everyone but for us Irving fans we get it, we love it and we are grateful for it.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh, how I wanted to love The Last Chairlift by John Irving. I’m one of those readers who was totally knocked out by The World According to Garp decades ago, and have been hoping for an echo of that greatness. Having been disappointed several times, I retained my optimism when I received a copy of The Last Chairlift, purportedly Irving’s last “big” novel. (And it IS pretty big: 450+ pages).

The protagonist, Adam, is the son of a single mother who was a ski instructor. In classic Irving style, the family is unconventional and close-knit, but not forthcoming enough to provide Adam with the answers he seeks when he returns to Aspen (where he was conceived). So far, so good.

Then it kind of all fell apart for me when Adam met some ghosts in the Hotel Jerome. I don’t know, maybe it was just me. But I just didn’t care enough. TBH, I may have skimmed some (OK, a lot) and while I still admire Irving’s style and skill as a storyteller and chronicler of dysfunctional families, I didn’t love this one. Three stars.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅. 𝑰𝒏 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇-𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆- 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇-𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎-𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆- 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔.

I have always enjoyed reading John Irving, even though I am not from New England (my husband has family up there) it’s such a beautiful place and Irving transports the reader there. His stories never fail to engage me. Adam is a novelist first and foremost, also a screenwriter. Born to unwed mother Rachel Brewster “Little Ray”, an expert skier of diminutive size (whose lifelong job is as an instructor on the slopes; she was too small to compete) he spent ski seasons feeling like an orphan. Living with his grandmother and grandfather, fussed over by aunts and alongside older cousins, it is tomboy Nora that holds a tender space in his heart. Nora sort of serves as the big sister, the insight. Adam was determined to hate the very thing that took his mother away seasonally, refusing to learn to ski or at least to ski poorly. Adam is obsessed with wanting to know what happened in Aspen and ponders how his mother couldn’t have known Marilyn Shaw “Snow Baby”, coached by the same instructor and both of them from Vermont. He also wonders about how she got knocked up with him and who his father is; she isn’t saying. Nothing drives children to dig more than having things kept from them. She cares so much about the state of the Hotel Jerome that naturally his history leads him there, where many ghosts exist. Of course his family is eccentric, it’s what I always enjoy about Irving’s characters, when his mother marries Mr. Barlow it challenges societal norms as well as their family, Irving was doing this long before present day with his fiction.

Adam’s love life is a mess, mostly sexually. There is a lot to explore beginning with the 1940’s to current times, sexual repression was very real and families generally didn’t divulge things in the presence of little ears, or hands as may be Adam’s case. Families were often tight lipped and intolerant of deviations from the norm. Fear leads to judgement and shame. He is his mother’s true love, even in innocence it can be a confusing adoration. You know there is going to be ridiculous encounters in bed,unlike in the movies, physical interactions in real life are often humiliating, disastrous but we keep at it anyway. Homosexuality, transitioning, death, love, family, identity, politics, marriage of convenience (or necessity) and ghosts- what isn’t in this novel? It didn’t feel new to me without the ghosts, it reminded me a lot of The World According to Garp (my favorite Irving tale), with the wrestling, Barlow’s choices, his mother’s progressiveness, Adam’s journey, the unknown father, but I still wanted to read it and see how things played out with everything going on in the world today. It’s a different place now in that people are more open to ‘unconventional relationships’ and identity issues. Adam, I wanted to feel closer to him, sometimes he felt far from me which is strange when he is telling the story. I do like that he is clueless about so many things growing up, that’s how it feels when we’re young. We don’t have the full picture or if we do, our young minds can’t fully absorb it. Irving manages to take subjects that are a loaded gun and deal with it through lightness, laughter.

If I were to unpack every situation, tragedy it would take me days. I just can’t wait to hear the thoughts of fellow readers. John Irving fans, I don’t need to say read it, the rest- it is a lot to take on but worth the time.

Published October 18, 2022

Simon & Schuster

The Last Chairlift is a must read for loyal John Irving fans, but probably not a great starting point for a first time Irving reader. This novel is long and the characters are extremely well developed. Although sometimes the plot didn't hold my interest, I always wanted to continue reading. I learned a lot about skiing, writing and alternative lifestyles. The Last Chairlift will be Irving's final long novel and it is an accomplished end to an amazing career.