A Prayer for Owen Meany
The first line of John Irving’s ’A prayer for Owen Meany’is a memorable one. We learn that the narrator, John Wheelwright, is a Christian because of his friend with a ’wrecked’voice, and that this boy was tiny, and caused the death of John’s mother. This, of course, is Owen Meany, and as far as introductions go, this sums him up pretty well!
The eccentricity of Owen’s voice, described by John as ’wreckéd’is portrayed well by Irving, who uses the unusual method of writing his speech in capital letters. This takes a bit of getting used to as you have to cast aside your normal reaction of seeing capital letters - that this is something to draw attention to, or the words are exceptional in themselves - but then you realise in two stages, partly as you get to know Owen’s character, and partly when you have read the conclusion to the novel, that this is entirely deliberate. The capital letters start to look like banners, saying ’read me!’, represent Owen’s desire to be heard. It’s not, we learn, that he wants to be heard, it’s that he needs to be heard.
This is something which, on many levels, he insists throughout the book, but it is something that we finally understand, as all the threads that seem to have been weaving their way aimlessly throughout the course of the novel come together in a gripping finale. It is for this that I would primarily recommend reading the book. However once you start reading, you won’t have any difficulty completing it: the story and characters are enchanting, perhaps even engrossing, and you don’t have much choice but to follow it through addictively to the finish.
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