Last night I finished reading A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. A woman at work lent it to me, and while she has fabulous tastes in all aspects of life (a big fan of Brandon Flowers, so I know I can trust her), I am always dubious about people's recommendations to me.
But A Prayer For Owen Menay absolutely blew me away. Seriously. When I mentioned it in my review post last week, I think I said that it is quite impossible to explain the story, but I will give it a go. It is narrated by a man called John Wheelwright, who describes his life both in the present (a religious schoolteacher) and in the past (his childhood, teenage years and early twenties). John explains the story of his best friend Owen Meany, who is unnaturally small and has a crazy high pitched voice (semmingly irrelevant now, but not so in the story). Owen accidentally kills John's mum when they are 11 years old by batting a baseball that hits her in the side of the head. This and other events that occur throughout their childhoods bring Owen to believe that he is an 'instrument of the Lord'.
There is a reason for everything.
I assure you that my sloppy description in no way comes even close to describing the beauty, humour, irony, horror and heartbreaking heroism that takes place in this book. I was sobbing at the end, actual tears rolling down my face, which is how I know that it was a brilliant book - it affected me in such a strong way.
Because I know that nobody will go out and buy this just on my recommendation, I am going to give away a paperback copy of A Prayer For Owen Meany to one random reader. I really want other people to read and understand this book, and to love it the way that I do, so if you want to win a copy, make sure that you follow this blog, and then send an email to me at emily.battye@hotmail.co.uk. Include your name and your blog address in the email.
Only email entries count; I'm not using comments for this one. You've got until next Saturday, 20th November, to enter. I will then pick a name at random and let them now, blah blah blah. Ok?
If you can't be bothered to get involved in this, go and buy the book anyway. It could well be the best book you have ever read.
But A Prayer For Owen Menay absolutely blew me away. Seriously. When I mentioned it in my review post last week, I think I said that it is quite impossible to explain the story, but I will give it a go. It is narrated by a man called John Wheelwright, who describes his life both in the present (a religious schoolteacher) and in the past (his childhood, teenage years and early twenties). John explains the story of his best friend Owen Meany, who is unnaturally small and has a crazy high pitched voice (semmingly irrelevant now, but not so in the story). Owen accidentally kills John's mum when they are 11 years old by batting a baseball that hits her in the side of the head. This and other events that occur throughout their childhoods bring Owen to believe that he is an 'instrument of the Lord'.
There is a reason for everything.
I assure you that my sloppy description in no way comes even close to describing the beauty, humour, irony, horror and heartbreaking heroism that takes place in this book. I was sobbing at the end, actual tears rolling down my face, which is how I know that it was a brilliant book - it affected me in such a strong way.
Because I know that nobody will go out and buy this just on my recommendation, I am going to give away a paperback copy of A Prayer For Owen Meany to one random reader. I really want other people to read and understand this book, and to love it the way that I do, so if you want to win a copy, make sure that you follow this blog, and then send an email to me at emily.battye@hotmail.co.uk. Include your name and your blog address in the email.
Only email entries count; I'm not using comments for this one. You've got until next Saturday, 20th November, to enter. I will then pick a name at random and let them now, blah blah blah. Ok?
If you can't be bothered to get involved in this, go and buy the book anyway. It could well be the best book you have ever read.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let's chit and chat