Rating: 
Summary: I wish I had the choice of a Galaxy of Stars.
Review: This by far the most moving and most enjoyable book I have read in a very long while. Mr. Irving's writing is superb and unique. I truly didn't want it to end, and when it did I couldn't imagine reading another book ever again. Owen Meany and his friend John were just that spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage Irving
Review: "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is NOT your typical book. Of course, that could be said about any of John Irving's novels; his is one of the most unusual voices I've ever read. But this one is especially unique. Owen Meany is probably the most memorable character that I've ever come across in a book of any genre. A dwarf with a voice so striking and strange that his dialogue is WRITTEN IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, he also believes (rightly!) that he is an instrument of God. It is sometimes confusing to follow the jumps in time; the narrator, Owen's best friend Johnny Wheelwright, alternates the story of his growing up with Owen with anecdotes from his "present" life in the late 80's.Predestination, faith, doubt, politics, love, hate, family, friendship...these are all themes that make appearances in this book. Furthermore, it is a page-turner that is impossible to put down, right from the start. I read the entire second half of the book in one marathon reading session, wasting an entire morning because I couldn't bear to stop, knowing that more revelations were in store. I've read some of Irving's other novels, and loved them all, but I think "A Prayer for Owen Meany" has been the best so far.
Rating:
Summary: you will never forget hime
Review: I've just discovered John Irving this summer with the "cider house rules" and "a prayer for owen meany". This novel is just perfect. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll think that Owen and the other characters are real. You'll find yourself thinking of them everyday, and when you'll have finished the book, all you'll want to do is read it again. You'll never forget Owen because he will change you life.Just read it, you'll love it! I want to thank Mr Irving for writing this book that has touched me, an touched many others.
Rating:
Summary: One of those books that you hate to see end...
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read, one of my all-time favorites. It will wrap you up in its spell and take you on a trip through a great range of emotions. It is the type of story that you never want to finish because you hate to say goodbye to the characters. Irving's characterization is exceptional in this work. The character of Owen Meany is one of the best drawn and most compelling characters in all of literature. He's an old man in a young boy's body...annoyingly precocious, but prophetic....confident, yet vulnerable. However, the thing I like best about the book is that it combats the idea that life is random and that we are just part of an out of control universe. I tire of that depressing and simplistic perspective which seems to dominate 20th century literature. Instead, Irving's novel suggests that the smallest and greatest events in life have tremendous meaning, that they all are part of an intricate and amazing plan.
Rating:
Summary: Read it again!
Review: For years this was my favorite book and my paperback copy is much-loved and worn. I don't like the reviews that give too much away and this is a wonderful book to open up and discover for yourself. It has messages of faith, friendship, family and loyalty to which people relate and translate in different ways. I love to discuss this book with people, because I always find varying opinions. If you read this book in your past, I suggest picking it up again and reading it now. I find with my additional life experiences and applying situations in the changing world, my appreciation for Irvings words and messages evolve.
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: it usually takes me around half a year to read a book. i read this one in about a month. read this book. its a worthwhile story
Rating:
Summary: Irving's Best Book?
Review: This is a book that is made by the ending. Up until the last 20 or so pages, I would rate it a 7 (of ten), but by the last page everything comes together and I was in tears. The book is both entertaining and thought provoking, funny and inspiring, even mystical. John Irving is one of my favorite authors, and this may be my favorite of his books. Cider House Rules is more literary, Widow For One Year is more entertaining, but Owen Meany has made the strongest lasting effect on me.
Rating: 
Summary: You know what? This book is NOT that great!
Review: Let's be real, people. Life does not work this way. Dreams do not tell us when we are going to die, let alone describe the exact scene of death. God doesn't work this way. True, we are God's instruments, but life is a MYSTERY, OK? And as for Irving's artistic abilities, how hard is it to come up with a zany, violent ending, then write backwards, adding TONS of foreshadowing? (It reminds me of that depressing moron Thomas Hardy Irving loves so much!) Let me go ahead and sound the death nell for this book by using the "e" word: this book is entertaining, although it should only be read by adults. It is not literature. Grow some standards people; read your Faulkner and Hemingway if you need an example of real literature. P.S. If they didn't call slam-dunking slam-dunking back then, how come Owen got the nickname "Slam-Dunk Master"? Irving says they only called it "stuffing"! And how could Owen have had "a jump shot that elevated him almost to eye level with the other players" when the jump shot hadn't been invented in 1959?
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely brilliant and overwhelming
Review: I just finished reading Owen Meany last night. It came at the recommendation of a friend who is a huge Irving fan, and now I understand why. (Until the book my exposure to Irving was through my husband's love of the 'Garp' movie, and my disinterest in ever seeing the 'Cider House Rules' movie.) This book challenged me intellectually much more than any modern novel I've read lately. Irving writes of modern times with a classical style of writing that makes incredible use of foreshadowing, but most importantly, symbolism. I am convinced that every object, every character in the book is there for a reason, but I'm still grappling with the connections. This is the first book since reading The English Patient a few years ago that has caused me to immediately want to re-read it and make notes in the margins. I can see this book becoming a classic, taught with much dicussion of the symbolism in college English Literature classrooms. In a time when the classics have sadly been put on a shelf, I truly believe Irving has come along, with Owen Meany, to offer us a classic for our time. Read this book - it is powerful, difficult, overwhelming... and you will never forget it.
Rating:
Summary: Owen Meany is an unbelievable work.
Review: What a large ambitious work. I loved it. I found it to be troubling, sad, funny, frightening, and warm. Rarely does one encounter a book this "big."
| 
