A Prayer for Owen Meany

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Summary: Every page is a fascinating journey
Review: To rely on a plot description is very dangerous in trying to decide whether or not to read this book. I read "Owen Meany" since it came so highly recommended by so many people that I know. I am sure that if I had read a synopsis of the book somewhere, I wouldn't have bothered. There have been books that have humored me, and there have been books that have saddened me, but very few books have ever moved me to laughter or to tears. This one did both. And while the book is at first daunting in its length, a reader is sure to quickly overcome this initial discouragement. For me "Owen Meany" was truly inspirational, for the story, for the symbolism, as well as for the writing itself. Irving's style is fresh and inviting, and certainly addictive. I would recommend this book to *everyone* even those who are literature-phobic and who think that John Irving is some stuffy dead British author (like I did); at the very least, it deals with some controversial topics and provides a wonderful platform for discussion or debate. In any case, it is a book you will not soon forget. Though I can't wait to get my hands on more Irving, my only regret is that "Owen Meany" is the first of his books that I have read. From what I understand, it is a tough accomplishment to live up to. I doubt I will *ever* read another book that moves me so.

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Summary: Fustrating yet poignant; no less than brillant
Review: I literally had to read this book; it's required for school. I've read most of Irving's works, and I have a great respect for him but for want of a better reaction word I will say I'm iffy about A Prayer for Owen Meany. I think what bothered me was how Irving foreshadowed too much... the novel's about 600+ pages and for the whole part the narrator John kept saying stuff like, "I didn't know what Owen meant until... later" and "I didn't know how correct Owen would be until... later." I definitely liked the latter half the best. But then again the last part wouldn't be that effective (or do I mean explosive?) if John didn't allude to it so much. The good news: Owen Meany is thought-provoking. You're left with a sense of wonder, of your mind frantically grappling through what it'd absorbed for the last hours and connecting it all together. I sighed "ahhhhhhhh" at the end... And I've never read a contemporary author who does humor as well as Irving. It's wry, a little sly, like Owen wanting to ask forMrs. Walker to be casted as a prostitute, or a child molester; it's not outright hilarious but effective in that I thought of the Freud-like doctor's VW in the auditorm and laughed (and this is nearly a week after I'd finished the book.) Reading Irving for me is always a double-edged sword but regardless of the reservations I have, I definitely recommend Owen Meany.

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Summary: Rollercoaster Ride
Review: This book was required reading for sophmore year. When I bought it, I grimaced, thinking that my summer had hardly begun, yet I'd have to read this 600+ page book. But as I began reading it, I hardly hated it as much as I thought I would; in fact I actually liked it. I was into it the whole time. I couldn't put it down, because I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. And because of Irving's descriptions, it seemed as if I could feel the characters emotions. I went from laughing histerically to being in awe, to almost feeling as if I was going to cry. This is a pretty good book, especially considering that I had to read it for school over my long awaited summer vacation. I think everyone should give it a chance and read it.

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Summary: One to remember....
Review: I read A Prayer for Owen Meany months ago yet I continually find myself thinking about it and referring to it. I will be reading another book and think "Oh! This is similar to Owen Meany." Or I will meet someone who makes me think of one of the characters in this book. It obviously had a very big impression on me. This book was such a joy to read and a great book to share and discuss with my book club.

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Summary: All time favorite
Review: It has been ten years since the first time I read this book, however I have never read anything like it in all that time. I laughed out loud at the Christmas pageant, smiled at the armadillo and cried at the end. I don't want to ruin the book by giving away any of the plot, but if you want to read a wonderfully crafted story with characters which live with you forever. Buy this book.

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Summary: Mine too
Review: The 600+ other reviewers have already said it all about this remarkable work. But I just had to add that OWEN MEANY is also MY all-time favorite contemporary fiction book. There's been nothing like it since Mark Twain and his extraordinary blend of drama/humor/pathos. I'm currently on my fourth reading of OWEN MEANY, this time aloud with my significant other. It's a journey to relive again and again.

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Summary: A Big Fan of A Prayer for Owen Meany
Review: Young Owen Meany, cursed with a wrecked voice, is also cursed (or blessed) with recurring nightmares that expose the time, place, and circumstance of his own death. What Owen and his friend Johnny don't know is whether these visions are accurate predictions of things to come, or just repetitive nightmares visited upon a sensitive, impressionable child.

Owen believes the former while hoping for the latter. His beliefs outweigh his hopes; thus Owen spends his formative years preparing for the heroic, yet unimaginable feat he is to perform at the moment of his own death.

How these events shape his life as well as the life of his childhood companion, Johnny, shape and define the serious side of this wonderful book. Interwoven among this tale of spirituality and redemption are some of the funniest scenes to ever grace an Irving novel, and that's saying a lot. The chapter covering Owen's school Christmas play is, on its own, worth the purchase price of the book.

Of all of Irving's novels, and I've read them all except for Setting Free the Bears (which I just couldn't get through), A Prayer for Owen Meany stands out as the best.

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Summary: After reading this book I went into mourning.
Review: I have been an avid and not very discriminatory reader for over 40 years, however, I recently discovered John Irving and finally read 'Owen Meany' and wish I'd done so years ago. After finishing the book I wept buckets, both for Owen, and for the fact that I'd finished the book.I literally couldn't sleep, I was so upset. Owen is a pint-sized person with a heart the size of a mountain. You know Owen's not going to live a long life due to the fore-shadowing that Irving uses,to such good effect, but the way that he ties up everything in the last few pages is nothing short of miraculous. The book makes you question your religious faith (or lack of it). Owen never has any doubts, but he never comes across as a religious nut; he just knows he has a great purpose in life and he works towards it even though all his friends think he is crazy. Symbolism and allegory are rife in this book, but apart from all that, IT'S A GREAT READ. And by the way, all those who don't like the politics? Tough. I happen to agree with everything John Irving wrote in the book.

Rating:
Summary: An avid reader's all time favorite book
Review: Interesting reading, with a stunning conclusion. Deep in symbols and laden with foreshadowing that makes sense at the end, but doesn't foretell the end prematurely.

It is a tremendously clever work, which I think Irving patterned as a modern day gospel. Almost all the characters have new testament names (Owen's middle name is Paul). In spite of its cleverness, I was more moved in a spiritual sense by this book than anything I have ever read in my life.

(Don't read the following if you're already convinced and want to keep the end a complete surprise.) The movie based on the book (Simon Birch) does not come close to doing the book justice. In the movie Owen (Simon) is portrayed as possessing an accepting foreknowledge of his fate, but in the book he grapples mightily to come to terms with his situation. The movie also ends with movie style acknowledge of Owen's unbelievable selflessness before he dies. The book is much more brutal in its portrayal of Owen's sacrifice.

Rating:
Summary: possibly the best book ever
Review: I read this book when i was in 11th grade. As most teenagers i wasn't to thrilled about reading a 600+ page book but as it turns out it was so worth my time. I eventually even got out of my tv scheldule to go read. I bought this book for my mom the following Christmas so she could read it and so i could read it again. It has a great and interesting storyline that'll keep you reading and laughing all the way to the end.