A Prayer for Owen Meany

(27) Every year around this time, I re-read a book from my past. I remember thinking this book was magical when I read in my 20's and Irving became a favorite author of mine for quite some time. This is yet another novel which has withstood the test of time for me. Owen Meany is an unusually small boy with a high-pitched scream-like voice (in the novel always written in all caps) growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in small-town WASPy New Hampshire, home of a high-end prep school. The book's narrator is his best friend, a rather nondescript fatherless boy, who nevertheless comes from money despite being an illegitimate son of a prominent family. Their incredible friendship is the heart of the novel, yet as they grow Owen takes on show more a cult-like persona as he becomes to believe that: HE IS THE INSTRUMENT OF GOD.

Sometimes this book is just so damn funny - especially when they are small boys. Oh my goodness, the armadillo, the descriptions of his rambunctious cousins and the missing eyelid, the doink grabbing - I laughed out loud often. And at times, it was incredibly poignant, again especially when they are young boys and Johnny's mother is involved. The writing is quite good, though certainly was long-winded and circuitous at times. The modern-day narrator and his struggles to assimilate into Canada and the political ravings about the Iran Contra affair definitely account for the 1/2 star off.

The novel has a lot to say about faith, religiosity, the power of a strongly held belief. There are times when I think Irving is telling the reader we, Owen, all of us have been duped, HAVE BEEN USED by religious faith. Owen's parents crazy story, the dummy and Reverend Merril. But other times when belief in a higher power is so indelibly crafted by Irving - "HOW DO YOU KNOW MARY MAGDALENE IS STILL THERE IF YOU CAN'T SEE HER?" and certainly the details of the pre-ordained event - the armless totem, the palm trees, the penguins, etc. It is the kind of book that leaves you more than a little unsettled - Hunh? but satisfied nonetheless.

So I agree with my twenty-something old self and by my hastily scribbled review years later "A book I consider one of my all-time favorites." Purely aesthetically, I see that this book is flawed so I can't quite give it a perfect rating - but I am not at all let down by my re-read. Poignant, funny, bizarre - a great read. show less

A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
5 stars


********SPOILER*****






It would be easy to write a brief synopsis of the story. Two boys grow up together through the 50’s and 60’s. Owen accidentally causes the death of John’s mother. Owen goes on to die a heroic tragic death. This is not much of a spoiler because the ending is so clearly indicated in the first chapter, if not the first sentence.
It’s the structure of this novel that makes it great. The story is revealed in bits and pieces as John searches his memory for the pivotal events of his life. John tells the story as a person might relate a trauma to a psychiatrist. Each telling reveals a bit more of the truth, the meaning of events. It’s as if the entire book is the show more dénouement of the climax that takes place on the final pages.
John Irving has the ability to write hysterically funny scenes side by side with the deepest tragedy. Anyone who has ever had anything to do with a children’s Christmas pageant will appreciate Owen Meany as the baby Jesus, and I couldn’t stop laughing at the Volkswagen prank. On the other hand, I had to put the book down for a long while after this paragraph:
“I have felt that the yuletide is a special hell for those families who have suffered any loss or who must admit to any imperfection: the so-called spirit of giving can be as greedy as receiving – Christmas is our time to be aware of what we lack, of who is not home.”
This story is going to stay with me for a long time. I need to read it again, just to appreciate how well crafted it is. show less

I see the literary quality of this book. I really do. Irving has a quiet, compelling voice that weaves references together like recurring melodic themes. He speaks naturally, giving equal weight to the sacred and the mundane. It is the blurring of sacred and mundane that ultimately cause me to put the book down unfinished.

I believe the mundane can be sacred, but I do not believe the sacred can be mundane. To say otherwise renders the word "sacred" meaningless. So while I read patiently through the boyish exploits of the main characters and the strange account of a mother's death, I could not quite accept the scene of the Christmas pageant, which delights too much in its irreverence.

I am left wondering where the narrative will show more ultimately lead. I know that the upheaval of the sixties and the moral controversy of Vietnam will become a subject. But I do not have any sense that Irving intends to uphold or convey the sense of the sacred, despite his presentation of Owen Meany as a Christlike figure or his constant references to religious life. For me, the absence is too hollow. show less

Almost 20 years ago, when I was the tender age of 19, I bought and read "A Prayer for Owen Meany." It was the first new hardcover release I ever bought. At that age, this seemed an extravagance. After years of a reading diet consisting of popular fiction in the romance and horror genre's, Irving's work was rich literary cuisine. I was entirely unprepared for the book's climactic end, at which I sobbed uncontrollably. As moved as I was, I declared "Owen Meany" my "favorite book of all time" (at age 19, this isn't saying much), and from that moment, left genre fiction behind, vowing to only read literature forever after.

When the book club group I currently lead insisted we read "Owen Meany" for our January pick, I was nervous. They were show more responding to my 18-year-old declaration of that book's favored status. But honestly, after that much time, I didn't remember much about it. With some trepidation, several weeks ago, I picked up my copy of "Owen Meany" and began anew.

Though I remembered some things, in many ways, my rereading was like experiencing "Owen Meany" for the first time. How could I have so totally forgotten the Vietnam War-themes? How could I have absolutely no memory of the second half of the book, with the exception of the last five pages? Such was the case with many parts of the book. Thinking occasionally: "Oh yeah, I remember this." But, more often: "I don't remember THIS at all."

Really, at age 19, what stuck with me most were the themes of faith and friendship; the comic-tragedy of one's best friend causing one's mother's death.

Now, at age 37, after having four kids, after tucking a bit more life into my belt (not to mention my waistline), after watching our world move in frightening directions, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" unfurls in undreamed of ways. Now, more than ever, I can confidently claim this IS my favorite book of all time. Complex, deft, prescient, wise, I have rediscovered a modern classic; one that is more relevant today than it was 20 years ago; one that I am delighted to introduce to my book club friends.

If you haven't already, read this book. show less

I don't think there are many books as intelligently written as this one - for me.
Beyond the writing, lean and simultaneously generous, Irving masterfully tells of a story filled with a deep understanding of human thinking; of human behavior; a story that pulls you out of your world and into Owen and John's. Believably so.
What a sad affair it was to leave it.

i never rate a book this highly (or usually enjoy it this much) when it took me this long to read. this is a first for me, and part of me wants to rate it even higher.

in my memory and in this reading (although not in my review from the first time i read this), this is the only book by irving that i've read that has a good ending. (garp was alright but not great.) it's even a brilliant ending, with so many details throughout the leading 580 pages that matter in the last 30 pages or so, it's just a perfect set up and perfectly executed. everything in this book is here for a reason, which is perfect in itself for this book's plot. is it satisfying? that is up for debate. but it's satisfying in that irving warned us that it wouldn't be show more satisfying, so if we don't like the ending, it's exactly what we were told it would be. and it's satisfying in that it's perfect for this book.

this felt so dense, and so slow to read, but i enjoyed it all the way through. there were times in the first 350 page that it felt like it was taking a long time to read - there was one night i read for 2.5 hours and only got through 30 pages, so here and there i wanted it to be a little less wordy, but I never was not enjoying it or not wanting to read it. i never felt like it was a slog, even though it almost never takes me this long to read a book. and virtually every time i picked it up, even if i just read a page or so, i laughed. this book is much funnier than i remembered; i laughed a lot while reading this.

i love the irony of belief here, that johnny wheelwright becomes a believer even when he sees that while owen might have been a prophet, he ended up bring his prophecy upon himself, causing the situation that required his heroics, making his death completely pointless or unnecessary. pastor merrill becomes a believer again when he is tricked into thinking he saw a sign. the meanys are ridiculed for their faith, but owen is right - what makes one virgin birth believable and another crazy? what is belief? faith?

the politics (in both the past - vietnam - and the present - reagan/iran contra) he talks about, the themes of loss and family and friendship, there is so much in here to think about and to reflect on. and the entire book is a foreshadowing of the ending, it's so well done.

i don't always know what irving's message is, and i don't always love the writing or the way he tells this story (i mean some of it is really strange or awkward, but it works), but i do really, really like this story and what he does here. i find it interesting that my review before tells me that while i really loved the book on the first reading, that i got mostly different stuff from it this time around. but still appreciated similar things about it. (and that i read it in 2.5 days, which is astonishing to me.)

there is so much in this book and i cannot wait to discuss it with book group.

"I have a church-rummage faith - the kind that needs patching up every weekend."

"IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND A WAY OF LIFE YOU LOVE, YOU HAVE TO FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE IT."

"This is what a self-centered religion does to us: it allows us to use it to further our own ends."

"...we are a civilization careening toward a succession of anticlimaxes - toward an infinity of unsatisfying and disagreeable endings."

there's something approaching a kind of perfection in this book.

from dec 2008:

yes yes yes!!! the cover of this book calls this book 'extraordinary' and it is nothing less. there is so much i want to write - i want to write that philip roth needn't have written american pastoral because this was already written a decade before. (and far better, i might add.) ok, so some of their issues are different, but overall, this book so evoked american pastoral for me, and the difference in quality for me is obvious. this book is definitely not for everyone. but i loved it. this is easily the best john irving i have ever read (i have only read 3 others - the 158 pound marriage, the hotel new hampshire, and a widow for a year) but this book soars above the others. i don't feel irving is a terribly good closer, and the same is true of this book, but the rest of it more than makes up for what the ending lacks. this book is funny in a way that i didn't expect from irving, and also touching.

it goes between the main character in 1987 and his memories of growing up in the late fifties and through the sixties. so vietnam is crucial to the book, as is reagan and the iran contra affair. the commentaries on government and reagan are so appropriate today as well. details aside, it could have been written about current events.

i love what he does with religion in this book, which is also crucial to the story. i love what he does with the religious people in the book to humble them, and make them perhaps less 'christian' than others in the way they live their lives. and that they question their faith, sometimes more than any lay people do. and the icing on the cake regarding finding lost faith. (i won't spoil it as it comes at the end, but it's brilliant.)

ok, so john irving has issues around sex. this book emphasizes them far less than the others i've read. for him, really, hardly at all. i would say, though, that in this book his female characters are disappointing. there's really only two major female characters and one is sex-crazed, and while a strong woman, not exactly well adjusted. the other major character is present throughout the book but remains pretty undeveloped. the other featured female is a perfect ideal, but she doesn't get to live long enough for us to know if she would have lived up to that ideal or not. based on other characters in the book (and the fact that she's not the jesus character in the book) we can assume that she wouldn't have.

the following quotes are a good takeaway, and kind of a supershort overall summary of the book, but first, something that i take away, but i'm actually not sure if irving meant this or the exact opposite (spoiler alert; skip to after this paragraph if you don't want the spoiler): the entire book is centered around this character that you know is going to die doing something heroic. everything prepares you for this, and on faith, you accept it. after all, throughout the book you're told the value of faith. you are, of course, also told the value of doubt, but this is something the reader doesn't doubt. and then when it finally happens, you finally find out about the hero's death, it could hardly be more anticlimactic. maybe that's just my opinion of it, but it seemed totally a wasted death to me, and maybe that's irving's point after all. that everything led up to this penultimate moment, and it was a complete letdown for everyone - the hero did save lives, but only after putting them in danger in the first place, and not in the way he'd imagined. he shaped his life around this one moment, and it was for naught. the hero would have served the world far better without his sacrifice. i love it. so intense.

i enjoyed this so much, from beginning to end.

"...I have a church-rummage faith - the kind that needs patching up every weekend."

"...if you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it."

"Although the sun had set, vivid streaks of vermilion-colored light traced the enormous sky, and through one of these streaks of light I saw Owen's plane descending-as if, wherever Owen Meany went, some kind of light always attended him." (4 stars) show less

'he looked like a descending angel- a tiny but fiery god, sent to adjudicate the errors of our ways'
By sally tarbox on 16 Sept. 2012
Format: Paperback
One of the best books I've ever read: the 'engineering' of the writing is faultless as narrator John Wheelwright, a middle aged teacher, recalls his childhood and youth, and his miraculous friend Owen Meany. These are interspersed with little blasts from his present. Irving reveals events gradually, keeping us guessing throughout. Humour and drama work side by side.
The tiny Owen, with his strange voice seems at first just a target for his peers' teasing. But his charisma, strength and great intelligence gradually become apparent. Indeed there seems to be something 'other worldly' about show more him....
As I read this it made me think about the early life of Jesus, of which the Bible tells us hardly anything. Was his purpose gradually revealed to him as a child? How did his parents treat the Son of God? Was Jesus himself able to get along with others of his age group, participating in their games and mischief?
A fascinating and moving read that remains with you long after you've finished it. show less