---
product_id: 43010416
title: "Setting Free the Bears: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)"
brand: "john irving"
price: "KSh6201"
currency: KES
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/43010416-setting-free-the-bears-a-novel-ballantine-readers-circle
store_origin: KE
region: Kenya
---

# Setting Free the Bears: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

**Brand:** john irving
**Price:** KSh6201
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Setting Free the Bears: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by john irving
- **How much does it cost?** KSh6201 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.ke](https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/43010416-setting-free-the-bears-a-novel-ballantine-readers-circle)

## Best For

- john irving enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted john irving brand quality
- Free international shipping included
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## Description

Setting Free the Bears: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

## Images

![Setting Free the Bears: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DupxdkHiL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Chore
  

*by J***S on Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2021*

I've loved a couple other Irving books despite his being-long-winded and pompous about his education. Expected to love this farcical first novel of his, perhaps before he took himself too seriously. It had a great plot line and hysterical moments, but there was so much time spent on a character's familial history in WW, and setting the stage for the hysterical moments that it became a chore. I took to paging right past the WW2 history (which I might have been interested to learn more about had it seemed more relevant) and think I was better off for having done so. I got through the book that I could get started on a more interesting book, return to my pattern of alternating fiction and non-fiction without a writer giving me too much non-fiction as background when I'm hoping to be entertained with fiction.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    John Irving writes such beautiful sentences.
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2019*

This is a fairly long book, the middle section of which reads like a history text - not my favorite form of writing, but I think that I will always be happy reading an Irving book.  I have friends that give up on his books.  I think that they loose patience with him.  I find his work to be tremendously enjoyable.  So many authors use sloppy language.  Sentences where you understand what is intended, but not what has actually written.  Maybe that is the fault of the editing but surely the responsibility falls first directly upon the author.  When you encounter a sentence in an Irving test that you find confusing,  you have likely read it incorrectly.  This author does not write sloppy sentences.  His mastery of written English language is a delight.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Just, no.
  

*by R***R on Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2020*

I liken my response to this John Irving Novel--his first--to undergoing a delicious seduction, only to be suddenly repulsed by a seal-like belch.  All I love about JI is in abundance here, but the story's climatic arc is so off-putting, wrong-headed, and uncharacteristically charmless, that it really downgraded my enjoyment of an otherwise beautifully constructed tale. That said, sometimes understanding a character's motivation escapes me--and maybe I am missing something here.  In any case, If I am not mistaken I have only two more  John Irving novels to read--158 Pound Marriage and Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, and it has been a wonderful journey indeed.

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*Product available on Desertcart Kenya*
*Store origin: KE*
*Last updated: 2026-02-16*