This journey is filled with explorations of Owen's religious belief, as well as John's progression from not feeling any particular religious belief to becoming what he considers to be a "true believer."īeyond what seems to be a fantastic tale in many respects, Owen Meany also pushes us to look at events in American and world history through a more critical lens. He sees himself as "God's Instrument," and we spend the duration of the novel piecing together what Owen thinks this destiny of his is. From there, we learn that Owen thinks that the event was no accident he's convinced that he was carrying out the destiny ordained by God. Owen ends up hitting a foul ball that kills Johnny's mother. Owen, who is no great athlete, is called up to bat when his baseball coach has a "what the heck" moment – their team is bound to lose, so he figures Owen should have a chance to play. The central storyline kicks into gear in 1953 when the boys are eleven years old.
Time isn't linear in Owen Meany instead, John's narration goes back and forth in time, intertwining the events of his childhood with his observations from middle age. The second period takes place in 1987 when John is 45 and living by himself in Toronto, Canada. We watch the story unfold at two distinct periods in John's life: the first period covers his boyhood and adolescence, starting in 1948 when he is six years old and ending in July of 1968. The novel follows the story of two boys: our narrator, John Wheelwright, and his best friend, Owen Meany, an unusual-looking boy with a voice that could give you goose bumps (and not in a good way). Owen Meany is set in the fictional town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, which is based on the real town of Exeter where Irving himself grew up. Like most of the novels that Irving has penned throughout his career, A Prayer for Owen Meany takes place in New England – the setting he creates makes you want to run out, put on a flannel shirt, and start drinking some apple cider. A huge number of cultural and literary references run throughout the text, but the novel was most clearly influenced by The Tin Drum by Günter Grass and the works of Charles Dickens. It was even adapted (very loosely, however) for the 1998 film Simon Birch starring Ashley Judd and Jim Carrey. It is now not only a staple on high school reading lists, but it is also a novel that people love to read for the mere fact that it is so engaging and entertaining. After its publication, it quickly became Irving's best-selling novel since his immensely popular work The World According to Garp came out in 1978. Published in 1989, A Prayer for Owen Meany is John Irving's seventh novel it is also one of his most popular works.
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