A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

Advantages: see op
Disadvantages: see op

...of course, inevitable, that with a user name like ruthcole (A Widow For One Year), I would write an op about an Irving book. Here it is. The best place to start would probably be with the plot. Since this is a book that starts in the fifties and moves through to the Reagan administration, via Vietnam, it's probably best to just give you the kind of information you get in the blurb. Owen Meany is the best friend of Johnny Wheelwright. When they ...
...a Little League game that kills Johnny's mother. Owen is convinced: GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS, I AM GOD'S INSTRUMENT. Why the capitals? I'll explain in a minute. The story begins with Johnny explaining that he is a Christian because of Owen Meany, but this story isn't exactly about religion. The themes that run through it are conveniently alliterative: faith, fate and family. Owen is a unique, breathtaking feat of the imagination. He is tiny, with ... Read review

Advantages: A clever and enthralling tale of destiny and fate .
Disadvantages: A little perverse and a little long . But these are minor points .

A Prayer for Owen Meany. **************************** A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of those books that I had been told was a 'must read' by countless friends and so it was with great pleasure that I finally got my hands on a copy just before Christmas. The main character is little Owen Meany himself, although the book is told from the perspective of Owen's best friend Johnny Wheelwright. Johnny tells Owen's story from 1987 and he details their ...
...start off with he is a drawf and on top of this Owen has a very strange voice. THE WHOLE OF OWEN'S PROSE IS WRITTEN IN CAPITAL LETTERS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK TO AMPLIFY THIS. During their childhood Owen accidentally kills Johnny's mother (who had the best BREASTS of all the mother's) with a far flung BASEBALL that hits her smack in the head and KILLS her instantly. From then on Owen believes that he is an 'INSTRUMENT OF GOD' that he is ALIVE to serve ... Read review

Advantages: It's untouchable uniqueness
Disadvantages: Perhaps the political grandstanding

...when I try to recall a plot all seem to blend into each other. A Prayer for Owen Meany can and will never join the easily forgotten with their stereotypes and similar plot lines. This is a book of almost incredulous originality, in places hilarious and, taken as a whole, deeply moving. It is a novel whose main themes are, I suppose, friendship and faith, but Irving also includes a commentary on American politics, a considerable number of literary ...
...“I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice--not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany” The book is written as a memoir of Johnny Wheelwright and skips around from detailing his childhood with his friend Owen Meany, beginning in New Hampshire in the ... Read review

Advantages: Full characters, interesting story line, fascinating writing
Disadvantages: You might cry at the end - not always a disadvantage

...I would update this review a touch so you can understand that John Irving's books aren't all bad. I became a fan of John Irving after reading "Hotel New Hampshire" and have read everything he has written since. And while they are all enjoyable - to differing extents - none of his novels have touched me as much as "A Prayer for Owen Meany". Perhaps I felt a special closeness to the book since the two main characters are both flawed - both physically ...
...feeling he is on a mission from God. Johnny Wheelwright is dyslexic (like myself) and is in a life-long search for his father. The relationship between these two boys as they become entwined and grow, is as growing and entwining as Irving's plot itself. The plot of this book takes us into the lives of these two people - first as young boys and later as young men, and the fantastic events that shape their outlook on life - as well as death. Telling ... Read review

Advantages: It's magical, fantastic and you'll want to read it again and again and again.......
Disadvantages: Owen Meany isn't real. I have to keep telling myself, it's not a true story.

This was recommended to me a few years ago; I read it and fell in love, and has long since been my favourite novel. Don't be put off by it's length. Every page is a delight to read. John Irving likes to go into detail and it's what makes his books so interesting and strangely believeable. Here you have an original, well thought out plot. Termed a "heartbreaking hero," the book follows Owen Meany's life through the eyes of his best friend. Owen Meanys' ...
...such as the one about a volkswagon, a headmaster and a school assembly, which make this such a joy to read; I actually cried laughing at that particular bit. I've since gone on to read other John Irving books. They are of a similar calibre but none has such a character so well fleshed out, loveable, huggable as Owen. Forever my hero. ... Read review

Advantages: Gripping, Characters, Believeable
Disadvantages: none,though I still prefer Owen Meany

...I've been a great admirer of John Irving since I first read a Prayer for Owen Meany a fantastic book which I would reccomend strongly to anyone as a modern masterpiece. His characters don't leave you when you put the book down and Owen Meany is one of the most amazing characters I have ever encountered in fiction. Since Owen Meany I've read most of Irvings other books. A Widow for one Year is no exception to the excellent standard that Irving consistently turns out. Set in both America and Amsterdam it follows the life of a family and in particular their daughter Ruth. There are some amazing twists in the plot and it is a very hard book to put down yet is substantial enough that it will bear repeated rereading. There is much sadness in the novel but many moments of poignant humour as well. Irving captures characters mourning brilliantly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A romp through a crazy crazy world...
Disadvantages: You won't be able to put it down...

...alone little humans, under the waves forever more. Be afraid of the under-toad, it symbolises all those unexpected things that can jump out and get you when you least expect it – it is the witch under your bed, it’s the goblins pinching you when you turn your back, it’s the driver falling asleep at his wheel… John Irving has written some marvellous books – The Fourth Hand, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Hotel New Hampshire and the Oscar-winning screenplay of The Cider House Rules. I’m not saying The World According to Garp is certainly the best because they are all great, but quite simply this is the one I picked up first, and I know I will read it every few years for the rest of my life. ***************************************************** John Irving has awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: You can almost feel that hand
Disadvantages: unsympathetic characters, and a plot that's a tad boring

...again) to the 'real' characters in this book. What makes me so disappointed with this novel? If you compare my descriptions of Irving's books The Cider House Rules or A Prayer for Owen Meany, then you'll certainly understand why I'm afraid I'm going to have to give up reading John Irving's novels. In short, he has lost his ability to make me, as a reader, care for his characters. And if you can't care for the characters, then how can you care what happens to them? But you know something? Perhaps I might have enjoyed this novel if I hadn't been expecting something that would better or at least equal Cider House or Owen Meany. I felt much the same way about A Son of the Circus, and although A Widow for One Year did have sympathetic characters, no character Irving has written since Owen Meany has ever gotten to me like that one did... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful