Rating: 
Summary: Truly Beautiful
Review: I was leant this book by a friend of mine, and I almost fainted at the size of it! I started reading it straight away and in the first night read over 100 pages, it was amazingly engrossing. I thought it was beautifully touching and very funny. Although it is very long, every single page was needed, every detail necessary to the fascinating plot. It is the story of two boys, Owen Meany and Johnny, and goes through their growing up. I loved the way everything Owen says is written in capital letters as he had such a strange voice. I had a clear picture of Owen and all the other characters in this novel. It is one of the best books ever written, certainly one of my favourites, the only downside being the bits that go forward to Toronto. Personally, I found them a little bit tedious. But other than that I simply loved it and had to stay up one night reading the last 100 pages to find out what happened and was in total shock from the amazing twist in the tale that the whole book leads up to. Absolutely beautiful and a real must-have!
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Summary: I laughed out loud!
Review: The characters are richly developed and quite quirky. It is a wonderful story of a lasting friendship. I love this book and plan to read it many more times.
Rating:
Summary: Meany
Review: A book of 600 pages may seem quite long, but this book is not boring. When you begin reading the book, it is quite hard to stop doing so. The delicately knit story by John Irving seems to grab the reader's attention and never lets it go. We are presented with a truly astounding life of Owen, with an unforgettable voice, and the life of his best friend, Johnny. Owen challanges authority and religion. He also questions life. Through the eyes of Johnny, we are presented with the true meaning of life itself. It is a story about a boy who, in a dream, sees his own death. A story that will surely have an emotional effect on any person who desires to read it. One of the interesting things about this book is that, when you read the book, you become part of it, you become enveloped by the problems of the fictional characters created by John Irving. The plot of the story is quite believable. The book will carry you from the childhood of two boys, to the manhood of two adults. It will carry you through the devastating war of Vietnam. Good things do come in small packages.
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Summary: Words can't describe this book!
Review: Words can not begin to describe the depth of emotion I felt after reading this book. My boyfriend at the time kept pestering me to read it, so when I finally got around to doing so (you know how it is when you "have" to read something - sometimes you tend to approach it with a "whatever" attitude) I couldn't believe I had waited so long to begin the book.I could not put it down. I took it to the pool. I took it to work. I stayed up late (and woke up grumpy because of my lack of sleep) to read it. And then I wanted more of it. Irving does such a fabulous job of character development it is unbelievable. One can see the naive attitudes of John, Owen's best friend, so clearly and how they follow him throughout his life. The devotion that Owen feels toward John and his gratitude that John treats him like he's "normal" is evidenced by all that he gives up for John. The angst of cousin Hester, the attitudes of the townspeople...these people just came ALIVE! I was so thrilled with this book that I ran out and bought "The 154-Pound Marriage," also by Irving. Perhaps "Meany" spoiled me, but I didn't find this other work near as stimulating. It was an interesting read, yes, but it paled in comparison to the magnificance of "Meany." READ IT, READ IT, READ IT!
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Summary: A Prayer For Owen Meany
Review: When you finish this book you are left with a feeling of missing the characters and a desire to start all over again
Rating:
Summary: I love Hester the Molester
Review: As I look back on the novel, A Prayer For Owen Meany, I remember many things that I liked about the book and few things that I disliked. This book is in my top three favorite books of all time. In my opinion, there was only one downfall to this book: It's length. This book was around 600 pages long. When a book is 600 pages long, it leads to some slow parts. To me, this book revolves around an awesome friendship between Owen Meany and John Wheelwright. These two are inseparable and this makes the story more interesting. When Owen Meany hit the "fated foul-ball", I was sure that Johnny would hate him forever, But, if anything this strengthened their friendship and I think their friendship is an important aspect to the novel. Throughout the book, you learn that Owen is going to die a hero. This always kept me awake because I wanted to find out who or what he would be a hero to. I always tried to guess before I really found out. I am sad that this book ended but, will definetley read it again. I will also recommend this book to friends, siblings and parents. I think this is a great book that everyone shoul read at some point in their life.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful writing, but too much naive politics
Review: John Irving is a powerful writer, and in A Prayer for OwenMeany he has created an endearing, unforgettable character in Owen.This novel is insightful and poignant, and offers many sharp and funny observations of life in a small New England town and in a private boys' academy. But Irving doesn't settle for this. He also adds left-of-left political commentary that is jarringly out of place in an otherwise lovely book. Irving's venomous politics badly mar his novel, making many pages of the book seem like a naive, windy polemic.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure!
Review: This is one of my favorite books by John Irving. It will assuredly give you a good belly laugh. This is one of those books that you keep, because you know you will want to read it again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacks faith
Review: I am perplexed as to how anyone can give this book a five star review. The premise at the beginning is that Owen Meany's friend (who tells the story) learns faith. As a child he lacks it and at the end of the book as an adult he possesses even less. Owen has little to no faith either in his life, except for his significant purpose that does realistically in the end attach him to God and faith and purpose. But he fails to inspire Johnny onto any real faith of his own. My guess is John Irving doesn't know enough about faith to write about it convincingly. Great lengths of this novel -- and totally irrelevant to the story line -- are committed to a liberal bash of Ronald Reagan, too. If that inspires the reader, go for it. But once again I was more impressed that Irving didn't know what he was talking about. Another dislike was Irving's tendency toward perversity in every scene of action. Once or twice okay, but the barage created redundancy and detracted from some otherwise good storytelling. I was very disappointed in the quality.
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Summary: Oh God - please bring him back! I shall keep asking you.
Review: One of the greatest novels I've EVER read. Quotable from start to finish. If you haven't read the Amazon.com review above don't. It gives away WAY too much. Novels are greatest when they're surprising. Owen is convincingly intelligent, funny, loud (in voice and character), thought provoking and charming all at once. Beyond Owen, the rest of the characters are brilliantly developed and undeniably human. Those who love symbolic depth in novels will get more than their fill, but the plot is intriguing as well. It's surprising how such a long book will leave you begging for more at the end! John Irving is a witty, imaginative author and I can't wait to read more of his books. Owen really earned SIX stars. I'd also like to mention that parrallels can be drawn between this book and "The Scarlet Letter". If you've read that book before this one they're not hard to pick up on.
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