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“Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

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“Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age. / Tate, Andrew.
Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age: Criticism and Reflections by Professors of Literature. ed. / Lawrence E. Mazzeno ; Sue Norton. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. p. 157-168.

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Harvard

Tate, A 2025, “Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age. in LE Mazzeno & S Norton (eds), Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age: Criticism and Reflections by Professors of Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11

APA

Tate, A. (2025). “Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age. In L. E. Mazzeno , & S. Norton (Eds.), Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age: Criticism and Reflections by Professors of Literature (pp. 157-168). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11

Vancouver

Tate A. “Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age. In Mazzeno LE, Norton S, editors, Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age: Criticism and Reflections by Professors of Literature. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 2025. p. 157-168 doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11

Author

Tate, Andrew. / “Reading Is a Gift” : Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age. Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age: Criticism and Reflections by Professors of Literature. editor / Lawrence E. Mazzeno ; Sue Norton. Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. pp. 157-168

Bibtex

@inbook{63f4dbf76eaf480bad511e4671091c8d,
title = "“Reading Is a Gift”: Why John Irving{\textquoteright}s Novels Might Matter More as We Age",
abstract = "John Irving writes very long novels that frequently follow the lives of his typically outsider protagonists across decades. I have been (re)reading these digressive and meticulously plotted books for approximately 30 years: A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), in particular, has become, I realize, a vital part of the language with which I reflect on loss, hope and the experience of grace. Irving{\textquoteright}s novels of education take a quietly subversive approach to empathy; indeed, his fiction is both admired and disparaged for its candid debt to Charles Dickens. This chapter examines why I believe that a decelerated re-reading of Irving{\textquoteright}s fiction might illuminate aspects of our shared, as well as individual, experience of time and the potential of narrative to give shape to grief.",
author = "Andrew Tate",
year = "2025",
month = aug,
day = "8",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11",
language = "English",
isbn = "9783031934858",
pages = "157--168",
editor = "{Mazzeno }, {Lawrence E. } and Norton, {Sue }",
booktitle = "Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age",
publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",

}

RIS

TY - CHAP

T1 - “Reading Is a Gift”

T2 - Why John Irving’s Novels Might Matter More as We Age

AU - Tate, Andrew

PY - 2025/8/8

Y1 - 2025/8/8

N2 - John Irving writes very long novels that frequently follow the lives of his typically outsider protagonists across decades. I have been (re)reading these digressive and meticulously plotted books for approximately 30 years: A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), in particular, has become, I realize, a vital part of the language with which I reflect on loss, hope and the experience of grace. Irving’s novels of education take a quietly subversive approach to empathy; indeed, his fiction is both admired and disparaged for its candid debt to Charles Dickens. This chapter examines why I believe that a decelerated re-reading of Irving’s fiction might illuminate aspects of our shared, as well as individual, experience of time and the potential of narrative to give shape to grief.

AB - John Irving writes very long novels that frequently follow the lives of his typically outsider protagonists across decades. I have been (re)reading these digressive and meticulously plotted books for approximately 30 years: A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), in particular, has become, I realize, a vital part of the language with which I reflect on loss, hope and the experience of grace. Irving’s novels of education take a quietly subversive approach to empathy; indeed, his fiction is both admired and disparaged for its candid debt to Charles Dickens. This chapter examines why I believe that a decelerated re-reading of Irving’s fiction might illuminate aspects of our shared, as well as individual, experience of time and the potential of narrative to give shape to grief.

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-93486-5_11

M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9783031934858

SN - 9783031934889

SP - 157

EP - 168

BT - Fiction and Poetry to Help Us Age

A2 - Mazzeno , Lawrence E.

A2 - Norton, Sue

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

CY - Cham

ER -