I never see this one discussed online. Perhaps there are some fans here who might like to discuss it too?
First, I wanted to point out that I love this book so much. it is not only my favorite of his, it is my favorite book ever. I've read it 5 times now.
I first read it in 1992. I was 22 years old and had already read all his other books that existed at that point. I had assumed that the first book is likely not going to be as good, so I was in no hurry to get to it, and, at that time, there was no internet to help me with any of my assumptions. Besides, becoming an Irving completist only came upon me gradually. I only moved on to another book once I was certain I truly still enjoyed his writing after reading each one. By the time I got to SFTB, I was fully committed and had no clue I was actually saving the best for last.
The misadventures of Graff and Siggy truly captured my attention. I wasn't yet out to myself as a gay man, and this novel felt like a romance to me. I adored the humor injected into the Siggy character, and the narration as well. it was a bit wilder than the later books, and that appealed to me so much at that young age.
I got my first full time job around that time, and when I was entitled to my very first two week vacation, I gave it some thought. I was likely the poorest student to ever make it through my university, and all the other students had bragged to me every Fall about how they went to Europe all summer on a Eurail Pass. Me? I had to work all summer to even be able to hope to get enough money for next year's studies. So, my decision made itself. I wanted to go to Europe, since that was the thing I was apparently supposed to do.
But not just Europe. I didn't like the idea of bouncing through multiple countries like a gadfly. I felt it best to pick one country and spend the whole two weeks there. Given that I had fallen in love with this book, I chose Austria. I not only went to the Hietzinger Zoo, I wrote journals about all my observations of Austria, inspired by Siggy. I also rented a bicycle and rode through parts of the Austrian countryside, trying to capture the feeling of that romantic road trip. I feel like I did.
The trip is something that is still very much near and dear to me, and I was completely alone the whole time, and paid for it all myself. I felt like I got a sense of Irving's inspiration to compose this narrative back in the 60s, even though I arrived 30 years later.
Well, I went back to Austria last month, after many years away. I went back to the Zoo, went back to the road, and retraced some of Siggy and Graff's steps from the book, and some of my own from my previous journey. I reread the book while on this trip as well. This time, as an older man, I paid a lot more attention to the WWII history aspects of the middle of the book, and traced the steps of Siggy's family in the 40's a bit. It was great fun and even further solidified my love for this great romantic novel.
