The Last Chairlift, by John Irving

I was excited when I heard that the latest novel from John Irving will be a ghost story. It is one, but The Last Chairlift is closer to Henrik Ibsen than to M.R. James.

The Last Chairlift is a huge, sprawling, insane mess. But isn't life a huge, sprawling, insane mess?

It's been a long seven years since Irving last bestowed a novel upon us. I had a good feeling about the new one from the start, and not just because of its promised ghosts. The author has proclaimed The Last Chairlift to be his final long work of fiction. From here on there may be novellas, but nothing as vast as this behemoth.

I dove right in, despite my current prodigious reading schedule. The Last Chairlift weighs in at a whopping nine hundred pages. I took my time with it, even while I sneaked in every minute I could over a two-week span.

As far as I am concerned this is John Irving's magnum opus. The Last Chairlift is astonishing and flowing over with riches. It features some of the funniest passages Irving has ever written. It's full of love, pain, anger, passion. The characters are unforgettable. There are outrageous scenes to rival anything from his previous books.

The central theme of The Last Chairlift is love. "Love is love" is hardly a new concept, but Irving takes us deep into the lives of a decidedly unconventional family. They are not unconventional merely for the people they choose to love, or their gender identities. The people in The Last Chairlift are extraordinary in every way.

The Last Chairlift deals strongly with sexual politics. Irving takes his readers deep into the lives of a family of eccentric but fiercely loyal individuals. Sometimes it feels monotonous. He repeats himself frequently. In doing so Irving puts readers into the minds and hearts of his characters. We feel their deep affection, the injustices they endure, the losses they sustain.

I've heard lots about the sanctity of the short story. Novellas are the current trend. I love long novels the most. Shorter forms are often wonderful, but an epic novel brings readers closer to characters than any other form. For me, as a reader, nothing will ever top being lost in a long novel over the course of numerous days.

I think John Irving wants people to understand the lives of people who may be different than they are. To understand that we are all essentially the same despite outward appearances.

I fear it will not reach the people who need the message the most. I think most of John Irving's readers are intelligent, sensitive, and understanding individuals.

Irving wears his politics on his literary sleeve in The Last Chairlift. Conservatives may be offended or angered by the book. I say good. We all should read things that offend and anger us. How else will be learn if we do not challenge ourselves and our convictions?

I've been a John Irving fan for a long time. I've enjoyed all the books I've read, but none have affected me as profoundly as the four-way punch of The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, The Cider House Rules, and A Prayer For Owen Meany. Until now. The Last Chairlift is, by far, my favorite of his works. It will certainly be the best book I read in 2022, and will be one of the finest books I read in my entire life. Fiction does not get better than this.

The Last Chairlift will be published in October, 2022.

Written by Mark Sieber