in the stacks | a prayer for owen meany

A Prayer for Owen Meany was published in 1989; I'm more than a little late to the party. Even so, picking it up around 15 years after its heyday, it's still relevant. It's still piercing and nuanced, beautiful and profound, complicated in all the ways that John Irving likes to complicate his novels (early sexual encounters that shape psyches, dysfunctional families, male protagonists who become writers in some fashion, missing fathers). Owen Meany is often hailed as Irving's greatest work next to my personal favorite, The World According to Garp. But even as I type that, I wonder if Owen didn't steal my heart straight away from Garp.

I picked up a novel in the Atlanta airport as Zan and I were about to board our flight to Ecuador. I really didn't enjoy it and quickly swapped it out for a tattered and torn copy of Owen Meany at a guesthouse. It took me the majority of the first 100 pages to really get into this heavy, lengthy read. The long opening delves into religion - the differences between Christian denominations, to be specific. I found myself skimming just to skip over what felt like a parallel to long lineal passages in the early books of the Bible.

But once I was invested - that is, when Johnny, the main character, and Owen, his best friend, start playing a larger role, I couldn't put the book down. Owen is an addictive character - placed on a pedestal by half of the characters in their small New England town and despised by the other half. He's pint-sized with a voice that never lowers with puberty. He's a force of nature - quick-witted, seemingly prophetic, manipulative when he wants (or needs) to be, and persuasive to a fault. The novel overflows with comedy - from situational to word-play. At the heart of it all is Johnny and Owen's enigmatic, three-dimensional relationship. 

I can't tell much more of the plot without giving key points away. And, for the book lovers out there, I probably don't need to. I can't say anything about this book that hasn't already been said in numerous reviews.

While writing this post, I got distracted reading interviews with John Irving about the novel. I find it fascinating that he speaks very highly of Johnny - a character that is somewhat understated and aloof compared to how well readers get to know Owen. Irving seems to identify with Johnny, though he says Owen Meany is not his most autobiographical novel.

Another thing Irving said that I find riveting concerns Johnny's sexuality. He says, "I wanted to make it evident that Johnny loves Owen Meany, but I wanted to keep it unclear — or unstated — that Johnny is (or is not) gay." It seems clear if you read more of the interview that Irving does think of Johnny as gay. Johnny, he says, is heartbroken and never gets over Owen.  

I can sympathize. I can't get over Owen, either. That, to me, is the magic of Owen Meany - Irving created a character that millions of people around the world can't get over. Even 15 years later.   

Just for fun - here's the 1989 book review from The New York Times