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I have about fifty pages left, but I have to work. This is killing me. I don't think I've been so delighted with a new book since I read Life of Pi or maybe Peace Like a River. I feel a John Irving kick coming on.
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I read it about six or seven years ago. I liked it a lot.
It wasn't quite the kind of book I was used to reading, and there was something about the style which didn't fit my tastes completely. I think that stopped my from pursuing other Irving books.
I am very glad I read it though .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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The movie was ok, but not enough to make me want to read the book.
You should read Irving's Son of the Circus next if you haven't. I have really enjoyed that book, I'll probably reread it for the 3rd or 4th time later this year.
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I just bought it with a stack of other books. Now I'm not sure whether to look forward to it or not.
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I read it several years ago and loved it. Morbo, if you mean Simon Birch , the book is much better. They altered it a lot for the movie.
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I started reading it ages ago, and don't know why I didn't finish it. Anyway, I do remember watching Simon Birch and thinking, "I know this story." Finally figured out where it came from.
I'm gonna have to go find Owen Meany and read the whole thing this time, thanks for the reminder.
Oh, and I loved Peace Like a River.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Morbo: The movie was ok, but not enough to make me want to read the book.
You should read Irving's Son of the Circus next if you haven't. I have really enjoyed that book, I'll probably reread it for the 3rd or 4th time later this year.
I have to second kmbboots. I really enjoyed the book and was immensely disappointed in the movie which is more "inspired by" the book than actually based on it.
I loved Son of the Circus too, as well as The Cider House Rules (again not the movie).
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I LOVE Owen Meany. I'm in a rereading phase; I think I'll move that book up to the top of the pile to reread.
Posts: 628 | Registered: Nov 1999
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I just finished it last week. It does start off slowly, but by the end of the first chapter you get used to the wandering style. It probably could have done with a little editing, but I generally liked how the story meanders and goes off on tangents like our memories actually do. And I loved how well you got to know all the characters as they're very slowly unveiled over the course of years. Someone said to me that it's a great book, not because it's spectacularly written (it is long and ponderous with all the usual Irving issues), but because it really makes you feel something (although isn't that what great writing does?). I more or less agree with the sentiment.
Anyway, my favourite Irving is still Garp, but I'd happily recommend Owen Meany to most people.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I love that book deeply, but I really do think the parts with John int he present are so boring compared to Owen's parts. I never understand why when they have a cool character like Owen can't it be written through his eyes and not through a bland character like John who just annoys me most of the time. But that is just my odd opinion, I love that book.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I liked the parts with John in the present - you can see what he became after Owen left. The politics, the religion, the stridency - John missed Owen so much he became that. It's not really the story of Owen Meany, because we don't see Owen's transformation. Owen was always certain, and that's a nice way to be, but not a story. The story is John's transformation, and what he was because of Owen Meany.
I think a lot of religious stories are like that. They are less often stories about the Lord than the stories of human beings changed by contact with the Lord.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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More spoilers I reckon, but Owen was so cool because he really lived life to the fullest even though he knew his life was going to end. Whereas John... He was a teacher, and that was cool, but other than that without Owen he was just so... dull and would rant and rave about things but not do much... I wanted to know more about how Owen thought of things and there's never enough books like that about Unique Characters and their way of viewing the world... I did like how we got to see the things he wrote in high school and how much power he had there even though he wasn't rich and priviledged like John was.
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I don't think Owen did live to the fullest. Instead of going to Harvard and sucking it up, he went to UNH and prepared to die. I'd agree up until the run in with Randy White, but after that, everything he did was for getting ready to die.
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Did you cry? I don't think he was preparing to die. I think he was preparing to do the "big thing" - which he know would cause his death. But it was about the important "thing" not about dying.
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*shakes head no* I'm at work, and there was so much forshadowing it was like Irving eases you into the event. We see the funeral before the death. By the time the death comes, we've not only had the rituals to deal with it, but we've seen the effect on John of not recovering from it.
It reminded me a little of Catch-22. The entire book is built around an event that doesn't occur until the last five pages.
Man in the High Castle, too, but I didn't like that book at all. This was better.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Owen Meany was on our summer reading list for AP English 4 last summer- I read it, and bawled my eyes out. Any book that has that effect on me(unless I'm crying because it's so horribly written), is a good book, in my opinion.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:The entire book is built around an event that doesn't occur until the last five pages.
All the best Steinbeck books are like that, too, and I love him for it.
I found Irving's Owen Meany to be a funny and uneven book. I actually thought the beginning was the strongest. "Foul Ball," is a hilarious chapter from start to finish, then Owen becoming the "Voice,"(as opposed to The Word) interviewing the jackass who didn't know anything about education but knew how to "make decisions," actually kind of reminds me of our president, along with the Christmas play, then everything else kind of felt forced.
He writes about the hormonal urges, and the funny consequences, of high school boys very well. I find him a wonderful craftsman as a writer, a pure writer; he just isn't a very deep thinker. I saw him in person, and I got the same sense.
He did insist on two things when he spoke. 1) As a writer, he has an obligation to make the story as complex and true as possible, and 2) he believes that a writer should always always always start with the ending.
He said that Owen Meany is by far his most popular book, though most people assume that it's Garp. I think that The Cider House Rules is probably his best.
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A Prayer for Owen Meany is among my very, very favorite books. I've read it about six times, and I never get tired of it. It's so funny, and so touching, and (I believe) so well-written. On the strength of that book, I went out and read Garp and Ciderhouse Rules, both of which I liked, but nowhere near as much as Owen Meany.
Simon Birch was an okay movie, that shared about 35-40% of its material with Owen Meany, but it's not the same at all.
Posts: 202 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I adore A Prayer for Owen Meany. I like the way it's written, and I get a chuckle everytime I see Owen's capitalized dialogue...just reminds me of all the forum posters i've seen over the years TALK IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE ALL CAPS IS BIGGER AND LOUDER!!!11!!!
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I don't think Owen did live to the fullest. Instead of going to Harvard and sucking it up, he went to UNH and prepared to die. I'd agree up until the run in with Randy White, but after that, everything he did was for getting ready to die.
I think he did. He had a strong relationship (But it was a bit disturbing now that I think about it.) He had a lot of power in school whereas John just blended into the background . He had a lot of influence for a small guy with hardly any money... I really admired his character and his views a lot even though he was a bit more conservative than I am, but he was strong in his faith and I have a lot of respect for that.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by zgator: I just bought it with a stack of other books. Now I'm not sure whether to look forward to it or not.
C'mon, you know that no one here agrees on which books are good and which aren't, even among OSC's books. Look forward to it and enjoy reading it, give it a chance.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Because of Owen Meany and because of the book Good Omens, whenever I see any TYPING IN ALL CAPS, I think that either Owen Meany or Death is doing the talking.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Damn, this is one of the best books I've ever read. I don't know how anyone can read this and not find it moving, beautifully crafted, and immensely enjoyable. I know people have different tastes, but this book is awesome.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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This is killing me. I don't think I've been so delighted with a new book since I read Life of Pi or maybe Peace Like a River. I feel a John Irving kick coming on.
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