Soooooo glad to finally cross this modern classic off my must-read-someday list! It was a mixed bag for me, with very vivid scenes spaced between really long slogs through too much detail. The ending does pay off in a big way though, and Owen Meany certainly is a unique and memorable character.

Wow, this was such a weird reading experience! I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a great story, and I kind of devoured its 700 pages, but at the same time, I kept wondering why that was? This book deals with themes and a time period that I'm not very familiar with. Themes such as the Vietnam War, USA in the 1950s and 1960s and Catholicism. The time period was very vague to me, and I'm sure that an older reader would benefit more than me from reading this story.
Yet, I loved it! John Irving has a unique writing style, and whatever he writes about I seem to devour. John Irving tells this story as a coming-of-age narrative, and I think that's what impressed me the most. It's a story told from the perspective of Johnny Wheelwright, but actually it's a story about Owen Meany. We get to follow the two boys from their childhood and onwards, and this is when John Irving's unique writing style sets in. Irving's books are heavy on this descriptions, and this one is no exception. He spends long passages on information that you have no chance of understanding if you're not familiar with the 1950s - or biblical passages; yet, you are intrigued to read on, and you don't really care about the missed references, because he writes so damn well!
I can assure you that this book is not going to be for everyone. I rated it 5 stars, but I'm sure a lot of people will have the exact opposite opinion from me. That's because of Irving's writing style and way of telling a story which might not appeal to everyone. Not everyone might like the long, 100-page-chapters nor the nerdy passages on for instance tv shows and movie stars in the 1960s. But this is a perfect example of a book that's not perfect (I did find some of these passages slightly boring myself), but it still managed to impact me so heavily that I couldn't NOT rate it 5 stars. I think the thing that convinced me in the end was the way everything wraps up beautifully as well as the magnificent humour that we get throughout the story. I LOVED IT - the question is, will you? :)

Uch, tie 700 psl. tarsi skriste praskrido! - apie šią knygą nepasakė niekas niekada :)

Taip, ji labai stora, ji labai lėta, ji labai keista. Tokia, kur puslapiai netirpsta - jie tiesiog nejuda! Bet tai taip pat tokia knyga, kurią pagaliau užvertęs, atsiloši su atodūsiu ir žiūri tuščiu žvilgsniu į tolį.
Irvingas, sakykit man ką norit, yra rašymo genijus. Protu man nesuvokt, kaip įmanoma sukurti tokius skirtingus, bet vienas kitam nenusileidžiančius siužetus; kaip į kiekvieną, nesvarbu, esminį ar ne, veikėją įpūsti tiek gyvybės; kaip viskam suteikti kažkokios kone buities, bet tuo pačiu magijos ir, nepaisant visko, vis tiek rašyti taip... tiesiog labai gražiai ir lengvai. Irvingas pradeda nuo, iš pažiūros, dramatiškiausio įvykio ir paverčia jį užuomazga, o štai mažiausios detalės gale knygos tampa visiškai esminėmis ir nunešančiomis protą. O dialogai! Aš norėčiau juose gyventi.
Irvingas yra skrupulingas ir labai jautrus, talentingas rašytojas.

Ši knyga apie du draugus, kurių vienas - Ovenas - sutrikusio augimo ir nemutavusiu balsu berniukas, įsivaizduojąs esantis dievo siųstas pranašas. Ironiška - nedidelis, bet didis; plonu, tačiau galingu balsu. Ji taip pat apie tikėjimą - religinį ir tiesiog stebuklu - kažkuo, kam nėra ir ar/nereikia įrodymų. Kai nėra paprasto tikėjimo nepaaiškinamais dalykais, jokios bažnytinės sistemos, struktūros ir ritualai nepadės ir atvirkščiai. Ji taip pat apie Ameriką septintajame dešimtmetyje, jos problematiką, žinoma, Vietnamo karą, pasiaukojimą dėl šalies ir pastarojo absurdiškumą.

Ir net jei dažnai dėl minėtų temų man buvo sunku prie jos rištis, labai prisirišau prie Oveno ir Džono ir vemiančios Esteros, prie Naujojo Hampšyro vaizdų ir atmosferos bei paties lėto, bet gaivinančio plaukimo tekstu.

I loved this book. It has so much heart and a lot of commentary about faith.

All the stars and it has a sentence that actually floored me: ‘The Baby Jesus had an erection.’

Can’t recommend it highly enough (the book that is, not the Baby Jesus erection....).

5 stars

I must start by saying this is by far the most unique book I have ever read! All I knew going in was that this is billed as a phenomenal character study, and the protagonist hits that baseball where it shouldn’t have gone. But Lordy, this tale is far more than that.

The story is narrated by Owen’s best friend, Johnny Wheelwright, who has his own story to tell as well. Owen is an irritating little fella who stands just under 5 feet, is light as a feather, and has a whiny, screamy, baby voice. And what a spitfire he is! For a great portion of this tome I wondered how he was going to come out of this looking good. But gradually I warmed up to him and ultimately fell in love.

Sometimes (OK, a lot of times) I was uncertain where the book was going, and the timeline jumps about. The story, set for the most part in New Hampshire, begins in the early 1950s and moves forward through the years until the mid 1960s. It then hops to the late 80s, catching us up on Johnny’s life. From that point it moves back and forth between the past and the 80s. Throughout all this we wade through quite a few philosophical soliloquys, mainly about the Vietnam war and about religion. But be patient. As the end approaches all the little vignettes, the musings, the “seemingly nonsense” are all weaved together into a powerful, monumental, and emotional ending, leaving the reader totally wrecked and with enough to think about for years to come. I had never read John Irving before, but his works are now square in the middle of my radar. This man is stunningly brilliant!

Not only did this book give me so much to think about, but it also made me laugh louder and longer than any other book I can recall. I always read while eating breakfast and lunch and nearly choked several times while reading the chapters entitled “The Angel”, “The Little Lord Jesus”, and “The Ghost of the Future.” Priceless!

I dreamed about this book. That has never happened before. And how ironic that it was THIS book that was the first I ever dreamt about. You will understand if you read the book.

Do I recommend A Prayer for Owen Meany? Does the sun rise every morning? But you must commit to it. It is nearly 700 pages, it can meander, and it is not action packed. But boy, is it profound and oh, so rewarding. It will without a doubt be on my top ten (or five or three or better) list of all time when I ultimately make my way to the big kindle in the sky.

It's taken me several years to get into this one: now I'm not sure why. It's long and the book starts slowly, although it's always very well-written. But the story (and the writing) pick up momentum as it goes along and by the last third I could hardly put it down. And the ending, although the reader is prepared for it, is riveting.

Owen Meany and Johnny Wheelright are childhood friends. This friendship not only survives but becomes even closer following a tragedy, which happens right at the beginning of the novel: Owen hits a baseball that strikes Johnny's mother and kills her. Owen is notable both for his small stature and his high-pitched voice (which is represented in all-caps typeface which took me some time to adjust to). He comes from a poor family, John comes from one of the town;s most prominent ones (the town is a New Hampshire town like many of Irving's settings). The story begins in the early 1950s, follows the two through the 1960s, and is interspersed with remarks from John written in 1987.

Although small and odd, Owen is a remarkable person who is deeply respected by the town. Much of the story meditates on faith, doubt, and religion. The book is almost a meditation on what faith is (and what it's not). It also looks at what miracles are-do they exist? what do they mean if they do?
who decides if they are real or not?

The book is sad, even tragic, but there is also humor throughout. Certainly a lot of it is dry wit (especially when examining John's social relations, his difficulties with girls, and his life as a teacher). Owen himself can be very funny.

At one point, Irving quotes Hardy as saying that a storyteller is like the Ancient Mariner and must have a story worth stopping people to listen to.

This is that story.

Audio narrated by Joe Barrett

Opening sentence: 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 a modern fable; a story of faith, moral courage, destiny and friendship. Covering the period from 1953 to the late 1980s, Irving uses the narrator – Johnny Wheelwright – to comment on the politics of the day, social mores, the role of faith and religion in our communities, and the miracle of enduring friendship.

I loved Owen Meany almost as much as Johnny did. He could be exasperating, but there was something so mature and wise and loving about him that simply drew me in. He was a born leader, and while he sometimes struggled with the burden of that leadership he forged ahead with courage, grace, dignity and faith.

Joe Barrett does a fine job performing the audio version. His unique voice for Owen Meany is very effective. I did read a few sections, and I have to agree somewhat with some of the negative reviews about the ALL CAPS used for Owen’s voice. This is where the audio version really helped.

Brilliant

There were times that I thought some editing could’ve helped, admittedly. After all, it’s 1155 pages! But overall, it was the funniest sad story I’ve ever read, and it was brilliantly done. It was a deeply satisfying read. Over a year later, I still find myself thinking about this book.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Is a well written person centered novel. It would fall into the category of Historical Christian Fiction. It had some very funny parts. Starting in 1953 New Hampshire. Based off of the information given if I were to diagnose Owen it would be with Autism. He was definitely an eccentric child growing into an even more eccentric young adult. This has long sat on my TBR. I did not have alit of interest in reading. With encouragement from others and sick of WW2 novels I decided to go for it. I am glad I did. It is long and detailed. It could have easily been cut back by 5 hours.

Oh my! Where to start! How has John Irving never come to my attention before now?!!! I can't even remember how I stumbled upon this book but boy am I glad I did?!! The essence of the story has such a simple premise but Irving is so much of a genius, he manages to create a masterpiece out of that premise. His knack for description and narrative is uncanny. Owen Meany is such a complex, loveable, arrogant, petulant, honest, real, raw character whose life and reason for being is fascinating to unravel. The "story" of him and John is so expertly crafted and woven, I found myself drifting through hundreds of pages with ease and certainty. Sometimes books with a pseudo religious theme can be a bit off putting for me but the religious undertones to this story totally make it what it is. It's just pure literary genius. I applaud John Irving for one of the greatest tales ever written.

“my life has been determinedly unexciting : I’m not complaining; I’ve had enough excitement. Owen Meany was enough excitement for a lifetime.”

It took a long time for me to pick this book up and actually read it- I’ve started it many times- but I knew it would make me feel sad. I wasn’t wrong but it was also a wonderful expression of life and love and the deepest friendship.

" 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."

That is the opening lines of the novel,and aptly describes what the book is about. This novel goes from there,and takes you on a wild ride of quirky characters,and circumstances that will make you laugh your ass off. This book is one I would whole heartily insist you read. Even if you've read Irving before,and missed this one. I bought this book in the early 90's,and after reading some of Irving's other novels, I just now got to this one. You know that book you've had on your shelf, like forever,and you just never got around to it, for some unknown reason? Yes, that's the one. I wish I had picked this up long ago, but then again maybe Owen himself , being the instrument of God, decided now was the only "ripe" time that I should open it's pages,and devour this fantastical novel for the very first time. I can see myself waiting several years,and reading this one again.....like I've done with Cider House Rules,and The World According to Garp.

What makes this book of Irving's different in my estimation is......it's denseness, it's goofiness,and it's wild humor. I thought this one had the most chaotic,and all around most complicated plot,and of all the times I have laughed at Irving's stories, I think I found myself laughing at this one the most. The characters are whacked in sooooooo many many cases,and yet they are endearing,and believable, totally charming,and you can almost understand why they act the way they do. As the first lines tell you, it all seems predestined from the start all the things that happen to these characters,and to Owen in this novel.

Irving spends a lot of time setting it up....unfolding the details,and the points of the plot, where you furiously read page after page because you just gotta know now what's happening. I have read that Irving is a big fan of Dickens. To me, this is like reading a Dickens novel....many of Dickens characters are truly strange, yet wonderful. The same formula here.

This is another Irving novel that I won't soon forget,and I do hope that someday I'll take the ride again,and reread this one. I am not a big fan of rereading....but Irving motivates me to do so. This book is no exception.

I know I've read on here that some people didn't like this one....and others loved it. I find that to be true of most of Irving's works. If you are a fan at all, read this one, if you haven't. If you've never experienced Irving.....you don't know what you're missing in this one.

I sure wish I could meet John someday!