Queen Esther is the sixteenth novel from literary dynamo John Irving. Once again he explores concepts of identity, alternative definitions of family, and moral ambiguity.
I am almost completely ignorant of Judeo-Christian history, so I had no idea the name Queen Esther has Biblical origins. According to the lore, Esther saved Jewish people from antisemitic forces.
In Irving's novel, a girl's family flees the prewar turbulation in 1905 Europe. Her father perishes on the ocean voyage and while in America her mother is killed in a hate crime. She winds up in the St. Cloud orphanage, which is familiar and beloved to longtime John Irving fans.
Esther ends up adopted by a wealthy gentile family of academics and is raised in comfort, but she can never shake her heritage.
Meanwhile, a young woman in the family wishes to have a baby without the unpleasant procedure of having a man inside her. A plan is devised for Esther to be impregnated, with the child raised by the affluent family.
Esther's son Jimmy is raised to love nineteenth century novels and loathe Christianity. He is torn about his own identity. Is he Jewish because of his birth mother? He loves his family but remains plagued by his lack of cultural definitions.
Unable to escape her own past, Esther becomes involved in espionage for Israeli forces. Details are slim, but Esther is a shadowy, silent, but omnipresent observer in the narration of the novel.
Esther's identity revolves around injustice for her people, while Jimmy's life is books and love for his own family. They are as locked into their fates as I am as a horror fan. Sometimes it seems as though our destinies are determined by our early upbringing, while we have little choice but to live the life bestowed upon us.
Irving has always courted controversy in his books. He's obviously a staunch liberal, but radical feminists are depicted in a harsh light in The World According to Garp. Nuances of abortion and the sanctity of life are explored in The Cider House Rules. Sexual identity is examined in radical ways in In One Person and The Last Chairlift.
Israel is certainly a controversial subject in today's social climate. Irving doesn't go too deeply into the whys and hows of the seemingly eternal conflict between the Arab nations and Israel, but he does present readers with motivations of radical Jewish zealotry. No neat and easy answers are provided. Sometimes, in kill-or-be-killed situations, people are faced with no good choices in their socio-political allegiances.
John Irving has his obsessions, some of which are present in Queen Esther. Wrestling is a large subplot, as is the city of Vienna. Sexual politics are examined and Irving's beloved Charles Dickens is discussed at length. I was also happy to see classic foreign movies, especially The Seventh Seal, featured in the story.
This author can be maddening at times. His work can be dense, repetitive, and consternating. There are parts of Queen Esther that made me want to scream in frustration. Other parts had me laughing out loud. He can also tear your heart right out of your chest.
I don't think Queen Esther is the best John Irving novel, but it's a good one. On a bad day he is miles and miles above nearly every other writer in the world. For those who haven't read him, I'd recommend The Hotel New Hampshire, The Cider House Rules, or A Prayer For Owen Meany as good starting points. Honestly, if I didn't know and love his work so much, I might have DNF'd Queen Esther. I'm deeply grateful I began reading John Irving over forty years ago. Otherwise I'd have missed so much beautiful writing and so many provocative ideas.
Written by Mark Sieber
I am almost completely ignorant of Judeo-Christian history, so I had no idea the name Queen Esther has Biblical origins. According to the lore, Esther saved Jewish people from antisemitic forces.
In Irving's novel, a girl's family flees the prewar turbulation in 1905 Europe. Her father perishes on the ocean voyage and while in America her mother is killed in a hate crime. She winds up in the St. Cloud orphanage, which is familiar and beloved to longtime John Irving fans.
Esther ends up adopted by a wealthy gentile family of academics and is raised in comfort, but she can never shake her heritage.
Meanwhile, a young woman in the family wishes to have a baby without the unpleasant procedure of having a man inside her. A plan is devised for Esther to be impregnated, with the child raised by the affluent family.
Esther's son Jimmy is raised to love nineteenth century novels and loathe Christianity. He is torn about his own identity. Is he Jewish because of his birth mother? He loves his family but remains plagued by his lack of cultural definitions.
Unable to escape her own past, Esther becomes involved in espionage for Israeli forces. Details are slim, but Esther is a shadowy, silent, but omnipresent observer in the narration of the novel.
Esther's identity revolves around injustice for her people, while Jimmy's life is books and love for his own family. They are as locked into their fates as I am as a horror fan. Sometimes it seems as though our destinies are determined by our early upbringing, while we have little choice but to live the life bestowed upon us.
Irving has always courted controversy in his books. He's obviously a staunch liberal, but radical feminists are depicted in a harsh light in The World According to Garp. Nuances of abortion and the sanctity of life are explored in The Cider House Rules. Sexual identity is examined in radical ways in In One Person and The Last Chairlift.
Israel is certainly a controversial subject in today's social climate. Irving doesn't go too deeply into the whys and hows of the seemingly eternal conflict between the Arab nations and Israel, but he does present readers with motivations of radical Jewish zealotry. No neat and easy answers are provided. Sometimes, in kill-or-be-killed situations, people are faced with no good choices in their socio-political allegiances.
John Irving has his obsessions, some of which are present in Queen Esther. Wrestling is a large subplot, as is the city of Vienna. Sexual politics are examined and Irving's beloved Charles Dickens is discussed at length. I was also happy to see classic foreign movies, especially The Seventh Seal, featured in the story.
This author can be maddening at times. His work can be dense, repetitive, and consternating. There are parts of Queen Esther that made me want to scream in frustration. Other parts had me laughing out loud. He can also tear your heart right out of your chest.
I don't think Queen Esther is the best John Irving novel, but it's a good one. On a bad day he is miles and miles above nearly every other writer in the world. For those who haven't read him, I'd recommend The Hotel New Hampshire, The Cider House Rules, or A Prayer For Owen Meany as good starting points. Honestly, if I didn't know and love his work so much, I might have DNF'd Queen Esther. I'm deeply grateful I began reading John Irving over forty years ago. Otherwise I'd have missed so much beautiful writing and so many provocative ideas.
Written by Mark Sieber
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