Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

I can't say I was overly impressed, which may say more about me than it does John Irving's skill as a writer. Mystical, nostalgic, quirky in a way that I didn't find appealing, and irreverent in a way that I didn't find engaging, I found it instead very slow going indeed. A Jamaican friend of mine read it also, and at the time (this was a few years ago), we discussed our overall dislike towards it (neither one of us felt strongly enough against it for that dislike to become antipathy; I remember Irving as a good writer, but his writing just never came alive for me in the way that great writing is supposed to). I recently asked my friend again for her impressions of the book, and she couldn't remember even having read it. She said, "That should be commentary enough, though. Usually I'll remember even bad books that I've read." I'm more charitable than my friend-- I don't think it's a "bad" book, or a forgettable one necessarily, but it's not high up there on my list of great books.

I have read many comments about this book being the best book that an individual has ever read. I dare say that I have never heard of any other SINGLE book which has as many fans who claim it to be the (singular) greatest book that they have ever read. It is surprisingly unengaging for such a build-up. I didn't really get into it. Maybe I gave up too soon. Sorry if I did, but I don't regret it.

I read this book many many years ago, yet it still stands out in my mind like a recent read. I adore Owen Meany, and this is one of my all time favorite contemporary novels. I wished it were longer, and I think I'll read it again pretty soon, & probably will again wish it could go on longer.The characters are so wonderful, the writing is so classically Irving (that means great), and as usual with his writing, the emotional tour de force is so well executed that I didnt mind laughing through my tears. And this book made me laugh harder than about anything Ive ever read. I LOVE this book!

I love Owen Meany. Love, love, love him. I know what some of the other reviewers mean about John Irving going on and on, but in this case, at the end of the book there was so much meaning attached to some of those seemly-insignificant parts of the story that I wanted to go back and re-read it. This story packs a punch and stays with you.

This is my all time favorite book! John Irving is one of the best, most engrossing authors I have ever read. I love the way he puts together this story, by illustrating his point in tiny pieces until the entire picture is clear. It makes you question a lot of things about religion, fate, etc.

My favorite book of my whole life. John Irving is my hero.

Prayer for Owen Meany is about a boy who is really small. He is a midget with a huge heart and through this book you see just how smart and loving this character is. It took me a while to get into it but it gets good.

I don't understand the other reviewers on this page. For me, Prayer for Owen Meany was one of the most unique pieces of fiction that I have ever read, and beautifully written. The character of Owen is especially bizarre - puny and speech disabled on the one hand, with this amazing, almost Christ-like charisma on the other. It is very hard to review this book without giving anything way, so let's just leave it at this - Prayer for Owen Meany is a beautiful, beautiful book that, chances are, is like no other that you will read.

Someone lent me their copy of A Prayer For Owen Meany saying it was one her favorite books of all time. So I dutifully plowed through it - took me months, I just couldn't get into this Irving novel. The plots okay, but, as with many of Irving's novels you could cut out several hundred pages in the middle and not really alter the story.

My favorite book of all time. 'Nuff Said.

I tried to get into this book but couldn't get there. It just didn't grab me like John Irving's other books.