A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a general fiction novel placed in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was a book I was extremely excited to read because Stephen King recommended it and I figured “this should be great!” I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t quite right either. Let me explain.

John Irving is an excellent writer. He had me pulled in from page one and I did not want to put the book down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next at every point in the book. At the same time, I wasn’t sure what the point of the book would be. It was simply a story of Owen Meany and how he changed the narrator, John’s, life.

When John and Owen Meany were young boys, 11 to be exact, a foul baseball hit by Owen in a little league game hit John’s mother and killed her. From that point on, Owen believed he was God’s Instrument. He was put on the Earth for a purpose and that purpose was to fulfill God’s plans.

Throughout the book, we learn a lot about the friends. Their adventures as kids, their education paths, and the paths they both take after graduation. There is a lot to this book and there is definitely more to it than I could ever write in a review. I will say that it was enjoyable to a sense. Like I stated above, John Irving is a great writer. In this title though, he tended to skip around a lot which, in spots, got confusing, and he continued on and on about a certain event, when it could have been summed up in a few paragraphs. I can understand why he did some of that. In certain areas of the books, it was important to have a lot of information about certain events, but not all.

In the end, everything comes together and the reader understands why everything else happened throughout the book. It’s definitely a book that if it sounds interesting to you, give it a try. It isn’t for everyone, but at the same time, if given the chance, it can be good.

Overall, I rate this book with 3 notes. Been Bookin’? Book Club voted on 2 notes only because it is not a book we would want to read again.

3 NOTE RATING

Hookability: 4 notes

Writing Style: 3 notes

Story: 3 notes

Overall: 3 notes

You can purchase A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving on Amazon here

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