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A review by emilyusuallyreading
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
4.0
What I Liked
The characters in this novel were so real that I actually searched on Google to make sure that A Prayer for Owen Meany was not an autobiography. It wasn't. John Irving is a phenomenal writer. He tells a story with such a sense of nostalgia that I can't imagine the world without an Owen Meany or Johnny Wheelwright.
One of my favorite parts of the book was its layout. The first few chapters are all out of order. The memories seem to come in random rabbit trails that end in mysteries that frequently aren't solved until the very final chapter. This is exactly how one would remember their young childhood. I don't look back on my childhood in a consecutive way. Years between 5 and 12 blur together. Did an incident happen in second grade or fourth grade? It's often hard to tell. As John and Owen grow, the writing style matures as well, and the storyline progresses in a consecutive, more organized way.
At first I hated that Owen Meany's narrative was written in ALL CAPS. Once there was an entire page filled with his writing, which meant that EVERYTHING WAS WRITTEN LIKE THIS AND MY HEAD WAS FILLED WITH WHAT SOUNDED LIKE SCREAMING AND I WANTED TO SKIM THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING AHHHHHHH. But Owen Meany's obnoxious and "screaming through his nose" voice was one of the key themes throughout the story. I soon grew to appreciate that John Irving created a way that the reader could glimpse how Owen's voice actually came across.
What I Didn't Like
About halfway through the book, I began to get a little bored. The story switched back and forth between the boys in college and John Wheelwright as a middle-aged man living in Toronto. Political rants became just as common as narrative or storyline. I didn't care to hear John Irving's thought on 20th century politics, the war in Vietnam, or foreign policy (and it was clear John Wheelwright's opinions were the same as John Irving's opinions). I found myself turning pages or skimming paragraphs in boredom with the political tirades.
The characters in this novel were so real that I actually searched on Google to make sure that A Prayer for Owen Meany was not an autobiography. It wasn't. John Irving is a phenomenal writer. He tells a story with such a sense of nostalgia that I can't imagine the world without an Owen Meany or Johnny Wheelwright.
One of my favorite parts of the book was its layout. The first few chapters are all out of order. The memories seem to come in random rabbit trails that end in mysteries that frequently aren't solved until the very final chapter. This is exactly how one would remember their young childhood. I don't look back on my childhood in a consecutive way. Years between 5 and 12 blur together. Did an incident happen in second grade or fourth grade? It's often hard to tell. As John and Owen grow, the writing style matures as well, and the storyline progresses in a consecutive, more organized way.
At first I hated that Owen Meany's narrative was written in ALL CAPS. Once there was an entire page filled with his writing, which meant that EVERYTHING WAS WRITTEN LIKE THIS AND MY HEAD WAS FILLED WITH WHAT SOUNDED LIKE SCREAMING AND I WANTED TO SKIM THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING AHHHHHHH. But Owen Meany's obnoxious and "screaming through his nose" voice was one of the key themes throughout the story. I soon grew to appreciate that John Irving created a way that the reader could glimpse how Owen's voice actually came across.
What I Didn't Like
About halfway through the book, I began to get a little bored. The story switched back and forth between the boys in college and John Wheelwright as a middle-aged man living in Toronto. Political rants became just as common as narrative or storyline. I didn't care to hear John Irving's thought on 20th century politics, the war in Vietnam, or foreign policy (and it was clear John Wheelwright's opinions were the same as John Irving's opinions). I found myself turning pages or skimming paragraphs in boredom with the political tirades.