A Prayer for Owen Meany

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Summary: Amazing! It changed my entire view of faith!
Review: I have never been so touched by anything in my entire life. Everyone who questions religion or faith in God should open their eyes to this novel. Owen Meany is someone I will never stop thinking about

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Summary: another in a string of wonderful books by John Irving
Review: "The World According to Garp," "Hotel New Hampshire," "Cider House Rules," and "A Prayer for Owen Meany"--all terrific books. I'll never forget "Beware the undertoad," in "Garp." I hope Irving writes another as good as these four, but it would be hard to match these in quality

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Summary: Irving's Best Book
Review: I was perplexed by the lack of acclaim for A Prayer for Owen Meany by the critics when the book was first published back in the 80s. Over the years, I have reread it three or four more times, and I am more perplexed than ever. This is one of the few books that I never seem to tire of. Each reading has given me new areas to enjoy, and at the end of each encounter I find myself sad to have to leave the world that Irving has created behind. It is almost like I am saying goodbye to old friends that I know I will miss until a few years have passed and I will visit them again. This is a large book that seems too short. The symbolism Irving employs is subtle enough to appeal to those who don't enjoy being beat over the head with metaphors. At the same time, it is bizarre enough to leave plenty of room for interpretation. I am not always sure what Owen represents, or what the narrator represents for that matter -- my view seems to be colored by my own experience since the last time I read the book. I find this a real point in its favor -- it keeps the story dynamic enough to last a lifetime. Finally, I would like to say that this is one of the few books I've ever read that made me laugh out loud, as well as suppress the urge to cry. When I get to the narrator's plaintive prayer in the last few pages of the book, I too feel like I want answers from a God that is too enigmatic to give me any that will satisfy me.

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Summary: The World According to Owen
Review: It is not inconceivable that Owen is one of the most endearing, and most enduring characters that I have ever travelled with. As a child, a teen, a man, a lover, a soldier, and a hero, Owen takes you on a voyage that is not the story of his life, but the story you wish was your own. If you never share another book with anyone, make sure you read this with the someone who travels with you

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Summary: This book will make you laugh, cry and read it over and over
Review: When I went on summer vacation, one packed with plans for wild and fun times, I packed A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY as the book for me to read before going to sleep. The first night I started reading it, I didn't sleep, because I kept reading. The first day, I cancelled all the plans (plans I had been looking forward for for sooo long), and read. I kept reading, until, with tears in my eyes, I finished the book.

I already considered Mr. Irving as an excellent story-teller, but with Owen Meany he became more. He became Story-Teller extraordinair. Not only does he keep you captivated with the story, he makes you feel THERE. You are there, practicing the shot, you are there, on the baseball field, you are there in the bedroom with the mannequin.

I have read A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY over and over, at least once a year, and everytime I read more into it. Everytime I laugh, cry and keep reading it. It's an absolute must.

Every friend of mine has read this book, and I have not find ANYONE who doesn't like it. It's an absolute MUST to read, if you think you're capable of handing such intense emotions

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Summary: If you've lost your faith, this is the book to read!
Review: Kids are cruel. God has made Owen Meany diminutive to the point of deformity, with pointy translucent ears and a voice that causes his classmates to run in horror. Except for Johnny Wheelwright, who cheerfully sees beyond Owen's physical limitations to the avid genius dwelling in Owen's brain. Life is cruel. Unintentionally, Owen kills his only friend's mother, a act which would make most people question the existence of a God who would make someone "a freak," then make him the instrument of death of his best friend's mother. But Owen Meany never loses his unswerving, unshakeable faith in God, and by the end of John Irving's remarkable novel, be you agnostic or atheist, YOU will believe, too.

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Summary: Five times and still counting. . .
Review: Six years ago I read A Prayer for Owen Meany as I watched my son's Little League Game. It has now become a summer tradition. Each summer, I look forward to that day in June when I will start Owen Meany once again. . . looking for that first page when Owen's voice appears (and what a clever way to put that voice to print). I can hear the screech of the Granite Mouse in my mind as scene after scene comes forth from my memory. As you read each section, you feel as if you are hurtling to an ending that you are powerless to prevent, an ending that you cannot wait to reach yet dread the moment you reach it. The best!!

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Summary: A wonderful story in a frightening time.
Review: I read "Owen Meany" while stationed along the Saudi Arabian - Iraqi border during Operation Desert Shield. In a situation that did not seem to make much sense, I found a book that could take me away for a moment and show me something bigger than my own immediate concerns. Along with my Bible, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" let me rediscover my own lost faith in God. A favorite book throughout the base camp, it helped this young second lieutenant "weather" the coming Desert Storm. -Scott Sadler ([e-mail].k

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Summary: a quirky look at people who'll make your heart & mind glow
Review: I read owen meany last summer & have long since loaned my copy out (and haven't seen it since). I'm a tough reader but was awestruck by Irving's ability to connect every single detail of this novel; there are no wasted words!!! But instead of being bogged down by this I wanted to break into Owen's world. I wanted so badly to be a part of this novel that I dreamt about it nearly every night. What is strange is that when I saw my college friends they too had been bitten by the Irving bug. At least a half dozen of us unknowingly read owen meany at the same time! You know a book has to be good when a group of twenty-somethings stop quoting the Simpson's and start quoting owen meany in their best interpretive squall. Read the book it'll stop you dead in the tracks of your life!!

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Summary: It still touches me, 5 years after I last read it
Review: My aunt and I read this book while we were studying abroad. We read it over and over-- I stole it from the shelf about her bed so I could read it while she slept. I was jealous when I saw her reading it because I couldn't. As we went through the life-altering experiences you might feel when you go abroad for a long time and become a language-minority and a foreigner, we kept relating what we were experiencing back to Owen. People thought we were related to Owen Meany, as much as we talked about him. We read it so much, we destroyed the poor paperback