Saturday, April 11, 2009

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I loved this book. It took me awhile (I'd say 150 pages or so) to really get into it because almost immediately you know the ending. The fun part is reading the middle and trying to figure out how it will all fit together. I won't fool you--I was scared by the 600 pages that I had to read for my book club. I was a little put off by the use of CAPITAL LETTERS for everything OWEN SAID. You get used to it though--keep reading!

There is so many symbols in the book--the dummy, the red dress, the baseball, the armadillo. You wonder what they all mean. Each one plays a role as a result of Owen's death. I didn't see it coming, but Irving really set up different aspects of the story to all come together at the end. His storytelling is so rich and you know the characters inside and out by the end. You don't want it to end.

Highly recommend adding this to your MUST READ list!

2 comments:

Karen said...

I agree with you that its a tough start but well worth it in the end...Sorry I picked such a long book but I love John Irving...

Colleen's Blog said...

I loved it Karen--good choice...it's too bad you and I were the only ones who finished it. :)