A Prayer for Owen Meany [Mass Market Paperback]

A Prayer for Owen Meany is told in the first-person by Johnny Wheelwright, the illegitimate son of Tabitha Wheelwright who comes from a well-to-do family in Gravesend, New Hampshire. The timeline alternates from the present-day where Johnny is in his mid-40s to his childhood. He attributes his belief in God to his childhood friend, Owen Meany.

I think we all knew an "Owen Meany" in school: The boy who was smaller than average and who everyone picked on. The children weren't actually cruel to Owen, but they took pleasure in passing Owen over their heads from hand to hand because he was so light. Even though Johnny participated in this type of behaviour, he did consider Owen to be his best friend. Although he is diminutive in size, Owen has a big personality and is very forthright in expressing his feelings.

As Johnny and Owen grow up together, we see that Owen is steadfast in his belief that everything in his life happens for a reason. During the play of A Christmas Carol, Owen - who is portraying the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - has a revelation. When he points out the headstone to the man playing Scrooge, Owen sees his own name on the headstone along with his dates of birth and death. While he does share that he sees his own name on the gravestone, he does not reveal to anyone the date of his death.

Owen lives his life with the knowledge of when and how he is going to die, as evidenced (in his mind) by the prophecy of both of his vision and his recurring dream about his death. He does not divulge all the details to anyone, not even Johnny. He truly believes that God's plan for him is to die a hero, and he accepts this destiny.

I do not want to say too much because I do not want to spoil the story for anyone who has not read it yet. While this tome is lengthy at nearly 27 hours (the printed book is over 600 pages), the story moved along at a good pace. I fell in love with Owen Meany with all of his idiosyncrasies and the way he viewed the world. While most of us would be fearful of having a vision of our deaths, Owen embraced it and it gave him purpose in his life.

Narrator Joe Barrett brought Owen Meany to life! He uses a high-pitched, child-like voice for Owen, which is true to Irving's description of him. I am so glad that I listened to the audiobook instead of reading the book myself because I think that Barrett brought something special to the story in his portrayal of Owen. Barrett is a new-to-me narrator, and his voice held me in rapt attention. His narration made me feel as though we were sitting together, as he recounted his past to me.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a very thought-provoking story. I loved the book, and I thought that Irving wrapped up all the pieces of the story brilliantly! I literally had goose bumps at the end of the book. This is my first Irving novel, and I am planning to read more from this author.

MY RATING: 5 stars!! It was superb! I loved it, and I will likely re-read it again in the future! You should definitely read it!

A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY is a fascinating book, but it won't be for everyone. Irving has indeed created an odd couple of characters: Owen Meany, the dwarfish youth with high-pitched voice of stunning self-importance that wavers between arrogance one moment and self-sacrificial lamb of God the next, and his sidekick Johnny Wheelwright, illegitimate child of a striking, freespirited woman soon killed off by a baseball Owen accidentally slams across the baseball field during a Little League game to hit its killing blow against her temple. Not that this would destroy the odd friendship of these two. Indeed, it bonds them for life.

As for Owen, he doesn't believe in accidents, especially not this one. What transpires through the remainder of the story, tracing the lives of these two from children into adulthood, is a complex weave of seeming circumstance into eventual climactic conclusion that rather neatly ties many loose threads together into a tight knot. Owen has foreseen his own death by a visionary dream, and he never doubts, at least not until the final days of his life, that this dream is the beacon guiding him home (home being, for Owen, heaven for those who would enter through the gates of martyrdom).

In the process of these two strange lives, topics of destiny and fate, religion, American politics and foreign policy, various rites of passage from childhood into adulthood, and other miscellaneous lighter and deeper issues are undertaken. These, too, all come together into the neat knot at the book's end. The only other novel that came together this way for me (and everyone else) was THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD with its equally strange characters and situations.

Irving is a quality writer. But, although I have yet to read his other works, I suspect this one is not his best. The ideas he undertakes are fascinating enough, yet I found myself unmoved by either Owen's fate or Johnny's somewhat victimized standing by. Still, I would recommend A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY along with the wonderful BARK OF THE DOGWOOD as they are both stellar and first rate---really top drawer, both. If you like to laugh and cry, try these books.

This book, despite all the acclaim it's received, is nothing but trash. Irving writes with a forced and awkward hand - there is no fluidity in this novel. It is incoherent and utterly ridiculous. The reader experiences no satisfaction at the end of the book, not even considering the untimely demise of the irritating Meany boy. Ugh, if burning books weren't frowned upon, guess which one would be roasting right now? Go on, guess.