The story is told from the present day, Wheelwright looking back to his New Hampshire childhood and youth from a self-imposed Canadian exile. The novel relates the story of the friendship between the narrator, John Wheelwright, and the diminutive Owen Meany. We have always enjoyed Irving's solid and humorous style and imaginative ideas, and he does not disappoint here.

We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers.

'Irving delivers a boisterous cast, a spirited storyline and a quality of prose that is frequently underestimated.' - R.Z.Sheppard, Time.

'(T)he thinking behind it all seems juvenile, preppy, is much too pleased with itself.' - Alfred Kazin, The New York Times Book Review.

'My advice is to run while you can.' - Peter S.

It is a book for people who want life to be explicable, who can't bear loose ends.' - Stephen Games, The Guardian

'Like Garp it is unnecessarily prolix and self-interrupting, but where Garp rambled to no purpose A Prayer For Owen Meany is rather too perfectly constructed.

A film adaptation of the novel was made in 1998, titled Simon Birch.īizarrely changing the story (including Owen's feat of heroism), the movie is only vaguely based on the novel, and Irving would not allow his character's name to be (ab)used - which is why Owen Meany becomes Simon Birch.Įven the radiant screen presence of Ashley Judd couldn't save this flick.ī+ : flawed, but a very good read, thoughtful and well done.

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John irving a prayer for