A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel Kindle Edition

I first read A Prayer for Owen Meany in high school, and for many years after, I would call it my favorite book of all time. But now it's been about 25 years since I read it, and I couldn't help but worry about how well it would hold up after all this time. Luckily, Owen Meany is every bit as rich, humane, thoughtful, funny, and thoughtful as I remember it being; while I could see some of the knocks people might have against it as an adult reader, I can't deny that I forgot how lush and dense its world was, and what a pleasure it was to meet its characters - not just the diminutive title character, but rebellious cousin Hester, a pair of wholly opposite religious leaders, a controlling headmaster, a kind stepfather, and so many more. Owen Meany is a book about a lot of things - about America's involvement in Vietnam, about the Reagan years and what happens once we as a nation lost our innocent belief in things, about childhood friendships, about grief and loss - but more than anything else, it's a book about faith and how we deal with it: how a miracle doesn't always lead to a conversation, how destiny isn't always welcome, how God might give us a purpose we never understand, and how we wrestle with all of those things in the face of a world that's fundamentally unfair and frequently awful. John Irving handles those heavy matters carefully and adroitly, thinking about all of it and wrangling with complex questions without an answer, and giving a book that feels both religious and agnostic, that believes in an order to the universe and also feels despair and abandonment at a world that never really makes sense. That he somehow turns this into a frequently laugh-out-loud book (the Christmas pageant scene alone, just to name one of so many highlights) that never neglects its melancholy leanings is a hell of an accomplishment, but what really makes Owen Meany so memorable is its characters - and, to be sure, its ending, which pulls all of the book together so effortlessly that all you can focus on is the tragedy of it all. I don't know that it's still my favorite book, but it's still one that I really love after all this time.

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.This is one of the mot powerful opening sentences I have ever read in a novel, and it sets the tone for the rest of the novel.  I read this book at the behest of two high school friends, Laurie and Ginny.  We three live in different parts of the country, have lived very different lives, and likely come at the themes of A Prayer for Owen Meary from very different perspectives.  I mention this only because I feel that this novel is rich with important themes and one's life experiences and personal beliefs play a significant role in the interpretation of those themes.The story is narrated by John Wheelwright from the perspective of his middle-aged self, telling the stories of his youth in Gravesend, New Hampshire and interspersing them with commentary on his present.  His stories center on his best friend, the title character Owen Meary.  John comes from an old, well-established family, while Owen comes from a working class family in the granite industry... an industry that John's aristocratic grandmother deems to be "dirty."John, while from a privliged family, has never known his father.  His mother referred to John as the product of a "little fling," refusing to disclose the identity of his father to him, or to her mother and sister.  Despite the scandal of having a child out of wedlock at that time, she held her head high and was never ashamed.  She loved her child and she loved to sing, and she did them both without shame.  But then a freak accident takes his mother, an accident that changes Owen, too.  It is that accident that causes John to begin to wonder about his father.  Owen encourages his quest, insisting that God will show him the answers he seeks.  Owen is a bit of a misfit, small for his age and brilliant and wise beyond his years.  There is something about him that commands attention, from his peers and adults alike.  He is strong in his faith and feels that he is God's hand on earth.  His dialogue is present in all caps, further underlining the idea that Owen is somehow more than human, somehow divine.  He constantly reminds John, as he falters in his faith, that faith takes practice and that sometimes he just has to accept that.  The religious themes are prevalent throughout the novel and, at first, this was a bit off-putting for me.  I tend to stay away from strongly religiously-themed novel, generally finding them to be more "preachy" than I enjoy.  I think your own personal experience/relationship with religion really plays into those themes. I was raised Episcopalian, but I pretty much have eschewed orgainized religion, being more spiritual than religious. So I probably had different feelings and ideas about those themes than others who embrace their faith more readily. But the pressure on Owen to live up to his parents' (and his own) assertations about his destiny is something that I think anyone can have empathy for.And there is no question that the Army girl still in me had some conflicted feelings about the military/war themes. I had a hard time really feeling for the narrator, outside of his love for Owen.  There was a purposeful lack of clairty for most of the book about the motivations behind some of his adult choices, vague due to the story arc, and it led me to believe that John was something/someone other than who he turned out to be.  My assumptions, which I think were perhaps intended by the author, led me to dislike the adult version of his character due to my own military experiences.  Some of his ideas presented by his adult self, while I understood the reasons behind them, sometimes rubbed me the wrong way. There was also a moment in which Owen decides to dramatically help John try to avoid the draft that also conflicted me.  It was a drastic moment, one that was done out of love, but it was the acceptance of Owen's dubious gift by John that bothered me, once again because of my own military experiences.  But, then again, the subjects of war and politics are often those of controversy, aren't they?!My Recommendation:  This is a thinking book, not a light read.  There are strong themes in this novel, themes that make you question your own thoughts, beliefs, and faith.  Yet there are also moments that are suprisingly funny.  The author has a witty way with words that give a tongue-in-cheek humor to a lot of situations and it is something that I truly appreciated.  I think that this is a book that will continue to reveal more of itself with subsequent readings.

Great Xmas gift.

Il faut passer la difficulté des premières pages pour s'attacher au personnage d'Owen. Irving de sa plus belle plume ( ici en anglais dans le texte et c'est pas plus mal) nous conte cette belle amitié avec des ingrédients Irvinesque comme la dérision, l'humour, le dramatique. Belle œuvre.

Una storia incredibile che regala molti sorrisi, tante riflessioni e qualche lacrima.La lunghezza lo rende impegnativo ma vale tutte le ore spese a leggerlo

A quien sea que crea en Dios. Un Dios más allá de cualquier religión. Y a aquel que como yo dude sobre que relación que tiene El con nosotros.

For such a long time I've wanted to read <b>A Prayer for Owen Meany</b> by John Irving.   So many friends had rated it highly and urged me to try it that I worried my expectations might go unmet.   I should not have worried because I loved this book.Right from the outset I had the sense I was onto a winner, even when Irving introduced three topics I'm quite ignorant about - baseball, religion and politics.    The baseball theme was somewhat short-lived whereas the other two endured but it was never to the point he lost me.     Irving is a wonderful storyteller and this novel, though long, kept me highly entertained and engaged throughout.    He infused his words with humor, it was witty - although I suspect at least some of the wit was over my head thanks to my previously declared ignorance on religion and politics - and he made me care greatly for his characters without ever making it overly sentimental or soppy.  (Sure I had a tear or two but I wasn't a slobbering mess).    I enjoyed his literary references and now feel the strongest urge to read Dickens "A Christmas Carol" and Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" (amongst others) thanks to this book.     There was one particular passage from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar which I especially liked (and which was used several times)<blockquote>"Cowards die many times before their deaths;The valiant never taste of death but once.Of all the wonders that I have yet heardIt seems to me the most strange that men should fear;Seeing that death, a necessary end,Will come when it will come." </blockquote>Told from the first person perspective of Johnny Wheelwright, this was first and foremost the story of John and Owen's friendship.As the story unfolds it becomes clear Owen is a very special character, one might even say miraculous.  Spanning the 50's and 60's there is quite a focus on the Vietnam War and the American political scene but it's not really about these things.  It's a story of faith, but also of destiny and fate.    From early in the book readers have a sense of where the book is headed but until the very end we really don't know how or why things turn out as they do.    I know this doesn't really hint at the plot and my review cannot possibly do justice to this book but I'd urge you  to read or listen to it yourself, it's one of those not to be missed books. Whilst I'm busy praising Irving and his storytelling ability it would be remiss of me not to congratulate Joe Barrett who skillfully and quite brilliantly brought to life John, Owen, Dan, and the very many characters - female and male alike - in the audiobook I listened to.    He did an exceptional job and I'd highly recommend this listening experience