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Very powerful writing! The story is narrated or seen through John Wheelwright. He tells about his best friend Owen Meany as "someone very small", "with a high-pitched voice", yet "unfaltering in his faith in God and to his purpose in life". Through their childhood years, and Academy and University days one feels the wit and humour of their experiences in a small New Hampshire town. Once you realize Owen's reoccuring "dream" which he takes as a sign from God, you will never be the same again. Irving neatly throws in some clever twists to the plot which will make the reader gasp in suprise. Owen's character is very awe-inspiring and heart-breaking at the same time. You cannot read this book and not be affected by it. 5 stars!*****
John Irvings' novel "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is a meditation on literature, history, and God. The book develops a convincing appraisal of Vietnam through a subtext of religious philosophizing. Irving's uses his protagonist Owen Meany as a latter-day prophet, or Christ-like figure, who dies a martyr after having inspired true Christian belief in his friend, and the story's narrator, Johnny Wheelwright. The book's countless subplots expand Irving's moral argument. Owen Meany is a diminutive boy and social outcast with a strange voice who accidentally kills his best friend's mother with a baseball. The event convinces him that he is an instrument of God, to be redeemed by martyrdom. Several of the scenes within the book provide seasoning for the narrative: the doltish headmaster driving a Volkswagen down the school's marble staircase and the Christmas pageants Owen stars in. When Owen plays baby Jesus, and when he glimpses a tombstone with his death date while enacting "A Christmas Carol," the humor amplifies the fact that he was born to be martyred. Though Owen Meany is a compelling character, his power over the rest of Irving's cast is not entirely convincing. Still, readers will be drawn in by the story of the boys' friendship and by the desire to see some resolution to Johnny's numerous mysteries. "A Prayer for Owen Meany," which inspired the 1998 Jim Carrey movie Simon Birch, is perhaps the most mystic Christian novel since Flannery O'Connor's work. Irving fans will recognize much within the plot: the New England prep-school-town setting, symbolic amputations of man and beast, the Garp-like unknown father of the narrator, and the rough, sometimes slapstick comedy. Some readers will little doubt find the book preachy, but as a parable for our times, it serves a good purpose.Read full review
I bought this book when I learned that it was a favorite of an old friend of mine whose opinion I value highly. I wanted to see what type literature would make such an impression on him. Reading "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving was a very thought provoking experience for me. It is political, spiritual, personal, introspective and very symbolic. I lived through many different emotions, remembered numerous events from years ago and had glimpses of probable future events in my life as I allowed the words and pages and sections of this book to permeate my soul for the several days it took to read it. The original purpose I had for reading it (learning more about my friend) was accomplished. But more, much more than that, it helped me become more aware of who I am. If you are willing to non-judgmentally place yourself into the story of the life and times of a couple of young boys of the '60s and allow yourself to live it with them, I'm sure you will be affected in some way beyond your expectations. Whether that will be positively or negatively, I imagine depends on who you are to begin with. But I don't expect many can really read through this book and not be affected emotionally to some level. I would recommend it to the serious reader and lover of literature. I enjoyed it immensely!Read full review
This is an extraordinary book about a boy, Owen Meany who believes his is an instrument of God when he hits a baseball that kills his best friend's mother. At first, I thought I wouldn't like the book because I thought it was going to get into a lot of religious ideologies; however, I found that this book is one of my favorite books and the very first book I have every read by John Irving. The story John Irving tells from beginning to end is very poignant and shows such emotion and growth on the part of Owen Meany that when you turn the last page you will be in tears and think "Oh my God" to yourself. I thought this was truly a very wonderful and thought-provoking book and would recommend this to anyone who loves to read and wants a GREAT read at that!
Here is a story that is not only engaging to the reader - you won't put it down - but it also will inspire. The lead character, Owen Meany, makes you a believer in some greater power. The story itself winds perfectly in a mystery of sorts and culminates in Owen sacrificing himself to save others. He truly is one of God's children. I am not necessarily a religious person per se, but I loved this book so much I purchased a copy & sent it to my grandmother. I knew it would warm her heart.
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