A Prayer for Owen Meany
"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." So begins John Irving's new novel.
In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys - best friends - are playing ina Little League baseball game in Gravesend , New Hampshire; one of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. The boy who hit the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen - after that 1953 fould ball - is extraordinary and terrifying.
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Community Reviews
This is a tough one to review because it’s hard to put into words what one can get out of a book such as this. Narrated from the first person point of view, this story is a sweet and poignant tale that reminded me in part of To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my all time favorites) because of that narration, the intentional characterization, the coming of age story, and the slower moving plot; the focus for Irving seemed to be more on the development of the characters with such enjoyable humor scattered throughout. I love how readers get to know the townspeople through the eyes of the young protagonist, and I adored how Johnny observes all of those characters again at the end as they gather for Owen’s funeral (this is no spoiler as the book begins with the line “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice”).
I appreciate the book and what I got out of it but did not appreciate this 600+ page book only being broken into 9 chapters! What!? It was slow moving at times which made it difficult to pick up, but it makes sense when you learn about John Irving’s literary influences. Admittedly, I didn’t get into the book right away and it felt like a chore until I started listening to the audiobook as I read. That honestly made the difference for me. I’m so glad I stuck it out.
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