Remarkable Read

I am reading John Irving's The World According to Garp.  It is a 20th anniversary edition, and yet it is old, yellowed and has that bubble writing popular in the 70's.  There are pages of rapturous praise, all lauding John Irving and the brilliance of Garp.  I have made it to page 272, a little less than half way through and I'm not sure this is a book I want to finish.  What am I missing?  I have a lot of time to read lately and will probably find out how this thing ends.  But, I hope something good happens.  And by good, I mean sorrowful or soaring, let it be insightful.  This is the kind of book that will soon be made into an Oscar nominated drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  No wait, he's too old...Shia Labeouf  It is mellowdramatic yet somehow dull.  It is slightly tragic, and perhaps liberating, but in a way that makes you feel oily.  Why are so many books about louts who only think about sex?  I'm not all that interested in what T.S. Garp has to say, but I suppose I will stick around to find out. 

While perusing Wikipedia, I find that Robin Williams starred in a film adaptation in the 80's, which means it is definetely due for a remake.  But then I find, that the reason I am not loving the book is exactly why people like it.  "The story is decidedly rich with (in the words of the fictional Garp's teacher) "lunacy and sorrow", and the sometimes ridiculous chains of events the characters experience still resonate with painful truth."  I couldn't have said it better, and in fact I didn't say it better.  It's the "ridiculous chains of events" that I am not buying.  If it is supposed to be ridiculous, then it isn't quite ridiculous enough.  "Lunacy and sorrow".  The reviews might be better than the book.