A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving · first published 1989
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Emotionally powerful coming-of-age novel about faith, friendship and fate, told through the voice of a narrator and his unforgettable, small-voiced friend; readers find it moving even on rereads.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"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." So begins John Irving's new novel. In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys - best friends - are playing ina Little League baseball game in Gravesend , New Hampshire; one of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. The boy who hit the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes
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John Irving nailed it in A Prayer for Owen Meany: "Newspapers are a bad habit, the reading equivalent of junk food. What happens to me is that I seize upon an issue in the news—the issue is the moral/philosophical, political/intellectual equivalent…
on “Did You Hear We Got Osama?” ↗* The Secret History -- Donna Tartt * The Goldfinch -- Donna Tartt * Hotel New Hampshire -- John Irving * A Prayer For Owen Meany -- John Irving * Wonder -- R.J. Palacio * Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain * The Elegance of the Hedgehog -- Muriel Barbery Irving and Tartt are my favorite.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗A couple immediately come to mind: “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving and “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. When I first encountered “A Prayer for Owen Meany” I was struggling with my religious faith and my identity. A lot of the relationships and events in…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…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." — John Irving in A Prayer for Owen Meany An excellent book throughout, but an especially gripping opening line.
on “What makes a great opening line?” ↗The Children's Hospital, by Chris Adrian. So great! https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/the-childrens-hospital I've also read A Prayer For Owen Meany (John Irving) more than once.
on “Ask HN: What books do you want to read over again?” ↗The Children's Hospital https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/the-childrens-hospital A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?” ↗A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
on “Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read? ” ↗My favorites I read this year in order: - Prayer of Owen Meany, it’s the basis of the movie Simon Birch if you have seen that. The book has so much more going on though - My Antonia, wonderful characters - Jude the Obscure, the cover tells you the ending is shocking,…
on “Ask HN: Best books read in 2022” ↗I too read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" this year, it is beautiful, and despite knowing everything that was coming I still welled up.
on “Ask HN: Best books read in 2022” ↗I reread and thoroughly enjoy "main sequence" John Irving novels every few years (at least Garp, Owen Meany and the criminally underrated Son of the Circus). I cannot recommend them enough.
on “Rereading books” ↗“Rituals are comforting: Rituals combat loneliness.” (A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving) https://books.google.de/books?id=cW8Z_UfqnH4C&pg=PA296&lpg=P...
on “A Design Lab Is Making Rituals for Secular People” ↗The Tin Drum is an amazing book and it influenced a lot of fiction - from Midnight's Children to A Prayer for Owen Meany. Some of his shorter books are a little more accessible (Cat and Mouse or Crabwalk, for instance). I found Grass' perspective on WWII and German history to be particularly valuable, since he was a young…
on “German author Guenter Grass dies” ↗