Okay I know the whole book is about a good ending. But damn. What a great last paragraph. I had not read it in years, and there is was. I had almost forgot. what a perfect last line:
“Coach Bob knew it all along: you’ve got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows.”
by olivernintendo
4 Comments
Irving was on a pretty good run: Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules, Owen Meany. Shame about the 21st Century.
One of the most pro-incest mainstream books since Flowers In The Attic.
The weirdness of that relationship aside, it’s a great book and we still keep on passing the open windows because sorrow floats
Keep passing the open windows has stuck with me .
it was a strange book when I read it as a teenager. not comfortable and not one I liked I did not like or relate to a single member of that family. but it stayed with me.
one particular thing I give him huge credit for is the nuanced lights he shone on surviving sexual violence. that was huge and transgressive in 1980 and I still appreciate him for making that contribution to where we are now.