A Prayer for Owen Meany

Yes, I know...this is an "older" book, written by John Irving, but, oh, what a book!  I first read it in either 1989 or 1990, soon after it came out.  It was chosen by one of my book groups for our June read and it was such a pleasure to read it again!   To those readers of this blog who have read it before, be open to re-reading it!  It is that good.

Just to get you started, here is the first line of the book...one of the greatest first lines ever....

"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 first line essentially sums up the story that the book tells. The book is the story of Owen Meany's life after he hits a foul ball during a Little League baseball game and kills the book's narrator's mother.  Owen does not believe that there are accidents in this life.  And he believes that he was put on this earth for a specific reason.  He has dreams of his death and believes them enough that he has his date of death engraved on a tombstone, long before he dies.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is also one of the funniest books that I have ever read.  The chapter called "The Little Lord Jesus" is 54 pages long and laugh-out-loud funny!  On the other hand, A Prayer for Owen Meany is also one of the most thought-provoking books that I have ever read.  Owen's faith in God and his defense of that faith is amazing and inspiring.  However, he does not go around preaching his faith.  It is just part of him.

The book is about faith, friendship, death, and salvation, with humor and mystery included.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a long book, but worth every minute!  I encourage you, reader, to indulge!