Owen and Johnny are friends in New Hampshire in the 1950s. They have a unique bond which is due in part to Owen's extraordinary presence. The dwarfed child has a strange voice that chills most people (including Johnny's grandmother), but he also has an adult-like wisdom and understanding. The bond between Owen and Johnny is sealed by a freak accident when Owen hits a baseball, killing Johnny's mother.

As they grow up, it becomes clear to Johnny that Owen thinks he is guided by God. The accident with Johnny's mother is just one incident that ultimately will lead Johnny to find his own faith.

There are moments of biting humor in the novel as well as moments of sadness. Although the majority of the story centers on Johnny's childhood, it continues through his high school and college years.

Predestination, faith, doubt, politics, love, hate, family, friendship ... these are all themes that make appearances in this book.

A delight to read & I definitely recommend.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to a special Bookcrossing friend -- enjoy!

Pyan - thank SO much - a RABCK from my wishlist AND two fab gifts! I am a lucky girl :-) This book is in the BBC top 100 which I am trying to work my way through, looks v good. Thanks again sweetie xxx

I really enjoyed this book - I did find it quite hard to read, for some reason I couldn't read much of it at a time. Maybe this is becasue there was so much to take it - it works on so many layers. I loved the characters, I wanted Owen to be that miracle. Wow. I felt sad about the effect on Johhhy's life - although he was a more interesting person as a result, he was also a sadder person. Anyway, thanks again Pyan so much for sharing this fabulous book with me. It's is No50 that I have read in the BBC top 100, so I'm getting there!

I've given this to a friend who I HOPE is going to come and journal it. It may make it's way back to me or go onward....

My friend told me this was a good book and in fact it has straight away become one of my favourites. I found the book much more powerful than a very good stage production I had seen, because there is such a wealth of riches in the book and a play has to be selective.
Personally I saw some similarities between Owen Meaney and Oskar the hero of "the tin drum", which is one of my most loved books. On a very broad level they both tell the story of a country at war through a central character of small stature with warmth, intelligence and dark humour. They both work on multiple levels. There are some big differences. Whereas Owen is heroic and "too good" for his country, Oskar wants to be a survivor and goes with the flow in Nazi Germany.
"A prayer for Owen Meaney" is an incredibly rich book, even the sub-plots and minor character hold your interest. A brilliant witty and darkly comic book.

OK this has made it's way back to me - so glad it was enjoyed :-) and now it's going to rapturina in The Netherlands as part of the BBC top 100 relay.

It's here! Going straight to the top of Mt. TBR. :)

A bit of background first: I am obsessive about books and I am incapable of not finishing a book once I've started it. In fact, there are only two books ever that I have put away and haven't finished, of which one is this one, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Naturally, I can't stand not having finished a book, so I figured I'd make a New Year's resolution out of it: read this book.

So having said that, naturally I was a little apprehensive about starting this book. I remember not finishing it years and years ago because I thought it was boring and the story was going nowhere. I think I made it to about 1/3rd of the book until I put it away.

But this time I finished it! My complaint about the first 1/3rd of the book still stands, it's not necessarily boring, but there doesn't seem to be a clear point to it, it's more like a string of anecdotes. It's not until the Nativity play happens that I really started to enjoy this book. In fact, the Nativity play scene had me in stitches and finally the book started grabbing my interest. The story gets going a bit better after that as well, and in the end I couldn't put it down. The book ties up very nicely too (always a plus!), and I must say I'm glad I read it all the way through this time - it gets a lot better after you get to know the town and the characters a bit better and it's not as confusing anymore. :)

Now on to tackle that other book I never finished, "Wuthering Heights"!

Still thinking about what to do with this book now...

Sent this book to brewski in Canada today, as it's on his wishlist and I was sending him a ringbook anyway. :D Enjoy!

This arrived in the mail today. Thanks for fulfilling one of my wishlisted books :) I am looking forward to reading this soon.

Thank you again rapturina for the kind RABCK of this book because I LOVED THIS BOOK! (Said in an Owen Meany voice ;) )

I have never read any of John Irving's work, so was not quite sure what to expect. Well I was impressed by the intermixing of tragic moments, and funny bits into such a compelling story. I enjoyed how things were tied up at the end, but also a little sad to be finishing the book.

I think that my brother will enjoy reading this as well, so I will be setting this aside to give to him when I see him at Christmastime.

Since my brother is still working his way through the books that I gave him in September 2007, I will pass this on to another BookObsessor as a surprise. I have dropped this in the mailbox this morning on the way to work, although it may take some time to make its way due to the season and the surface mailing I used...anyhow, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

What a lovely surprise. Thank you very much.