Rating: 
Summary: The rest of you are lying; you couldn't finish it.
Review: There's no John Irving novel I don't love, except this one. Most of them, I have re-read about five times. Even "The Water-Method Man", one of his weaker novels, I read twice.I couldn't finish this one, not in THREE separate attempts, at three very different times in my life, three different frames of mind. There's nothing wrong with my reading skills. I'm forced to conclude the rest of you are lying. Siggy and Hannes are simply not characters one can care about, and the actual writing is wretched.
Rating: 
Summary: one heck of a wild ride
Review: While not the most important or most well written novel of all time, "Setting Free the Bears" is one heck of a wild ride. I am blown away that this book is a "first novel." It is a clear sign of Irving's greatness as an author that he could write something this complex and entertaining his first time out. It seems that among those who have read at least two of Irving's novels, there is usually one that they pick and passionately cling to as their favorite. Most then judge the rest of Irving books as falling short of the glory of their favorite. How unfortunate. "Setting Free the Bears," when taken by itself, is more than worth reading. However, far too many people seem predisposed to shoot it down without finishing reading it...usually because it's supposedly "not as good as" (insert favorite Irving novel here). People may well be extra harsh on "Setting Free the Bears" because Irving's style is not yet fully formed here (it is something along the lines of Irving plus Jack Kerouac with a dash of Tom Robbins thrown in to boot). All this notwithstanding, I am glad to have read this book; to have encountered characters such as Siggy, Graff, Gallen and the rest of this unique cast. The literary device of splitting up the book with Siggy's notebook is pure genius. One of the reasons I enjoy Irving so much is his great sense of humor. There is plenty of it here (though much of it is of a darker kind than later Irving). In particular, I laughed out loud upon reading the scene where Siggy gets his "shave". All in all, I give "Setting Free the Bears" a most hearty recommendation. Though it is not perfect by any means (I only know of one such book), it has great moments of beauty and humor. Well worth reading.
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