•11:31 AM
I just wanted to go to a quiet and deserted island so that I could relish every word. So I could truly enjoy the end of my new favourite book. I wanted to be able to choke back the inevitable tears without causing any alarm amongst my flock. I just wanted to sit and drink in the story.
Wait ... maybe I just wanted a drink ... because around here, a Mom is not really allowed to sit and relish anything unless it has something to do with a hamburger.
And then after reading the whole thing, I wanted to retreat to a quiet room with a computer so that I could write an essay about what I had just read. I had all these emotions and thoughts that needed to be freed from my brain. But that won't happen either because unless you are a university professor, who would want to read it? However, maybe I'll get my chance to write that essay someday soon.
Back before there were little Jones' running around, in the summer of 2000, Jonesy and I rented a cottage near Bracebridge, Ontario. When we arrived at the cottage, I realized that I had forgotten to pack a book ... a necessity for the cottage in my opinion. As luck might have it, the cottage we rented had a small library of good books to choose from and I decided on The Cider House Rules by John Irving. It had been released as a movie in 1999 and won a bunch of awards in 2000 ... so, I was familiar with it.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love that book. I was lost in the story, and found it hard to put down once I began reading. On that same trip, I was bit by a spider (or some other strange insect) and had an allergic reaction that left me with a very large welt on my leg and a great deal of discomfort. The pharmacist recommended that I take some Benadryl until the discomfort and itchiness went away ... but Benadryl makes me VERY sleepy. So, for our week of vacation, I was either sleeping, itching or reading. I sound like fun, don't I?
But I did finish the almost 600 page Cider House Rules in five days. I was captivated by the characters and the story, along with their moral dilemnas and the psychology of the story.
But there is a new Irving book in (Jones) town, and The Cider House Rules has been kicked to the side.
When I began to read A Prayer for Owen Meany, I didn't realize John Irving had written The Cider House Rules. I recognized Irving's name, but I thought that I had studied something written by him in a previous university English class. My bad (See? I can talk like a young, hip university student) ... but I will not forget his name ever again. I could never forget the man who brought Owen Meany to life.
Please do yourself a favour and go pick this book up. I promise you will not be disappointed. You cannot read it quickly, though ... you won't want to. You will want to experience the entire story ... sometimes, you will need to stop and consider what had just happened or make a couple of connections. My Mom will want to savour this book so much I predict it will take her a year to read it! Sometimes, I had to put it down because it was too noisy at my house to really enjoy it. And, I suspect, that I read slowly because I did not want to lose Owen Meany. I wanted to hang out with him for as long as I could.
Owen Meany is a real character ... by that, I mean, he is the kind of person you will never forget and who makes an impact on your life. He changes it or shapes it in some way. He is a person of small size ... at the age of eleven years old, he is the size of a typical five-year-old. And he has a very strange voice ... But those are not the reasons you will find it difficult to forget him. He is one of the most unique people I have ever known ... but he's not for real, is he? So, I guess I don't know him, but I wish I did.
This book reminds me of A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell ... not that Owen Meany is in any way like Teddy Brex. Now, there is an essay assignment ... Compare and contrast Owen Meany with Teddy Brex. I could actually begin that essay by considering the boys' parents ... both were distant, and unable to show emotion; but while Owen ends up a charasmatic, magnet for people, Teddy becomes a mentally disturbed social pariah. I could be on to something here. You must think I am crazy ... but these are the things that stimulate my brain right now.
Anyhow, the books are similar in that they are an English student's dream. There are so many themes running through this story, it would be difficult to know which one to write about. Of course, you could write a lengthy paper on how religion plays a part in the story, and somehow link the idea to destiny and intuition and visions. Or you could look at the theme of being armlessness or amputation; baseball plays its part in the story, too. I could easily go through the book again - because I would read this again in a heartbeat; in fact, I want to read it again, right now - to find evidence for the idea that Owen Meany is a miracle.
Yes, I strongly believe that Owen Meany was miraculous in his own right.
There is also a theme of literature that runs through the story. The characters (especially Owen Meany) often mention things they have read. Owen becomes the main editorial columnist for his school newspaper and he often uses quotes from famous authors to make his point with his best friend, John (the narrator). Owen encourages John to write his Doctoral thesis on Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), whose works considered the events of real life and the possibility of fate - in the same way the Irving does in A Prayer for Owen Meany. And in the end, the narrator ends up becoming a high school English teacher.
Some have compared John Irving to Charles Dickens, in his story telling style. Which makes sense to me because Great Expectations is one of my most favourite books ever.
In the Winter Semester, beginning January 2011, I will be taking an Contemporary American Literature course. There will be no one happier than me if there happens to be something by John Irving on the reading list. Because maybe then I'll get to write that essay after all.
Occasionally, a quote from a book will stay with me; and so, I'll leave you with one I will never forget from Owen Meany ...
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO BE AN ENGLISH MAJOR, YOU DON'T NEED ANY SPECIAL TALENT, YOU JUST HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT SOMEONE WANTS YOU TO SEE - TO WHAT MAKES SOMEONE ANGRIEST, OR THE MOST EXCITED IN SOME OTHER WAY. IT'S SO EASY; I THINK THAT'S WHY THERE ARE SO MANY ENGLISH MAJORS."
Now, do you know why I love him?
Wait ... maybe I just wanted a drink ... because around here, a Mom is not really allowed to sit and relish anything unless it has something to do with a hamburger.
And then after reading the whole thing, I wanted to retreat to a quiet room with a computer so that I could write an essay about what I had just read. I had all these emotions and thoughts that needed to be freed from my brain. But that won't happen either because unless you are a university professor, who would want to read it? However, maybe I'll get my chance to write that essay someday soon.
Back before there were little Jones' running around, in the summer of 2000, Jonesy and I rented a cottage near Bracebridge, Ontario. When we arrived at the cottage, I realized that I had forgotten to pack a book ... a necessity for the cottage in my opinion. As luck might have it, the cottage we rented had a small library of good books to choose from and I decided on The Cider House Rules by John Irving. It had been released as a movie in 1999 and won a bunch of awards in 2000 ... so, I was familiar with it.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love that book. I was lost in the story, and found it hard to put down once I began reading. On that same trip, I was bit by a spider (or some other strange insect) and had an allergic reaction that left me with a very large welt on my leg and a great deal of discomfort. The pharmacist recommended that I take some Benadryl until the discomfort and itchiness went away ... but Benadryl makes me VERY sleepy. So, for our week of vacation, I was either sleeping, itching or reading. I sound like fun, don't I?
But I did finish the almost 600 page Cider House Rules in five days. I was captivated by the characters and the story, along with their moral dilemnas and the psychology of the story.
But there is a new Irving book in (Jones) town, and The Cider House Rules has been kicked to the side.
When I began to read A Prayer for Owen Meany, I didn't realize John Irving had written The Cider House Rules. I recognized Irving's name, but I thought that I had studied something written by him in a previous university English class. My bad (See? I can talk like a young, hip university student) ... but I will not forget his name ever again. I could never forget the man who brought Owen Meany to life.
Please do yourself a favour and go pick this book up. I promise you will not be disappointed. You cannot read it quickly, though ... you won't want to. You will want to experience the entire story ... sometimes, you will need to stop and consider what had just happened or make a couple of connections. My Mom will want to savour this book so much I predict it will take her a year to read it! Sometimes, I had to put it down because it was too noisy at my house to really enjoy it. And, I suspect, that I read slowly because I did not want to lose Owen Meany. I wanted to hang out with him for as long as I could.
Owen Meany is a real character ... by that, I mean, he is the kind of person you will never forget and who makes an impact on your life. He changes it or shapes it in some way. He is a person of small size ... at the age of eleven years old, he is the size of a typical five-year-old. And he has a very strange voice ... But those are not the reasons you will find it difficult to forget him. He is one of the most unique people I have ever known ... but he's not for real, is he? So, I guess I don't know him, but I wish I did.
This book reminds me of A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell ... not that Owen Meany is in any way like Teddy Brex. Now, there is an essay assignment ... Compare and contrast Owen Meany with Teddy Brex. I could actually begin that essay by considering the boys' parents ... both were distant, and unable to show emotion; but while Owen ends up a charasmatic, magnet for people, Teddy becomes a mentally disturbed social pariah. I could be on to something here. You must think I am crazy ... but these are the things that stimulate my brain right now.
Anyhow, the books are similar in that they are an English student's dream. There are so many themes running through this story, it would be difficult to know which one to write about. Of course, you could write a lengthy paper on how religion plays a part in the story, and somehow link the idea to destiny and intuition and visions. Or you could look at the theme of being armlessness or amputation; baseball plays its part in the story, too. I could easily go through the book again - because I would read this again in a heartbeat; in fact, I want to read it again, right now - to find evidence for the idea that Owen Meany is a miracle.
Yes, I strongly believe that Owen Meany was miraculous in his own right.
There is also a theme of literature that runs through the story. The characters (especially Owen Meany) often mention things they have read. Owen becomes the main editorial columnist for his school newspaper and he often uses quotes from famous authors to make his point with his best friend, John (the narrator). Owen encourages John to write his Doctoral thesis on Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), whose works considered the events of real life and the possibility of fate - in the same way the Irving does in A Prayer for Owen Meany. And in the end, the narrator ends up becoming a high school English teacher.
Some have compared John Irving to Charles Dickens, in his story telling style. Which makes sense to me because Great Expectations is one of my most favourite books ever.
In the Winter Semester, beginning January 2011, I will be taking an Contemporary American Literature course. There will be no one happier than me if there happens to be something by John Irving on the reading list. Because maybe then I'll get to write that essay after all.
Occasionally, a quote from a book will stay with me; and so, I'll leave you with one I will never forget from Owen Meany ...
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO BE AN ENGLISH MAJOR, YOU DON'T NEED ANY SPECIAL TALENT, YOU JUST HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT SOMEONE WANTS YOU TO SEE - TO WHAT MAKES SOMEONE ANGRIEST, OR THE MOST EXCITED IN SOME OTHER WAY. IT'S SO EASY; I THINK THAT'S WHY THERE ARE SO MANY ENGLISH MAJORS."
Now, do you know why I love him?
2 comments:
Maybe I'll find Owen Meany at Clem's. Looking forward to reading it!
Thanks for suggesting one of the best books I've read since "Angela's Ashes", Jill.