Why Owen Meany is My New Hero

(#2) Read 25 Books

1. Room by Emma Donohue
2. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (book one of the series)

5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

"If you care about something, you have to protect it-- if you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it."

-Owen Meany

I can't remember any book in my recent reading history that has had such a profound affect on me. The best way I can think to describe it is...INTENSE.

As I said to Ronnie after I finished reading it- picture the movie Signs, times a million. And a million percent better.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is about Johnny Wheelwright and his best friend, the oddly small, shrill, and prophetic Owen Meany. Owen Meany kills Johnny Wheelwright's mother in a freak accident- hits her in the head with a foul ball at a little league game (I'm not ruining anything- this happens pretty much on page 1). Owen Meany, then eleven years old, comes to believe that he was carrying out a part of God's plan- he says "God has taken my hands."

Which seems like a perfectly legitimate way to respond to killing your best friend's mom at the age of eleven. How could you possibly go on after that without thinking that everything happens for a reason? This sets the tone for the rest of the book. Johnny is largely an observer in the life that Owen Meany orchestrates for the two of them. It is an incredible exploration of faith that left even a not-particularly-religious reader like myself wondering whether Owen Meany could actually know exactly what he was talking about.   

Probably part of the reason I am so crazy about this book is that I am a sucker for a good character-driven story. Owen starts out as a comical and rather unlikable character. But by the end anyone with half a heart is as in love with Owen as the narrator Johnny. 

My one caveat- you have to read this book all the way through to the end to understand how wonderful it is. The story at times can get a little exhausting with details that appear not to matter. But everything- every tiny little thing- comes together in the end in a magnificent explosion of plotted perfection. So have patience, and you will rewarded with (hopefully) one of your new favorites.