If you’re a fan of good fiction and good writing, you should read A Prayer For Owen Meany. I finished this wonderful John Irving novel (my first) only yesterday.
I wish I had a friend like Owen Meany to help me write a thesis about it, or at least an essay.
For now, here are a few quotes. The UPPER CASE convention for Owen’s quotes is something you won’t understand unless you’ve already read the book. Spoiler: It’s not meant to convey shouting.
IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND A WAY OF LIFE YOU LOVE, YOU HAVE TO FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE IT. – Page 512.
IT TAKES GUTS. AND FAITH. – Page 516.
Here is the novel’s famous opening sentence:
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.
That one beautiful sentence sets the tone, it introduces a major theme (faith), and it sets the stage for major features of the story yet to be told. The narrator’s dead mother; the implied death, at some point, of Owen Meany; and, of course, the narrator’s arrival at having faith. Faith, as you’ll see in the book, is sharply distinguished from religion, about which the novel contains much witty, humorous, and sometimes angry commentary, as seen through the eyes of John Wheelwright, the narrator, and the actions of several minor characters.
There is another central mystery of the book, but I’ll let you discover it for yourself. It’s revealed very early, but I don’t want to spoil anything.
This is one of those novels where you know ahead of time the major events of the story. You know what happens, but not how or why. Irving compels you to read for the details, the characters, and the telling, and of course, for the writing. And there are many small (and not so small) surprises along the way.
It was Owen Meany who taught me that any good book is always in motion. – Page 329.