Word: garp
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When this quirky saga of writer-wrestler T.S. Garp first received attention in 1978, critics embraced the life-to-death story as a work which imaginatively blended modern-day issues such as rape and the threatened American family with startlingly fresh humor. But not long after the initially warm reception, some began to find the popular and violent images and story-lines in Garp a little less wonderful. While the book continued to sell rapidly, an inverse reaction occurred in literary circles. The jury went back into session on Irving and produced a revised verdict, charging him with excessive, gratuitous...
With the profusion of "I Believe in Garp" bumper stickers and sweat bands by 1980, many who had raved about America's "last Puritan" novelist were cowering amid Garpmania. The hitch was that the glowing reviews for the book had already been written Criticism of Irving's literary world--now often described as unreal and unnecessarily violent--had to wait until the publication last summer of Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire, which was panned despite hardcover sales far more brisk than its predecessor...
...film version of The World According to Garp debuts today, and every critic still ashamed over having praised the novel now has an opportunity to slam the blood and guts and love which follow T.S. Garp from his less-than-dignified conception through the notoriety and fame which dominate his later years. With Robin Williams of "Mork and Mindy" fame as Garp and a cast of unknowns playing the other principal characters, there may be a tendency towards pessimism even among the most avid Garpmaniacs. Irving's sprawling tive makes it easy for the cynic to believe that the powerful...
...Although the film remains very true to Irving's work, an immense amount of the peripheral zaniness and tragedy has been left out. The result is a charming story of a most committed father and husband tempered by the dangers--controlled and uncontrolled--to the safe existence which T.S. Garp vigilantly seeks for his wife and children...
...most attractive feature of the film is its good humor. The jokes will not sent audiences reeling, but instead produce the good-natured giggles which are more natural and frequent in the world according to everyone. The introductory shots of baby Garp being tossed in the air by his mother, rising and falling with a different animated expression each time, sets the lighthearted, warm tone. Williams' restrained antics, which produce most of the laughs, both entertain and soothe the Garp family and the audience. "Don't say, Ma-Ma, Duncan, say Da-Da," he admonishes his first baby, grimacing...