The Fourth Hand by John Irving

I will confess that I don’t recall too much about The Fourth Hand by John Irving. What I do remember is feeling the need to get in hardcover the minute it came out. Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany and The World According to Garp are among my favorite books of all time, and The Cider House Rules is one of my friend L’s favorites. So when Irving came out with a new book back in 2001, I had to have it.

While I can’t recall the details of the plot, even after reading the jacket flap and the Amazon information again, what I do remember is that I was sorely disappointed. I neither liked nor cared about any of the characters, and I couldn’t get past what I considered the completely unrealistic premise (via Amazon):

Television reporter Patrick Wallingford becomes a story himself when he loses his hand to a caged lion while in India covering a circus. The moment is captured live on film, and Patrick (who wears a "perpetual but dismaying smile--the look of someone who knows he's met you before but can't recall the exact occasion") is henceforth known as the lion guy. Before long, plans are made to equip Patrick with a new hand. Doctor Nicholas M. Zajac, superstar surgeon, indefatigable dog-poop scooper, runner, and part-time father, is poised to perform the operation.

But that’s not the unbelievable part. This is:

But the donor--or rather the widow of the donor--has a few stipulations. Doris Clausen wants to meet the one-handed reporter before the procedure, and insists on visitation rights afterward.

Huh?

I guess I never got over that. I found the whole thing outlandish, unrealistic, and flat. While Irving’s works usually work on outlandish and unrealistic, they are never flat.

Again, the critics completely disagreed with me. At least I can fully claim my opinions my own.

The Fourth Hand by John Irving

Tags: book+reviews hand+transplant John+Irving