A review of A Prayer for Owen Meany
A strange and peculiar book, like the
character Owen Meany himself, John Irving’s novel explores the vast
realm of faith, justice and fate, through a narrative of a single
person, John Wheelwright. John and Owen remain friends from boyhood to
manhood, their fate intertwined when Owen accidentally kills John’s
mother. Was it an accident or fate? Is Owen an instrument of God or
merely a little, odd person with a queer voice? Does doubt lead you
to a deeper conviction and stronger faith or acceptance and
acknowledgment of God as omniscient and omnipresent? I found the
narrative distracting, with Owen’s “voice” in all CAPS
screaming his every profound thought. The main character John seemed
nebulous to me, never quite acting his age as a boy, and immature as
an adult, and through it all, I just never cared about any of the
characters. After reading it, the aftertaste was a bit bitter with
overtones of ennui.
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