Sunday, June 5, 2011

A Prayer for Owen MeanyA Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could.  It's going in my 'favorites' pile.  I don't know when I've read a book with so much humor, tragedy, love, truth, love, and plain old deep understanding of human nature.

I listened to this book and it's one of the few I've listened to that I didn't 'zone out', fall asleep, get bored, or whatever.  There are parts, thankfully, that are less intense, but they didn't bore me.  At times I was weeping and laughing out loud at the same time.  Drove my dogs nuts.


I read his other famous novels years ago and while I liked them a lot, they nowhere near moved me as much.  I kept trying to imagine if I would be as involved if I were reading it instead of listening, and can't really say, as the narrator was absolutely perfect.  His voice for Owen Meany was so true to the description that it was hard to believe there wasn't a second person involved in the narration.

Since I was born about the same time as the story teller, John Wheelwright, perhaps parts of the story were more meaningful to me.  I completely remember the chaos of the Viet Nam war, the craziness of Iran-Contra.  I, too, did not know my father but had a stepfather who did a fairly decent job of parenting me.  I'd like to think, though, that people without those commonalities could enjoy the book as much as I did.

Some reviewers have complained about the time span and how the story moves back and forth in time.  That was so not an issue for me.  It was woven so completely together that I was never confused.

This book is a good example of how it often doesn't matter what a book is about.  If someone had told me it was about a friendship between two boys in New Hampshire, one of which never grows taller than five feet and never outgrows his high, squeaky voice, I probably wouldn't have been much interested.  It's also a good example of how little complexity depends on vast numbers of characters, changing landscapes, and endless new plot elements.  Irving's ability to develop complexity in relationships and emotions is enough.



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