A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (Epub)

Description

I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.

In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy’s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn’t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary.

User’s Reviews

“I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.”In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy’s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn’t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary. About the Author John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times—winning in 1980 for the novel The World According to Garp. In 1992, Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He won the 2000 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Irving’s most recent novel is In One Person (2012).

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ The fact that this novel often shows up on the AP reading list piqued my interest. Once I downloaded this and realized it was a behemoth of a read, I doubted I’d be able to use it in my classroom, but I read on regardless. Despite its length, this novel is fluid and never tiresome. Its beauty is reflected on every page. The main character, Johnny Wheelwright, spends a lot of time talking about his best friend Owen Meany, the book’s titular character, but through this narrative we learn a tremendous amount about the Johnny as well. Even alluding to the content of the story gives away too much, and this is a book you must experience for yourself.As an avid reader, many books fade with time. This one will always stay with me.

⭐ for this book. I am a fair to middling fan of John Irving and I had to give Owen a couple of tries but, in the end, he got me. This book remains magical after literally a dozen or more readings. I laugh and I cry at exactly the same parts where I always laugh and always cry but the story and its miracle never grows old. It is a story of love. Love between friends, between a mother and her son, within families we are born into and within families we create. It is so hard to reduce the story to a simple rehash in a review. I’ll let you discover the miracle of Owen Meany on your own.

⭐ I was really excited when I saw this book was on sale. The movie Simon Birch is one of my family’s favorites, so I was very eager to read the book the movie was based on. The book is a total disappointment! The book is filled with long winded, overly detailed descriptions of everything. The author also keeps switching between the past and the present. The parts that are in the present (late 80’s) are filled with the narrator’s left wing political rants. The narrator apparently was a dodge drafter during Vietnam and now is a Canadian citizen. The narrator repeatedly disparages the United States, the people, the government etc. Not only is it offensive but more importantly, it is completely unnecessary to the story. It’s like the author decided to use this novel as a chance to force his leftist ideals down the reader’s throats. I started just skipping those parts altogether just so I can finish this awful book. The character Owen Meany (called Simon Birch in the movie) comes off as an angry, rude, kid who is outright disrespectful to his parents and others in authority (nothing like the obnoxiously funny, and cute character portrayed in the movie). This book is a horrible disappointment and I am only finishing it because I always finish a book that I start. However, there is no enjoyment here, I’m just slogging it out until I get to the end of this boring, wordy, overly hyped book.

⭐ 3.5 starsA Prayer for Owen Meany is a unique and fascinating literary fiction read. I had a difficult time rating this book, because, although I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and found it captivating, humorous, and thought-provoking, it is bloated. The author could have easily shaved off two hundred pages and made this book not only easier to read but more enjoyable as well. The story itself, however, is unique, multilayered, controversial, and just plain fascinating.Owen Meany is an adult who has been teased since childhood. He is barely five feet tall and weighs less than one hundred pounds. Although Owen’s voice is strangled and screechy, whenever he speaks, people listen. Owen Meany is brilliant, witty, outspoken, and rebellious. He is also kind, loving and selfless. Owen is an enigma.Although Owen and John were two very different people, they have been best friends for forever. Owen came from a poor and depressed home where both of his parents were mentally handicapped. John came from a fatherless but loving home, where he lived with his mother and grandmother. Often, imperfect people, are used by God, to influence and teach others, life lessons. Owen was such a person, and he knew what his purpose was.A Prayer For Owen Meany is a book that will grip your heart, trigger your anger, make you think, laugh out loud and cry. It’s a fascinating book that will leave an imprint on your heart.

⭐ THIS CANNOT BE THE SAME AUTHOR I’VE BEEN READING I can’t believe this book – I’m stuck in the middle of a muddle… & I REALLY had to stop.It’s just not interesting. The main character – Owen, disappeared. John (who tells the story – & may be the main character?) is grown up … & reading about his life is less interesting than watching grass grow. How long can this POSSIBLY go on – like this?(I won’t delete the book. Maybe someday I’ll go back & skip to the end…but, right now I could care less) Oh yeah, & Ipaid 8.00 for the privilege!I DON’T BELIEVE J.I. WROTE THIS.

⭐ I think this book is unforgettable.It’s long and requires some patience.There is quite a bit of political meandering, but I lived through the Viet Nam thing with my friends (and my husband) deciding to go or trying to get a deferment..The character of Owen Meany was unlike any character I’ve ever met before. and the relationship between him and the narrator was wonderful.For me to call a book unforgettable is saying a lot since I read or listen to audio books on a daily basis. A lot of books run through your mind and are gone. This is not one of them… at least not for me.But then I have always been a fan of John Irving and I think this is one of his best.

⭐ “It was Owen Meany who taught me that any good book is always in motion – from the general to the specific, from the particular to the whole, and back again. Good reading – and good writing about reading – moves the same way.” So said John Wheelwright about his best friend, the physically undersized but intellectually precocious protagonist and title character. John Irving subscribes to Owen’s philosophy – at least in this book. The narrative moves from the past ( the escalation of the Vietnam war) to the present (the escalation of Reagan era foreign policy gaffes); it shifts from the metaphysical (Owen’s religious calling) to the reality of his small town New England life (working in a family owned quarry); and from the big picture (the justification for war) to the detailed nuance (the realities of returning the remains of soldiers killed in action to their families).A good fiction author should attempt to tell a good story; a great fiction writer should try to convey a deeper message about the human condition within a good story. John Irving is a great author. In this book, he tells the story of two friends who are superficially different but form a bond from their early years which survives and evolves through their youth and young adulthood, until Owen, in preordained and somewhat unusual circumstances, is killed during the Vietnam war.On a deeper level, however, the book is about faith, the meaning of life, the hypocrisy of war and more. Throughout the book Irving describes events, large and small, that move the narrative forward but may not have a clear relationship to the larger story until the final chapter. In light of this, I urge any reader not to give up (if so inclined) until s/he gets to the final chapter as this ties together much of the earlier elements of the story. The last chapter appears to veer off on a tangent but, despite the unsavory circumstances, it is consistent with the overall trajectory of the story. It is compelling and causes the reader to ask some profound questions about his own understanding of faith and destiny. In other words – a great work of fiction.

⭐ My favorite author is John Irving but this was not good. Added too much politics about Vietnam war and the Iran-Contra affair. Ending was predicable. It was on PBS best 100 novels by an American but they should have picked any of his other novels…eg Cider House Rules.

⭐ Do you believe in divine purpose, in fate, in destiny? Owen Meany was too good for this world. He was an instrument in the world, in his community, in the lives of his loved ones. And now he is a part of mine, too.John Irving is one of my all-time favorite authors. I love his descriptions and his in-depth involvement in his characters. The time he invests in his stories, not just a period but a life, carries his readers along an entirety of experiences. Yet this story was difficult to get into. It took a long time to see the thread that brought it all together. After a while, I was involved enough to feel a commitment, to be curious. Then it all came together. Like John Wheelwright, I needed time to see the big picture, to become a believer.

⭐ This book was listed as Christian Fiction and should not be categorized in that way.

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