A Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Eleven-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire, hits a foul ball and kills his best friend's mother. Owen doesn't believe in accidents; he believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul is both extraordinary and terrifying. At moments a comic, self-deluded victim, but in the end the principal, tragic actor in a divine plan, Owen Meany is the most heartbreaking hero John Irving has yet created.
It took me a month to read this book! John Irving does not mince his words. This is the story of Owen Meany, a small person with a strange voice and a calling.
It's the 3rd book by Irving that I've read and although they've all impressed me they've all felt too long. This is a very slow story of Owen Meany's life as told by his best friend John Wainwright. I'd like to say it gathers momentum to a satisfying ending but it doesn't. Irving takes his time. He goes into great detail about everything. Set in America there is a lot of information about the Vietnam war and what was going on in America around that time. But the events revolving around Owen Meany are in the past for the narrator so we also get his views on American politics in the 1980s. There is also a lot about religion in the book, particularly the different churches in America.
I'm glad I made it to the end but it wasn't a compelling read for me. I hate giving up on books so I persevered. I've given it 4 stars because I couldn't in all honesty recommend it for reading without a lot of caveats but the way Irving pulls this story together is impressive.
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It's the 3rd book by Irving that I've read and although they've all impressed me they've all felt too long. This is a very slow story of Owen Meany's life as told by his best friend John Wainwright. I'd like to say it gathers momentum to a satisfying ending but it doesn't. Irving takes his time. He goes into great detail about everything. Set in America there is a lot of information about the Vietnam war and what was going on in America around that time. But the events revolving around Owen Meany are in the past for the narrator so we also get his views on American politics in the 1980s. There is also a lot about religion in the book, particularly the different churches in America.
I'm glad I made it to the end but it wasn't a compelling read for me. I hate giving up on books so I persevered. I've given it 4 stars because I couldn't in all honesty recommend it for reading without a lot of caveats but the way Irving pulls this story together is impressive.
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I saw the movie loosely based on this book, *Simon Birch*. It was okay, but it didn't give me any great poke to read the book.
ReplyDeleteIt was on the BBC list I've been trying to work through. I might try and check out the film now I'm done with the book.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review Wendy, I always appreciate your reviews.
ReplyDeleteCarla
A tough author, for sure. Thanks for the review, Wendy!
ReplyDeleteHe is not easy to read. I did it years ago, but most of it I had forgotten ! Thanks for the resume !
ReplyDeleteI am again anonymous ! I don't like that at all, lol ! Gattina
ReplyDeleteYes it's a nuisance. Maybe safer to always sign your name at the end of a comment.
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