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Sto caricando le informazioni... A prayer for Owen Meany (originale 1989; edizione 2012)di John Irving
Informazioni sull'operaPreghiera per un amico di John Irving (1989)
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The last time I read anything by this author was back in 1978, or thereabouts, when I read "The World According to Garp" which I didn't really care for. I wasn't all that captivated by the movie version of his "Cider House Rules", so wasn't in a hurry to read anything else by him, but a patron at the public library I was working in recommended this so I added it to my "want to read" list, where I think it sat for about a year. It's very long, especially if you listen to the audio version, but quite well-narrated, and really quite good. I was nearly finished when I played the beginning of it for my husband, and due to his interest, I ended up listening to the entire thing I'd already heard and then finally got to hear the end. I liked the many references to classic literature, the characters of the two boys, and their friendship. Another thing I especially like is that at no time, despite its length, does it wander aimlessly leaving you wondering if the author has any idea how it will end. This book explores the friendship between Owen Meaney and the narrator, John Wheelwright during the years after WWII into the Vietnam era. After Own accidentally kills John's mother, he believes he is God's instrument. His fate is unavoidable and he learns to accept it. He's always been in God's hands. The book deals with themes that permeate adult life after a certain age- faith, doubt, purpose, disillusionment, loss, and grief. Not Irving's quirkiest novel, but his most amusing. You will never forget the Christmas pageant scene. Owen is an unforgetable character who speaks in a voice impaired by some sort of early damage to his larnyx. The reader is reminded of this each time he speaks, since his words are placed in capitals throughout the text. “LAST NITE I HAD A DREAM. NOW I KNOW FOUR THINGS. I KNOW THAT MY VOICE DOESN’T CHANGE – BUT I STILL DON’T KNOW WHY. I KNOW THAT I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT. I KNOW WHEN I’M GOING TO DIE – AND NOW A DREAM HAS SHOWN ME HOW I’M GOING TO DIE. I’M GOING TO BE A HERO! I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.”
"Owen Meany" is as sappy as a book can get without having a title like "Coddled By The Light" or "Sauntering Towards the Light" or "Picking Posies in the Fields of the Light," but it's never nauseating or treacly or overly wholesome. It's a nice good fun read, like a quiet vacation. Irving isn't wrangling us with extremes, here -- he gives us a break. You've been beat up enough, he says. I'll do the work for you this time. The result is merciful, healthy, warm and gladdening. The characters capable of representing such scepticism don't look good on paper, while the book puts all its efforts into promoting a belief in belief. But a belief in belief is something this book lams into elsewhere: the Americans' propensity for decisiveness in the absence of policy. On the green award of the Gravesend Academy, it may seem innocent enough; in the jungles and deserts of international trouble spots, it looks fatally naive. Mr. Irving shows considerable skill as scene after scene mounts to its moving climax. But the thinking behind it all seems juvenile, preppy, is much too pleased with itself. There is something appropriate in the fact that so much of the book takes place in and around a New England academy. The heavily emphasized ''religious'' symbols at the center of the book - the contrast to American aggressiveness offered by the clawlessness of the armadillo, the armlessness of the Indian founder of the town, even John Wheelwright's imbecile joy at being mutilated as still another symbol of his sacrifice of sex to right thinking - all this reminds this long-tried teacher of all the ''Christ symbols'' his students find in everything and anything they have to read. Diminutive Owen Meany, believing himself to be God's instrument, unlocks life's mysteries for his closest friend in this imaginative mix of humor and tragedy. From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. John Irving’s A Prayer For Owen Meany is yet another Irving book that absolutely held my attention, and had me racing to finish it. Irving, perhaps because of his own dyslexia, takes pains to write clearly and readably. He avoids labyrinthine construction. He earns his right to describe things by keeping the action moving. Appartiene alle Collane EditorialiAndanzas (100) detebe (22491) Keltainen kirjasto (231) Keltainen pokkari (59) Ha l'adattamentoÈ riassunto inHa come guida per lo studentePremi e riconoscimentiMenzioniElenchi di rilievo
In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys--best friends--are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after 1953 is extraordinary and terrifying. He is Irving's most heartbreaking hero. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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John Irving is a truly masterful storyteller, with an ability for creating memorable but very human characters and for creating sweeping plots that in some ways reminds me of a modern Charles Dickens. The plot here is a bit improbable, but when it's such a powerful story you can't help but be moved.
Some readers may have some difficulty getting into it because of the sometimes repetitive and seemingly beside the point recollections, but you should trust the storyteller. There will be a reason for everything.
Truly moving and a real reading pleasure.
Beautiful start of the book, by the way:
“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.” ( )