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gabriellebw 's review for:
A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving
I read this when it was a new release, but recently some "Meany-isms" have been popping into my head. Start of summer, and time for a delightful re-read.
So here's what I know: this book is so marvelous it should be required reading of everyone studying 1950-1989 American History. It should be required reading for everyone who loves a well crafted story. It should be read and re-read. I am so grateful to have read a book that does a masterful job of blending time periods; it seems so common these days to have books jump back and forth in time (or narrator's voice) by the clunky -- dare I say lazy? -- structure of starting a new chapter. Not John Irving! He weaves time periods and a cast of characters so wonderful and so wacky that it feels effortless -- like John Wheelwright has just given a recital of his life's story. Not stream-of consciousness because the editing is too good, but the realistic way that one thought leads to another is something I really admire. I do like a first-person story, and this one grabs the reader from the very start.
So here's what I know: this book is so marvelous it should be required reading of everyone studying 1950-1989 American History. It should be required reading for everyone who loves a well crafted story. It should be read and re-read. I am so grateful to have read a book that does a masterful job of blending time periods; it seems so common these days to have books jump back and forth in time (or narrator's voice) by the clunky -- dare I say lazy? -- structure of starting a new chapter. Not John Irving! He weaves time periods and a cast of characters so wonderful and so wacky that it feels effortless -- like John Wheelwright has just given a recital of his life's story. Not stream-of consciousness because the editing is too good, but the realistic way that one thought leads to another is something I really admire. I do like a first-person story, and this one grabs the reader from the very start.