Post #3

I began reading The Fourth Hand by John Irving. I started on page 0 and now I'm on page 120. The book focuses mainly on Patrick Wallingford, a journalist reporter who's quite proud of his title as a journalist, and how he lost his left hand when he places it too close to a lion's cage in India. Then the focuses shift to Dr. Zajac, a hand surgeon, and his determination to give Wallingford a hand replacement. Then it describes the Doris and Otto Clausen, a married couple who vary on their sympathy for Wallingford's missing hand. Doris immediately begins talking about giving up Otto's left hand for the poor man, saying that she would. Otto has nightmares because of this, dreaming of Patrick (who has his left hand attached to himself) making love to his wife. Unfortunately, a drunken Otto dies when his own gun fires while it's pointed towards him. Doris immediately has his left hand preserved so it can be given to Wallingford.

Doris is obviously insane. It's very obvious, after only a few pages after she's introduced. The theme of craziness is abundant in Irving's books. Zajac, for example, has many oddities, including but not limited to scooping up dog shit with a lacrosse stick and disposing of it, or flinging it at people/things. But mostly people. A thesis of their craziness and how they do seem like people one could meet on the street is a very disturbing factor which merits some exploring.