Customer Reviews

A Prayer for Owen Meany

5 star:		(696)
4 star:		(123)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

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 is not at all what I expected from John Irving. Not only is the story weak, it is truly insipid and carries on and on with vulgar and unrelated information for pages and pages. The book focuses on this supposedly faithful Owen Meany, who is a complete hipocrite, and works completely against the them of faith that is supposed to be put forth. I truly have never found a more mediocre and badly written story with as irritating a character as Owen Meany and his rediculuously pathetic friend who narrates the story. How John Irving of all people manages to come up with the out there story line is incomprehensible - it seems as if he couldn't decide what type of story he wanted to write. The only thing that is more amazing than that an excellent writer could write such basic level trash is that people could actually enjoy it. Save yourself and read one of his other 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.

You will not be the same after reading this book and getting to know Owen. He will live in your heart forever. I was disappointed by the movie Simon Birch--this book, like Lonesome Dove, needs a 9 hour miniseries to do it justice. I am not overspeaking when I say this book affected me more profoundly than any other piece of literature has (and as an avid reader, I have had my fair share). Please take the time to read this book. I can promise you will not be sorry.

I have read many, many books, and I have never found one that I like better than Owen Meany. I have read it over and over, and I still end with the same question in mind: Did Irving know the ending when he started the book? The most minor things in the story make the ending happen when they all come together. When you first read it, how could you know that the pracice of that basketball shot could mean so much? I am sorry to hear that Irving is going to re-write his current book. I can hardly wait for every one he writes, but Owen is a the top of the list.

The worn-out narrator lets the tempo down compared with the brilliant third-person narration of, e.g., "The Cider House Rules", but the trade-off is the emotional intensity goes up. Irving is great and this is one of his best.

Here are my two cents worth about this book. I firmly believe that reading this book changed my life. It certainly changed my opinions about John Irving. Haven't read anything of his since that comes remotely close. I would definitely put this book on any list of the Top Ten Must-Read Books.

This book is religious, political, involves war and is very long. All of those things I don't like but I liked this book. Sometimes the most powerful people are small and have a big impact in life.

Have you ever read a book that was so good you read everything else that author wrote hoping against hope that there was another gem in there somewhere? This is that book. It is all heart and soul and I love it immensely. So I keep buying more of John Irvings books, but... Nothing else he has written even comes close. Not to put down his other books, because I enjoyed them all to a certain degree, but this one punches me in the stomach every time, and the others lack that "giddy up". But I would argue that this is one of the best books written by anyone in the last twenty years, a real classic that should be remembered.

I can't even begin to describe how awesome this book was, nor how to describe the story of Owen Meany and his childhood friend Johnny Wheelright. There are so many incredibly funny and touching moments, you will laugh out loud at Owen's antics (LOL, the doctor's volkswagon). Other reviewers have mentioned a similarity to Dickens, and I noticed that as well. Wonderfully drawn, quirky characters who in the end all serve a purpose to telling the story, culminating in the final heartbreaking ending as Owen realizes the destiny he was born to. And do have the tissue box ready for the last 50 or so pages, you will need it.

Highly highly recommended, and you will be thinking about Owen long after you have finished the last pages, and the impact he can have on your life as well.