I could not possibly hate a book more.

I hate John Irving's need to insert himself into books as the primary character. That's not good writing, that's being a pompous ass. On top of that, writing Owen in all caps gave me this feeling he was screaming at me the entire book, which stylistically was a terrible choice; it served to make me hate the main character instead of sympathize with him.

There is nothing about Owen that I liked. Not his obnoxious voice, not his total lack of personality except to be the harbinger of some catastrophe (that was stupid in the end, I might add), not his abusive relationship with Hester, none of it.

I read this in high school and have attempted to reread it twice since, along with a few of Irving's other books, and I can honestly say that I would rather read Twilight than have to read this tripe. Like Moby Dick, I cannot understand how this book became a classic, unless you like people who aren't religious finding religion because a kid who entered the army was right that he would die young.

“…belief poses so many unanswerable questions!”

I first read “A Prayer for Owen Meany” about 20 years ago, and loved it. Having just reread it at age 40, I liked it.
The others in my book club who read it in their younger days and were returning to it had the same feelings, so I’m not the odd man out.
The reasons I like this text are numerous.
First off, John Irving writes the hypocrisy and contradictions of human nature very well, and in a manner that does not judge, just acknowledges. Our narrator in this text is Jon Wheelwright, an expat American living in Toronto in the late 1980s. He is telling the reader about his childhood and formative years in his hometown of Gravesend New Hampshire. At least 90% of the novel is Jon’s memory of the past. That is a good thing, because when we get snippets of the present Jon is unlikable and a man who really has not progressed in any true fashion since his mid-twenties. Just as Jon’s self-righteousness and total lack of accurate sense of self gets grating for the reader, Irving writes something that lets you know it is okay to think Jon is a bit of a jerk. I appreciate that human honesty. In fact, Irving said in a 1989 interview this about his character Johnny Wheelwright, “He is puerile. His sense of political outrage is strictly emotional.”
A highlight of the text is the chapter “The Little Lord Jesus”. It is one of the funniest things I have ever read in a novel. It is slap dash mayhem, and yet the deft characterizations are so tantalizingly real that it is blisteringly funny. Humanity, when presented skillfully and truthfully, can be ridiculously funny.
The “voice” of the title character Owen Meany is perhaps the novel’s greatest strength. Owen is vivid, he sticks with you.
The novel also boasts (on page 277 in my edition) one of the best and most concise defenses of religious faith I have come across in fiction.
And despite my saying all that, my reaction this time around was not nearly as strong as 20 years ago. Not even close.
Why?
I am not really sure, but some possible reasons:
The first half of the book is much much stronger than the second half.
The moments in the ‘present’ in Toronto could have been greatly reduced at no loss to the text.
In addition, an editor could have exerted a greater influence on the author before the novel was published. It is a little longer than it needs to be.
Yet, the ending of the text made me nervous and teary. The reader wants to have the power to believe in Owen as God’s instrument, even if he is not. And is he? Moreover, as already mentioned, John Irving writes real people. I love that his books are populated with minor characters who are quite real. This despite the fact that in the novel they are only given a few sentences, but in those sentences Irving creates a humanity.
Therefore, with this text, despite its issues and obvious flaws, I accept it. I embrace its lessons and what it has to say. Maybe that is the point?
As a character says in the text, “Faith itself is the miracle.”

Great book. The reader did a really great job. At first, the narrator's voice for Owen was annoying, but it was supposed to be that way. I got used to it after awhile.
Book *****
Audiobook *****

4.5 Stars. Although somewhat tedious at times, definitely an amazing and unforgettable story. Owen, with his unusual voice and diminutive size is a gifted, emotional, and peculiar character with a commanding presence. Highly recommend for those with the time (600+ pages and a bit of patience)

I've been on a huge John Irving kick recently, and man, am I glad I didn't start with this book because I might have aborted the whole thing before I had a chance to read some of his better works.

This one just didn't do it for me. Whereas I left other Irving novels feeling recharged and alive, I left this one pissed off and ready to drink cheap tequila until I blacked out and woke up in a new world where there are no books or stories or any sort of entertainment derived from the written word.

First of all, I think Irving has a habit of using his novel's narrators as a stand in for himself, which is fine, since he seems like and incredibly interesting dude, but here I felt like he was just going through the motions "Oh, ok, here's my main character, and he's different than me, uh, because we have different names and um...different parents...anyway, yeah, that's how we're different ok story time now!!!" it was a thin disguise at best and didn't work for me at all.

My second problem was the structure. The book takes place over the span of about 30 years, and sometimes events from all thirty were addressed in a single page. Which is fine, if it works, but I felt like he was trying to go for an "omni-present" narrative that ended up being muddled.

I also think the book might work better for people who are a little older than myself. A large part of the story deals with the Vietnam war and it's relation to the Iran Contra scandal. While these passages were in no way "lacking" it did seem like they were aimed for people who were alive during that time, and could share in Irving's (obvious) outrage. Side note - I found myself finding a bazillion (yes, a bazillion) similarities between the national atmosphere in '68, and now.

Oh, and while I love Irving's knack for the unusual, here it seemed like every other page he was trying to force a "classic" situation, wherein unusual characters meet in an unusual situation that illuminates their nature in the most unusual of ways. It got so bad that at times I felt like I was reading a sitcom.

There were a few bright spots. I was genuinely moved by Owen's character, and I thought he served as a wonderful example of how Christ could have been at once holy, and flawed.

Gah - The thing is, Irving is a new love in my life, and like any new love, I wanted it to be perfect. But he isn't and that's fine because who wants perfection anyway but goddamn I wanted to love this one.

Um, yes. Ok, well, I'm giving it two stars - but two stars for Irving is four for most other authors.

This is the book that made me want to be a writer. I read it in high school, thanks to my favorite English teacher, Mrs. B, who had written down the title on a Post-It note and said, "You need to read this." I immediately went and found a copy and had it finished it by the end of the week.

There is no way I can write a review that is worthy of this novel, but I shall try. It is the story of two boys in New Hampshire in the 1950s: the narrator is Johnny Wheelwright, whose family is wealthy; and his friend, Owen Meany. How to describe Owen? He was small and light, and he had a loud, high-pitched voice. He was smart and a loyal friend. Owen's parents were a bit odd, and his family was poor enough that the Wheelwrights often helped Owen with tuition and clothing.

The first chapter brings a tragedy: Johnny and Owen are playing baseball. Owen, who doesn't usually get to bat because he was so small, was told by the coach to go ahead and swing. Owen hits a foul ball that strikes Johnny's mother and kills her. Johnny is devastated and has trouble forgiving Owen, but they eventually make peace, thanks to a stuffed armadillo toy. (Thus explaining the armadillo pictured on some editions.)

The rest of the chapters cover the boys as they grow up and go to prep school. Owen has a gift for writing and pens some inflammatory columns in the school newspaper. There is also a hilarious prank that Owen pulls on a teacher he doesn't like, which involves a car, some athletes and a stage.

One of my favorite sections of the book describes a church Christmas pageant that goes horribly awry. Owen, who can be a bit bossy, takes over the pageant and assigns himself the role of Baby Jesus, even though in previous years it was just a doll. It's a laugh-out-loud disaster, and almost every year at Christmastime I'll pull out this book and reread the chapter.

When the boys turn 18, the Vietnam War is escalating and Owen signs up for the Reserve Officers Training Corps, which will pay for his college tuition while he serves. Owen even comes up with a plan to spare Johnny from having to go to Vietnam. Owen always has a plan, you see.

The plot slowly builds and builds, and I would describe it as a crescendo. There is a purpose to everything in the story, and by the end of the book, we understand why things had to be exactly what they were.

If you are a first-time reader of this novel, I need to warn you that there is a difficult passage at the beginning. Johnny, who is now an adult and has left the United States and moved to Canada, discusses his feelings about religion. I think this is the point where some readers get frustrated and abandon the book, but I urge you, I implore you, I beg you -- do not give up. There is a reason for it. If you can power through the discussion of churches, you will break through to a wonderful story.

Speaking of religion, I would be remiss not to mention the comparison to Jesus that Irving made. Whenever Owen speaks, his dialogue is in ALL CAPS. Bible readers will note that Jesus' words were printed in an all-red font in many editions. There are other similarities to Christ, but the less said on this, the better.

I have reread this book many times since I first read it in 1990, and each time, it moves me again. Some novels are easy to explain -- this one is not. It's a marvelous mix of comedy and drama and bildungsroman and the meaning of our lives, and I am grateful to have it in my life. I am not a religious person, but I became so attached to the character of Owen that thinking about him can make me a bit misty-eyed. He is complex and fleshed out in a way that few fictional characters are.

Note: This book meant so much to me that I was horrified to hear that Hollywood made it into a movie. There is no way this book could be captured on film. Luckily someone had the good sense to change the title -- probably a demand of Mr. Irving -- but I have no intention of ever seeing it. Some of you may know that I have a hobby of comparing movies adaptations with the source material, but this book is the exception. I want to remember it in its pure form. Owen would want it that way.

Author John Irving is, like me, a non-believer but with this novel he posed himself the question 'What would it take to make me a believer?'

The belief system in question is Christianity; he seems to see belief as a binary equation: Christianity or atheism, but the novel is none the weaker for this, in my opinion. I think to include other faiths and turn it into a multiple choice question would have muddied the overall message. This is a novel, after all, not a theological essay.

Written in the first person from the point of view of unreliable narrator John Wheelwright, a closeted gay man who is painfully in love with his titular best friend (although this is never explicitly stated, it was obvious to me) 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' is exquisitely crafted, deeply moving and highly entertaining.

As well as the question from my opening sentence, this book is also about love in all forms, the politics and reality of war and loss. So much loss. I loved every minute of it.

This was my first John Irving novel but it definitely won't be my last.

P.S. The audiobook, read by Joe Barrett, is astonishingly good. Barrett's performance may well be the single best audiobook reading I've ever listened to.

A long book which I didn’t want to end. I’m not alone in wanting the star of the show back.

He (OM that is) and John Wheelwright are best friends who grow up together in New Hampshire. Their lives are intertwined. They love each other in an almost biblical sense. The Bible and religion will figure quite prominently here, but don’t let that put you off.

These boys are born in 1942, (the same year as John Irving) so we follow them through interesting times in the US of A – the cold war, Cuba, Kennedy assassinations, the Summer of Love and, central here, Vietnam.

Owen, though very small in stature, has a giant personality, one that leads and teaches and understands. John, the narrator is always in his shadow (I did use the word biblical, remember? John was the disciple who Jesus loved?)

Owen Meany is not someone you can forget in a hurry. Irving’s imagination went into overdrive when creating him and his story. Lots of humour, pathos, superb characterisation. Come back into my life, Owen Meany!!

Basket ball will never be the same again for me.

If it’s not on your radar it should be. Be warned! You will probably get a nudge from me in that direction.

There are not many happenings and outer plots in any of Irvings´novels, but the language, the thoughts of the characters, and the precise working towards a final conclusion throughout the whole novel is a trademark of this unique writer I would name in a row with Dan Simmons and Stephen King, because he has this unique writing style. And while there is much more action in Kings´ works and Simmons´ is dancing at each genre wedding, Irving keeps it minimalistic and totally character based, the greater setting around, the world, nothing really matters, it are the characters he writes for and loves.

That could be a reason why some readers may find it more boring than ingenious, it strongly depends on if one likes the style, but if it´s a match, boy, those are novels never to forget again.

It´s possibly his darkest novel, dealing with death, guilt, and sacrificing in a cruel and hypocritical society, criticizing many of the evils still lurking under the dangerously thin and still very young patina of the achievements of the human and woman rights movements in Western countries, that are still omnipresent in many other societies.

Owens` strong belief in predetermination is contrasted by Johnnys´strong skepticism regarding anything supernatural and the two friends are used for many philosophical and ethical discussions and reflections that are smoothly and logically integrated into the brilliant main plot.
One must have read Irving to understand the mesmerizing effect of his writing, very few authors have the ability to create in such an inimitable way and this is definitively his grim masterpiece. Oh, and there are some innuendos and connotations about US politics of the last century too.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

It’s a while since I finished this book – I felt I just needed a little time to gather my thoughts on it; there’s a lot to take in. For those who have yet to experience this amazing book I’ll quickly summarise the set-up. The two main characters are Johnny Wheelwright (through whose voice the tale is told) and his best friend Owen Meany. Owen is small in stature (possible less than five feet tall, fully grown) but big in character. His voice – we’ll come back to that – dominates the novel. Set in a small New Hampshire town in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it opens with the catastrophic news that Owen was the cause of the death of Johnny’s mother. A mishit baseball shot struck her on the head, and she died from the resulting trauma. How this individually affects the pair of them and impacts the relationship between them is one element of this novel, but just one element. The book can be seen as an anti-Vietnam war rant, which I believe it is - in part. It can also be considered the musings of a non-religious man (the author professes that he can accurately be described in this way) on the teachings of the bible and the way in which these lessons can guide people’s thoughts, behaviours and the relationships they forge. It’s also a rites of passage tale of two boys growing up amid the confusion of everything that’s going on in their lives.

Aside form his height (or lack of it), Owen’s voice is his standout feature – it’s a nasal scream that is captured in the written version by being shown, throughout, in full capitals. In the excellent audio version, I listened to the reader produced what I can only describe as a compellingly accurate rendition of the author’s description. It’s a haunting, screeching, and slightly disturbing voice that absolutely stood out from the crowd. And Owen himself stands out in so many ways – he’s wise, loyal, challenging, outspoken, and kind. He’s the kind of friend I believe we all wish we’d had when we were growing up.

There’s humour here, too. Some of Owen’s verbal tirades had me smiling and sometimes laughing out loud. And there’s a mystery to be solved concerning the identity of Johnny’s father. This is a book that entertained, informed, and challenged my perceptions in so many ways. I can only say that I was so sad to finish this tale that it’s taken me a week or so to get over the loss of it. Is it the best book I’ve come across this year? It’s more than that – much, much more than that. I know we all experience these things in our own way and I’ve no doubt some will be frustrated and switched-off by elements I found compelling here, but I’d urge anyone who fancies a thoughtful and possibly memorable journey through the lives of two people growing up to grab a copy of this book. With luck, you’ll find it as wonderful a journey as I did.

To begin the year, I tackled one of John Irving’s classic novels that found me laughing throughout, while also extracting some of the serious themes. Owen Meany is a small child, much tinier than those his age. With this, he has the most grating voice one could imagine. Some attribute this to the family granite company, while others prefer to keep the mystery alive. Owen is unlike many other children his age, as his best friend, John Wheelwright, has come to discover. One summer day in 1953, Owen hits a foul ball on the baseball field and ends up killing John’s mother. Owen attributes this as an act of God, one in which he is a vessel for the Almighty. The rest of the novel is set in a number of vignettes involving John and Owen, surrounding by a number of other characters who cross their paths throughout this complex friendship. From a number of interactions with the Wheelwright family through to stunning decisions that could significantly shape his adult life, Owen Meany finds a way to make his impact felt by all those around him, sometimes in a saviour-like manner. This storyline is contrasted nicely with the adult John Wheelwright who has left his native New Hampshire and settled in Toronto, exploring some of the goings-on in modern (1987) America. Having been a resident of Canada for over twenty years, it would seem Wheelwright is unable to accept his new home and struggles significantly with the political foibles in the US, things he superimposes his own Owen Meany perspective upon. Stunning in its delivery and slow momentum build, the story is a lot more than it seems on the surface. Recommended to those readers who love tales that take their time but leave literary breadcrumbs throughout, as well as the reader who enjoys a meandering tale full of messages.

While he has penned a number of great pieces, I have never read John Irving. Even this book was not familiar to me when placed on my reading challenge list. I was not entirely sure how I would feel about it when I read the dust jacket blurb, but I cannot say enough now. Layered between a religious undertone and preachy child who seems to know it all, the story developed in a meandering fashion, but always seemed able to push forward. I found Owen to be as annoying as ever from the opening pages, but I stuck with him and noticed that he has some redeeming moments, even though he seems too pompous and pious for his own good. His prophetic ways and odd obsession with older women—both in admiration and an odd sexual manner—leaves the reader wondering about him, yet also transfixed by his oddities. Even with John as the narrator, Owen seems almost takes centre stage and does not defer at any time. I did enjoy John’s character, as he comes of age alongside his best friend and seems never to hold animosity for the accidental death of his mother. Inseparable for most of the book, John and Owen seem to grow together and experience life through many of same experiences, though their lenses differ greatly. The flash-forwards to John’s 1987 life show that he remains committed to being Owen’s narrative protector and seems unable to divorce himself from his American roots, refusing the conform to the Canada he accepted as his new home. With strong religious ties to his Episcopalian (Anglican) upbringing, John Wheelwright sheds some of that on the reader as well. With a full cast of wonderfully diverse characters, the story moves forward and is flavoured repeatedly as things take many a tangential turn. Irving is a master at this type of colourful depiction, never losing the reader, no matter how far off the beaten path things get. The story appears to be a quilted collection of memories and vignettes, but soon finds its groove and the reader is able to see the themes that Irving embeds within the narrative. These gems slowly come to create a larger masterpiece that the patient reader is able to see for themselves by the final few pages. I am happy that I was able to last this lengthy piece, as its rewards surely outweigh the non-linear nature of the story at times.

Kudos, Mr. Irving, for a stunning piece well worthy of a five-star rating!

This book fulfils the January requirement of the Mind the Bookshelf Gap reading challenge.

This book also fulfils Topic #3: Children Matter, in the Equinox #9 reading challenge.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

''Ono što hoću da ti kažem jeste da ćeš, ukoliko želiš da radiš stvari na svoj način, morati da doneseš odluku - moraćeš da smogneš malo hrabrosti.''

Za prvi čitalački susret sa Džonom Irvingom odabrala sam roman ''Molitva za Ovena Minija'', djelo koje se slilo na 650 strana, i čija se radnja gradi oko Ovena Minija.

Oven Mini je dječak izrazito niskog rasta, piskavog glasa, i dječak nesputane harizme i domišljatosti, a priču o njegovom životu pripovjeda njegov najbolji prijatelj Džon.
Nakon trenutka koji će odrediti Ovenovu i Džonovu sudbinu, otpočeće i Ovenova potreba za vjerom u čuda, predodređenost određenih događaja i želja da ispuni ono što mu se ukazalo kao Božiji plan.

Spajajući priču o prijateljstvu i američkom društvu tokom Vijetnamskog rata, Irving je napisao djelo, koje uprkos svom obimu, nijednog trenutka ne gubi na dinamici, stvarajući rasplet, koji je vješto i prirodno pleten od samog početka, rasplet u koji su utkani svi prethodni postupci Ovena i Džona.

Djetinjstvo, školsko doba, te konačno period regrutacije za rat u Vijetnamu, životni su periodi kroz koje pratimo glavne likove, i koji obrađuju pitanja religije, američke kulture (književnosti, televizije, filma) i američke politike u vrijeme predsjednika Kenedija, i kasnije, rata.

Ovo originalno, duhovito i potresno djelo, koje obiluje sjajnim likovima, situacijama na granici realnosti, humano do poslednje stranice, oda je jednom vremenu, jednom prijateljstvu i nadi da se čuda, na kraju ipak dešavaju.

''Ako ti je do nečega stalo, moraš to da zaštitiš - ako imaš dovoljno sreće da nađeš život koji voliš, moraš da iznađeš hrabrosti da ga živiš.''