John Irving: From One Skier to Another
Reading John Irving’s The Last Chairlift is a little like skiing that meandering run down the backside of an old mountain like Tremblant or Red Mountain: It’s long, too flat in places, too steep in others, and it’s filled with tricky twists and turns. Yet every weekend we ski it anyway because, every time, we learn something about ourselves.The Last Chairlift
Now based in Toronto, the author of The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany raised his family around ski towns. Son Brendan is director of Winter Park’s ski patrol in Colorado, grandson Birk is a freeskier for Team USA. From Aspen to Stowe and Wengen to North Conway, The Last Chairlift dips in and out of iconic ski spots, touching on special moments in skiing’s history. Toni Sailer is in this book. So is Hannes Schneider. Irving hails the bravery of the 10th Mountain Division. Ghostly scenes take place inside Aspen’s Hotel Jerome. Reverence is paid to ski pros, patrollers, racers, snowshoers and snow groomers. And, as the title suggests, chairlifts—especially last ones—do figure in.
Still, this book is not about skiing. Narrator Adam has the only straight role in a Dickensian cast of LGBTQ characters. “The queer people outnumber him,” Irving says. “The straight guy is the queer one, and he’s also the dumbest one in the room.” Intolerance, sexual politics, homophobia and Republicanism get major play in this semi-autobiographical story. The Last Chairlift sweeps through the war in Vietnam, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a lot more that is both cinematic and very, very weird. Yet at its heart, this novel is about family, the odd places we find it, and how much it hurts when it’s gone.
Reviewers complain The Last Chairlift is long—it is. Like that old-school ski trail, it meanders all over the place, takes half the morning to ski, and it delivers you to a spot so far down the mountain you have to ride three fixed-grip doubles to get back up. But like those old-school runs, it was created by a master—John Irving—and in reading his masterpieces, every time, we learn something about ourselves.
For more from Lori, sign up free to LORI'S STORIES on Substack.
Lori is co-editor of SKI CANADA magazine and debut author of SUMMERS WITH MISS ELIZABETH, a summer read coming May 1, 2024. www.loriknowles.com
Now based in Toronto, the author of The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany raised his family around ski towns. Son Brendan is director of Winter Park’s ski patrol in Colorado, grandson Birk is a freeskier for Team USA. From Aspen to Stowe and Wengen to North Conway, The Last Chairlift dips in and out of iconic ski spots, touching on special moments in skiing’s history. Toni Sailer is in this book. So is Hannes Schneider. Irving hails the bravery of the 10th Mountain Division. Ghostly scenes take place inside Aspen’s Hotel Jerome. Reverence is paid to ski pros, patrollers, racers, snowshoers and snow groomers. And, as the title suggests, chairlifts—especially last ones—do figure in.
Still, this book is not about skiing. Narrator Adam has the only straight role in a Dickensian cast of LGBTQ characters. “The queer people outnumber him,” Irving says. “The straight guy is the queer one, and he’s also the dumbest one in the room.” Intolerance, sexual politics, homophobia and Republicanism get major play in this semi-autobiographical story. The Last Chairlift sweeps through the war in Vietnam, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a lot more that is both cinematic and very, very weird. Yet at its heart, this novel is about family, the odd places we find it, and how much it hurts when it’s gone.
Reviewers complain The Last Chairlift is long—it is. Like that old-school ski trail, it meanders all over the place, takes half the morning to ski, and it delivers you to a spot so far down the mountain you have to ride three fixed-grip doubles to get back up. But like those old-school runs, it was created by a master—John Irving—and in reading his masterpieces, every time, we learn something about ourselves.
For more from Lori, sign up free to LORI'S STORIES on Substack.
Lori is co-editor of SKI CANADA magazine and debut author of SUMMERS WITH MISS ELIZABETH, a summer read coming May 1, 2024. www.loriknowles.com
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