John Irving and Diane Podnar - A Prayer for Owen Meany: Curriculum Unit

Pros: Where do i begin?
Cons: Simon Birch, Simon Birch & Oh yes, Simon Birch!!

It was August of 1995. Though, even now, it seems like yesterday. It started innocently enough. The evening air was anything but pleasant, it was hot and incredibly humid, you know the kind of night where you feel like you could stick to just about...

Pros: Lavish, rich, beautiful, horrifying, funny, completely convincing characters and compelling story
Cons: None (Wow!)

I seldom read anything but science fiction. On the rare occasions that I step outside that genre, it is on the recommendation of friends. So it was with John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. The book is extraordinary in its storytelling....

Pros: Unique story, artfully crafted and told.
Cons: Long, dry beginning.

This is possibly the best novel I've read, and it's the only one I've re-read.

Characters: John Irving has created a most fascinating character in Owen Meany. Only a master writer could pack so much oddity into one small boy and...

Pros: ...just about everything.
Cons: Minimal...see review.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a 600-page study on faith. It’s allegorical at times and literal at times, but it’s always about faith. Whittling 600 pages down to one word may sound demeaning to the story, but it shouldn’t. A ...

Pros: Sadly uplifting
Cons: Slow at times

Owen Meany is a most unique character. Irving masterfully describes details of Owen's life that range from touching to hilarious, from tragic to triumphant. Owen's character is painted with colorful contradictions. He's is at once thoughtful and ...

Pros: An engaging read full of eccentric characters. Irving at his best.
Cons: Even though it's long, it's too darned short!

Let me qualify this review by saying that I am n extremist when it comes to John Irving's novels: I either love them or hate them. There are some, like "The Hotel New Hampshire," that I could barely make it all the way through. There are others, like ...

Pros: Very well-written, fantastic characters
Cons: Simon Birch

Pros: sheer joy
Cons: not a thing

My father proclaims that the reason John Irving was put on this earth was to write this book.

It is an utterly engrossing and captivating novel about faith and destiny and friendship and too many other things to mention. "Owen Meany is...

Pros: Powerful, insightful, strong character, involving plot
Cons: some relatively small structure problems

If you didn't already hate Simon Birch without reading this book, you will afterward. Many times while reading this powerful novel, I asked myself what they did to completely emasculate it. And I came to this conclusion: they tried to film what is...

Pros: Amazing book - one of the best I've ever read
Cons: none

John Irving is one of the few non science fiction/fantasy writers I read, and this book is a large part of the reason why.

When the movie "Simon Birch" came out, my friends couldn't understand why I was so angry. "Vietnam!"...

Pros: Everything
Cons: Simon Birch, the regrettable film version of this wonderful book

There are a few books out there that when I walk past a stranger reading it, I smile and feel a kinship with them. Atlas Shrugged, A Confederacy of Dunces, Angela's Ashes are a few. However, although I am always recommending those books to...

Pros: Sigh, just thinking of the book brings a sudden feeling of nostalgia...
Cons: Looks can be decieving, as the boring cover may throw you off.

This has got to be one of the longest books I read, and yet it went by like *that*. Well, the onomatopoeia was lame, but I can assure you that the book was anything BUT lame, as author John Irving's use of vivid descriptions and flashbacks will keep one...

Pros: wonderful writing, great, unforgettable characters
Cons: It was only 600 pages

I had never read anything by John Irving before someone very close to me gave me this book, telling me it was one of the best books they’d ever read. If I didn’t respect their opinion very much, I would probably still have never read any Irving, and I...

Pros: flawless story, lots of symbolism
Cons: none

A Prayer For Owen Meany, written by Academy Award winning author John Irving, is such a wonderful story, and I recommend it for anyone who loves a story where you follow the flawlessly created characters through their life experiences. The following is a...

Pros: Everything
Cons: Zero, nada, not one.

Read A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY.

Ok, that's all I have to say. Oh wait, they won't let me publish this epinion unless I write 100 words. Ok, well... the weather is nice today, summer is almost over and I love fall, when the leaves start to...