The Nature of Belief.....

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

While Tara and I lived in VT John Irving coached(and may still coach) wrestling at a local high school. His love of the sport has suffused such works as The World According to Garp and the provided the boyhood camaraderie of The Cider House Rules. It seems he has a clear understanding of the male psyche - or certain popular male psyches, at least. This understanding emanates through the character of John Wheelwright the narrator of this complex and beautiful story. The story revolves around John's faith which has evolved out of his once complex relationship with childhood friend and physical outsider Owen Meany. The book's namesake is for all intents and purposes the voice of God in this read, a role that the character dives into with unrelenting, and times frustrating, belief. Although occasionally overtly obvious (wham with the alliteration) regarding it's religious imagery, which can be tedious and trite if not done well, it succeeds in delivering the twisted yet holy message almost universally. The author, whose Garp, lost a National Book Award to this wretched book (although the paperback version won in 1980 - in a shortlived paperback category - if only N.B.F. and Wikipedia could get their acts together) has often been accused of writing too much popular fiction - and working too much in Hollywood. But, as is clear with Meany, popular does not mean bad when it comes to Irving's literature.

A

Related:
The World According to Garp - John Irving
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (which should have been on my top 5...)

Also there is a theatrical adaptation currently running in DC - but don't bother with Simon Birch the movie "adaptation" - it's nearly as inconsistent as the Bourne movies/books