Irving, John

A major American writer, John Irving has published many novels, several of which have been adapted for film. His most popular novel is The World According to Garp, which has become both a popular and a cult classic. He is often compared to Charles Dickens, an author he admires. His novels are often political and take liberal views, confronting issues such as abortion rights, LGBT rights, and antiwar sentiments. His characters are not shy about sex and often begin sexual encounters at a young age. Major themes and subjects in his novels include the search for the father, the search for identity, looking back at one’s life, searching for one’s personal history, the difference between memory and truth, and unconventional lifestyles. The settings of his novels vary, and sometimes his characters travel both nationally and internationally. Many of his novels have been adapted for film, and he wrote screenplays for some of them. Irving became a household name in 1978, with the publication of The World According to Garp. Irving is well known for his dark sense of humor and sometimes absurd situations in which he places his characters. Many of his protagonists are older men who look back on their childhoods or adolescents who develop into men over the course of the novel. The relationship between memory and fact is often blurred as one’s memory of events trumps the actual events. Most of Irving’s protagonists are males who do not come from traditional families.

“A Complete Woman, but One Who Hates Women”: Un psicópata del tercer género en A Son of the Circus, de John Irving.

Resumen: Este artículo explora las complejas circunstancias que convierten en un psicópata transexual a Rahul Rai, personaje de la novela A Son of the Circus, de John Irving. Los abusos sexuales a los que lo somete su tía y tutora en su infancia, junto con un conflicto de identidad de género mal resuelto influenciado por el modelo de tercer género autóctono de la India –lxs hijras- contribuyen al desarrollo de una sociopatía que Rahul canalizará dedicándose a asesinar prostitutas en los burdeles de Bombay y Londres. Abstract: This article explores the complex circumstances that lead Rahul Rai, from the novel A Son of the Circus, by John Irving, to become a transsexual serial killer. A victim of sexual abuse when he was a child, and in deep conflict with his gender identity (which is strongly influenced by the Indian third sex option, the hijras), Rahul becomes a sociopath who kills prostitutes in the brothels of London and Bombay for over two decades.

MUSICAL IMPROVISATION IN THE AGE OF BEETHOVEN AND ‘OPEN’ FORMS FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI, ISOLA DI SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE, VENICE, 28–29 NOVEMBER 2014

The multi-dimensional topic of improvisation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has been explored in various recent publications and international conferences. For example, the proceedings of the conference L’improvvisazione nella musica occidentale del Settecento all’Ottocento, held at La Spezia in 2010, were published as Beyond Notes: Improvisation in Western Music of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), edited by Rudolf Rasch. Rasch (Universiteit Utrecht) was one of several participants at La Spezia who reappeared in Venice for the third in a series of conferences on improvisation, organized like the previous two by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The first two (November 2012, 2013) dealt with different eras. ‘Musical Improvisation in the Age of Beethoven’, held over two days, brought together scholars of varying provenance, from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The first day of papers was followed by an evening recital from Mozart scholar and fortepianist John Irving (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) and violinist Davide Amodio. Scott Burnham (Princeton University), scheduled to speak on the second day, was absent, but a ‘draft outline’ of his paper was read by William Caplin (McGill University) and distributed as a handout. In the face of an unreliable broadband connection, Elaine Sisman (Columbia University) read her paper over Skype and participated frequently in the other sessions.