Rating: 
Summary: Humor, Emotion, Perversion
Review: The humor, the perversion, the emotion, these are the things that made A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY an iteresting book. The book was a lot like reality but strange enough to remain itresting. There were parts of the book that were slow and pointless-seeming, but those parts were always followed by very intertaining, most of the time funny sections. There were also parts of the book that were discusting. John's almost incestuous relationship with his cousin Hester made me sick to my stomach. Although these parts keept me in the book, they made me laugh. The book overall to me I will remember for a long time. I ended up likeing this book and all of it's characters through the humorous, perver- ted, and emotional sections. It was not my favorite, but I do recomend that everyone read it because it could be you favorite.
Rating:
Summary: A little review for Owen Meany
Review: I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany. I thought it was a pretty well thought out book. The first part of the book holds a lot of Gravesend history and if you can make it through that it is a very humorous book. At least up until the halfway point . At the halfway point, the book is filled with religious and political monologues. Some get long, involved and mostly boring. although there are long boring parts there are funny puns and comments along the way. After seeing the movie Simon Birch, I really liked the book. Then, after reading the book, I watched the movie again and appreciated the book a whole lot more than before. I thought the ending in the book was alot more meaningful than the ending in the movie, where "Simon" (Owen) just up and dies after saving children from the fridged waters when their bus plunges through the woods into the river. I also found the characters more convincing in the book versus the movie. I think the characters in the book had more positive roles than in the movie. I would highly recommend doing what I did, watching the movie, reading the book and then watch the movie again. It is amazing the diffrence in a hour and a half movie and six-hundred pages of a book.
Rating:
Summary: Molesters, Heroes and Prayers, OH MY!
Review: I would not recommend this book to anyone that doesn't have the patience or gets bored easily! It takes lots of time and patience to eventually appreciate this over lengthed book. You just sit reading and waiting for the writer to get to the point or even to the plot. It never really specified a direct plot. Is the story more "Who is Johnny's father?" or "Why is it Owen is not so normal?". This book leads you into many different what if's and why questions. The author makes you read way too much into the stupid little things. (The authors non-stop repeating himself over and over again about things that pretain nothing to the direct story.) I get really annoyed with the never ending talk of religion. The author has the character tell about everylittle thing about every damn things he learned and could rememeber about religion. He side tracks so much, that I think he could have left out the 300 pages to much that would have left this incredibly long story, sweet and to the point. I did enjoy the basic plot of this story with its unusual characters and exceptional heroism. Owen Meany, the main character, goes through so many changes physically, mentally, and spiritually that I admired what he over came in his inner and outter struggles with what's his meaning really is here on earth.
Rating: 
Summary: That Extraordinary Story : A Prayer For Owen Meany
Review: John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meny is a novel that takes you through the extraordinary life of the self-titled main character, Owen. The long-winded, six hundred and seventeenpage novel, takes you in and out of present time and past, to in a sence, texture the reading experience. This time traveling, if you will keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the conclusion of the previous adventure. because this book covers the spance of over twenty years, this traveling can truthfully become dull, especially when you spend pages upon pagesin an anti-climactic present time. One thing that should be mentioned is the aparent symbolism of the book. There are blatant uses of symbolism, if youd call it that, in the book, which certainly don't keep you guessing. The spelling out of EVERY symbol in the book was a rather sophomoric call of Irving. In every instance, to the last page, Irving makes sure that everything mentioned, fits, the storyand ws meaningful. I found this to be extremely annoying, for lack of a better word. Overall, I found this book to be worthwhile.Although there are dull spots, as to be expected of book this voluminous, and the symbolismis, well, less than symbolic, I can see myself years from now looking back at this experience and reguarding this book as a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A Look at One of God's Messengers
Review: I don't believe there is any chance of me meeting another human like Owen Meany. I'm sure that if I hadn't read this novel, I would have never known a person like Owen. I'm certainly glad I had the chance. At the completion of this book, I had a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, partly because "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is rather long, and partly because it has such a lasting effect. This is an intricate story full of comedy, tragedy, symbolism, and "higher" power. It's not everyday that I get the opportunity to see the tale of a messenger of God. I gained an honest oultook on many subjects of life and the world by reading this book. The powerful meanings, images, and general feeeling of this story radiate throughout it. I would definately recommend "A Prayer for Owen Meany" to anyone wishing to enhance their personal library.
Rating: 
Summary: A Small but Large Miracle
Review: If you're not scared of reading a 6 hundred plus page book, then I would recommend the book, A Prayer For Owen Meany. The book is very long, and is filled from cover to cover with vivid details, but in almost every page there is some sort of new information about the mysterious Owen Meany to further draw you into this long story about the childhood of John Wheelright which for the rest of his life was influenced and impacted on by his minature friend. Also in itself, the book contains many true life facts and opinions of many historical events which were commented on very often by Owen Meany throughout the book. A Prayer For Owen Meany, is the only book I've read that could make me so curious as to what is going to happen next that I couldn't wait to read the next page, while making me sad, happy, disappointed, angry and make me laugh out loud all at the same time. Owen Meany is an unforgetable character who, after reading this, could make anyone sit and wonder, how much faith do I have? If you've seen the movie version first I can only inform you that the video is nothing like the book and the book is one-hundred times better than the movie. My overall opinion of the book remains heartily, that this is one of the best books I've ever read and would recommend it to anyone who wants to laugh a little and cry a little.
Rating:
Summary: Not a great book.
Review: When I started reading A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY I liked it. In the beginning, it showed a lot of promise for becoming a good book. But as I read on, it seemed to go downhill. I liked the part of the story when Joe and Owen were young, but when Owen became a smoker who slept with his best friend's cousin, I began to lose intrest. I also thought the referrals to President Reagan were boring and pointless. Although, some parts of the book did make me laugh. Like when Owen wet his pants, and when he moved a car into he auditorium. All in all, I would not read this book again, or recommend it to someone. I just don't think it's worth all the effortthe reader has to put into it.
Rating: 
Summary: A prayer was needed for John Irving
Review: John Irving displays his talent in this novel in a truly human way. By this I mean it's comprised of both the good and bad, brilliant and pathetic, superbly humerous and dismally boring. A good deal of patience, regarded as a virtue, is needed to finish this long, meandering book. While at times amusing, there are large portions of tedious and pointless information. There is a rather jumpy style to this novel, consisting of flashbacks and rememberances witout end. Irving must have had a burning desire to connect everything in his book. Overstressing his reminders and attempts at foreshadowing, he denied the reader the chance to actively participate in the book. It shows a complete underestimation of the reader's intelligence. The only saving grace is that is accurately depicts life in a New England town and shows the plight of draft dodging. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone unless they had an overwhelming desire to read everything they could on drafts and New England.
Rating:
Summary: A "Not so proposterous" book
Review: A Prayer for Owen Meany was long but heartfelt. Every page was important in the end, surprising or not. It was a good book, but you were happy when the 600-page book was over. It was too much religion for me. It was important to show the power of Owen's faith, but it was still a little much. Owen Meany, "the granite Mouse," was a four-foot tall angel that affected a small town and showed them what true faith was. I think he could possible have been "god's instrument," but he was definetly a hero. John Wheelwright, the narrator of the book, and Owen's best friend was the one who needed the help, not the midget with the squeaky voice. Even though Owen took Joe's mom, a middle finger and Joe's cousin, Owen gave Joe so much more. Not only did Owen give him a best friend, or faith, but he also gave him hope for a future. Because this book was so long, I think it took something away from the passionate book. I give this book three-and-a-half stars!
Rating:
Summary: Owen Meany: A Dramatic Tale of a Second Prince of Peace
Review: I enjoyed John Irving's novel for the most part. Some parts of the story seemed unbelievable, but, on the whole, it was a touching book. One thing that really stood out for me was the religious references throughout the story. I found this aspect of the book very thought-provoking. For example, Owen Meany's idea that Jesus Christ was "used" is a whole new idea about the Easter story for me. Also, the very idea that Owen Meany was a "virgin birth", a second Christ child, is particularly intriguing to me. One aspect of the book that I have mixed feelings about is the way the book was written. It jumped all over time, sometimes before finishing an important part. For example, we were told about Owen Meany's funeral before we were told about his death. At times this technique was frustrating, but I think mostly it added dramatic effect. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book. I thought it was well-written and very creative. Four stars!
|
