“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.” You know that you're holding something really special, when you're barely into the book and yet you're already stunned by the gravity of the book's effect on you. I've read quite a few great novels that tackled God and religion, I'd say the best of which I've read are Coelho's The Alchemist and Martel's Life Of Pi. But John Irving's tale about the faith of two young boys and the miracle that happened between them is something greater. This book will not tell you that it will make you believe in God like Life Of Pi did. It will only tell you the story, it's reason why it does so. It is told in a very earnest, very simple kind of way, and it's very beautiful. It's a novel about dealing with death and living life. It's a novel that's almost like a prayer. Aside from that, this novel also addresses the issues of Religion, the Vietnam War, American Politics, and even the change occurring in people as the years progress. This book published in the year of 1989 rings as true and clear now as it did 24 years before during it's first publication. It's a captivating masterpiece of faith and friendship, of death and life, of doubts and miracles. I can say that this book strengthened if not renewed my faith in God. “If you care about something you have to protect it – If you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” Thank you Owen, thank you.

‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ (1989) is John Irving’s epic story of the very singular phenomenon that is Owen Meany – as told by his lifelong and long suffering friend John Wheelwright.

Whilst acutely aware of the significant critical and popular acclaim attached to this novel (and recommended by several friends) – and ‘Owen Meany’ is certainly a very accomplished novel which definitely has its strengths and its moments; ultimately however I was underwhelmed. ‘Owen Meany’ failed to engage, excite, enthrall or move me. It also feels very much over long and indulgent at times and I think would have befitted by an editing down to at least 100 pages shorter.

The is much in ‘Owen Meany’ concerning religion, superstition, belief, magical realism, the Vietnam war, American/Canadian politics, premonitions, prayer, dreams, visions, illusions and delusions as well as much about death. All the ingredients of Irving’s novel along with its associated acclaim and the reputation of its author - mean that I would fully expect to have enjoyed and thought highly of ‘Owen Meany’, to have come away after reading, if not inspired, at least fulfilled and curious to read more Irving. Unfortunately, this was not the case and I really can’t properly pinpoint or establish why that is? Maybe expectations were just too high?

There is also in ‘Owen Meany’ what seems like an oft used literary device – a character who teaches English/Canadian literature, hence the scope for mentioning and referencing several ‘worthy’ authors (Atwood, Hardy, Shakespeare, Bronte(s) Dostoevsky et al) – which more often than not feels like an attempt to give a novel that additional literary gravitas, which in the majority of cases is overused and ultimately feels like a cheap trick.

In a word – disappointing. (Only just scraping 3 stars for me)

Excellent story, fantastic writing and a character you will never forget!

Highly recommend!

This is quite a tale. You could also call it The Gospel of Owen Meany. He truly was a picture of Christ, especially in death. It reminded me of Forrest Gump in some ways, too. I decided to read this book after seeing it on the Great American Reads list and having it recommended by a friend. Even though it is very long, it is worth the journey. I can just imagine Owen Meany and his voice perpetually at a screech. The narrator of the story is Owen's best friend Johnny Wheelwright. This is a tale of friendship, forgiveness and self-sacrifice told from the perspective of the late 80's, but focused on a fifteen-year span from 1953 to 1968. Definitely worthy of making the list.

TODAY’S THE DAY! ‘… HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE; AND WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE.” (John 11:26)

For such a long time I've wanted to read A Prayer for Owen Meany 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)

"Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I have yet heard
It seems to me the most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come."

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.

read this years ago, but i’ll never forget that ending. talk about rewarding a reader for their time. once all the threads come together for the finale, the novel soars. spectacular stuff.

I'm so glad they released 'A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel' for Kindle. I would have read it eventually otherwise, but I read this in the midst of multiple flights almost back to back. There were minor things that kept me from giving this five stars, but they are typical of John Irving's writing style.All in all, I loved this book.

With over 200,000 reviews on this modern classic I'm thinking a rating should suffice but will add my thoughts. Growing up during the same time period in which it is set, much was personally relevant about the times recounted in these pages.

A bitter-sweet, brilliant, laugh out loud, tragic tale about an epic friendship, beginning in the 1950s and into the Vietnam War era. From my viewpoint too long-winded in sections, yet so worth the ride. It requires patience from the reader as we follow them through their decades of love and loss on a miraculous journey to where the great unknown calls them. But when it was all said and done, I loved most of it. Best savored and appreciated at a slow and thoughtful reading pace. If you were here with me now, you would see the tracks of my tears. Should I live long enough, I will read it again someday.

I just this minute finished reading this book. I have never read anything by Irving. I am familiar with some of his books but know nothing about any of them. This particular book has recently received some glowing reviews from some of my GR friends and since I trust their judgment and have been looking for new books to read I picked up a copy. As I read this book I could understand how it could captivate a reader and could garner such rave reviews. I too was initially charmed by the book, its story, and its tone but then the author lost me. I thought the author had never learned that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Reading this book became an experience like listening to a dynamic orator that doesn't know when to shut up. I was sure that this would be a three star review, tops. I kept reading.

The book is about two boys, 11 years old when the story starts, that grow up together in a small New Hampshire town. The story narrator is John Wheelwright and his friend is the titled character, Owen Meany. Most of the first half of the book takes place in the 1950's and primarily in 1953. One would have a hard time not being charmed by the antics of 2 11 year old boys in this last era of American quaintness in an all American small town community. I know I was taken by it. But then the author launches into his story and the mysteries and questions arise and I was further intrigued but did I mention the book is 543 pages long and there are only 9 chapters? I started with mild annoyance that went to irritation, and settled on aggravation. Irving is an excellent writer. I was certain there was a 5 star story in this book but he buried it under a mountain of unnecessary and excessive verbage.

I understand that it is necessary to include a certain amount of detail to a story's surroundings and to include develop extraneous characters. The purpose of such detail is to color the geographical, social, and emotional landscape that these 2 boys exist in. I can accept that but what the author included in this book exceeded what I considered reasonable. I thought 100 or more pages could easily have been edited from this book not only without harming it but actually improving it. The story would have read more easily and been easier to understand. So the more I read the more irritated I became primarily because I knew the book and its challenging message were very good and the reader was being distracted by almost constant inclusion of trivial scenes and superfluous characters. I wondered if Irving was being paid by the word. Now don't get me wrong all of this unnecessary material was very well written and even entertaining at times but it delayed the telling of the main story in my mind. This is what I meant by too much of a good thing. Why?

Well the story is John reminiscing about his life with his best and closest friend Owen Meany. John is recapping his life from Toronto, Canada in 1987 where he now lives and teaches at a local girl's prep school. In 1953 John's single mother is killed by being hit with a foul ball at a Little League game. The batter was Owen Meany. Of course it was an accident but this incident sets in motion a closeness to the relationship between John and Owen that was even greater than they had before the accident. The religious overtones in the story may seem excessive and might be off-putting for some but it is all part of the author's purpose. I got hooked into the questions being raised in the story but kept being annoyed by all the distracting side stories and characters. I didn't care about them. I wanted to know about John and Owen and John's mom and who John's father might be. I had lost patience with all this fluff material and my 3 star review was forming in my mind. I don't want to say much more about the plot of the book except by the time I got to the end I think I had an epiphany.

From the biographical material included in the book jacket it would appear that there is more than a casual similarity between the setting of this book and the life of John Irving. I am going to guess that this book may be a highly personal work for the author and may be based on real people in the author's life. Just a guess on my part. Further, the writing is really good so why would such a talent bury his message under all these unnecessary pages? This made no sense as surely the author knew what he was doing. Then it was the way Irving brought so much of this "unnecessary" material to relevance at the end. There had to be method to this wordiness. I thought about it from a different angle. I put myself in the character of the adult John. If I were reminiscing about my boyhood, my youth, the time I spent with the best friend I ever had would my telling of these times be brief? If I were a friend of adult John's and I knew he was talking about such a friend and that friend was dead and John was obviously grieving would I not sit and listen no matter how long the story lasted? Of course such a telling would meander, it would include all sorts of suddenly remembered people, places, and events and in no special order of time or place. I had wondered if the author, given the religious aspect of the story, was challenging the reader to undergo an ordeal in order to discover the challenge and message of his story. That might have been part of it but I think John needed a friend to tell his story to and the friend could take from the story whatever he wanted. This friend is glad he kept his mouth shut and the story could be told any way John wanted to tell it.

I might need to come back and write a longer review after I've thought about this book for a while because there is definitely a lot to ponder. It's a 600+ page book that I never fully loved, but I never wanted to stop reading it. Objectively, I think this book is really smart and thoughtful and 'good' (whatever that means). But my heart was never fully in it. This review is not going to make a lot of sense because I don't think I've made sense of my feelings towards this one yet. Anyway, it made me want to read more John Irving novels, so that says something. I just can't blanket recommend this to people. You've got to want to read it and appreciate slow, more thoughtful stories that take a long time to develop. I do like how it ended though, and reading the afterward made me realize how meticulous Irving is with crafting his stories. 3.5 stars

Being in a melancholy mood, I was trying to think of a book that made me laugh tears. And the first one that came to mind was Owen Meany. I couldn't stop laughing, except for when I cried buckets.

Rarely do I read books that shake my emotional equilibrium in the same entertaining way. Owen Meany in all his absurdities will stay with me forever, just like the other characters, which I learned to love despite (or because of) their highly constructed lives, all serving the "big purpose" in the end.

Some say this is a novel proving the inner truth of faith. I say this is a novel that shows a reader the literary basis of any myth. The creator of stories moves his characters to the grand finale with a purpose, and the reader knows it and cries and laughs anyway.

In my adolescence, I went through a John Irving phase, reading most of his tragicomedy novels in one go, loving his sad humour, his strange plots, his social message and his unique characterisation. Of all his novels, this one touched me most, and it is the one I have kept in my heart over 20 years. I can still see that baseball flying in slow motion. And I can still feel that rage against the author. How dare you put me through this emotional collapse, between laughter and tears? I can still hear the voice of Owen, and feel his incredible determination. The airport scene still breaks my heart, the sheer beauty of the practised sacrifice is just "l'art pour l'art" at its best.

When the narrator sums up his doom, I feel with him:

"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."

Owen Meany didn't make me a Christian, quite the contrary, but he certainly made me a believer in the power of fiction. I am also doomed to remember his voice.

"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."

How is it that some people can write so well that you're reeled in on the very first page? How is it that some books grasp you so tightly, with just a sentence or two, that there's no way you can possibly move on with your life until you've read the rest of it? And then you do and 637 pages wasn't enough?

That's how it was for me with A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's been months since I got this into a novel. Talk about a book to end your reading slump! 

I read the beginning sentences and that was it. I knew I would spend the next several days submerged in Owen Meany's world. It doesn't matter that I'm atheist and don't believe in any gods. I read those lines and I was consumed.

If I tell you what it's about, it won't sound all that interesting: A guy writes about his childhood, growing up in 1950s New Hampshire with his best friend Owen Meany who accidentally killed his mother. 

The childhood of two boys, one of whom kills the other's mother, doesn't sound particularly captivating. But captivate you it does. Owen Meany is one of the most memorable characters I've come across in my reading history. THAT VOICE!  

Owen Meany is tiny but his presence and his personality are gigantic. He is cute and sweet and lovable and at times downright exasperating. 

A Prayer for Owen Meany is witty and philosophical. It's political. It's tragic. And yet it's downright fun. This book is going to stay with me for a long time and I recommend it to all of you who love those books that make you live in them.

The only downside is that it's lengthened my TBR list by compelling me to add John Irving's other thirteen novels. Damn it, John; it was long enough already!