RNE New Hampshire: A Prayer for Owen Meany
I am so happy that I finally decided to read it, just in time for the Reading NE challenge. January's state is New Hampshire, and since most of the book is set in a small town in New Hampshire, A Prayer for Owen Meany more than qualifies.
When I picked up this book I was expecting a well written portrait of small town life. I also thought I knew something about the plot because I had seen the movie Simon Birch. However, although the beginning of the book is quite similar to the movie, the second half of the book and the ending are completely different, and I would say better than the movie.
Everything in the story ties together really well. There are obvious common themes throughout the book, such as armless-ness, which is brought into intense relief at the end. Then there are other bits of the story where I was thinking why is he spending so much time talking about this... for example Johnny and Owen spend a lot of time in the school gym practicing "the shot", but it all makes sense in the end. The pace slowed a tiny bit in the middle, and there were a couple of political bits that I skimmed through, but this book was amazing. The most surprising part was the humor. There were some lovely patches of dry humor and a few patches of legit Laugh Out Loud moments. Even though serious subjects are broached (you know from the first sentence that the narrator's mother is going to die) the story felt hefty but not heavy. I highly recommend it. I am so glad I finally read it!
Everything in the story ties together really well. There are obvious common themes throughout the book, such as armless-ness, which is brought into intense relief at the end. Then there are other bits of the story where I was thinking why is he spending so much time talking about this... for example Johnny and Owen spend a lot of time in the school gym practicing "the shot", but it all makes sense in the end. The pace slowed a tiny bit in the middle, and there were a couple of political bits that I skimmed through, but this book was amazing. The most surprising part was the humor. There were some lovely patches of dry humor and a few patches of legit Laugh Out Loud moments. Even though serious subjects are broached (you know from the first sentence that the narrator's mother is going to die) the story felt hefty but not heavy. I highly recommend it. I am so glad I finally read it!
I just finished this and enjoyed it as well. It was my first John Irving novel and I was interested to learn a bit about his writing process -- apparently he always knows how his books will end, even down to the exact words, before he starts writing the beginning. With the themes of this book in particular that seemed very appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI was also interested that he cited one of my favorite authors, Robertson Davies, much more frequently than I have ever seen elsewhere. I learned that they were friends in real life as well as admirers of each others' work.
Hope you're enjoying Reading New England!
Hi Lory,
DeleteThank you for sharing the information about John Irving's writing process. It makes a lot of sense, he obviously had to know the ending of the book to get there in the way he did.
I have never read anything by Robertson Davies, maybe I will have to check him out! I always find it interesting to think of two authors being friends and possibly influencing each other. Reading and writing are such solitary pursuits, sometimes I forget authors have lives other than to produce the books I love, but it is fun to think about.
Reading New England is going well :-) Right now I am trying to decide between Practical Magic and The Witches of Eastwick.
All the best,
Sarah