I thought the movie was real good.I 'll have to read the bbok.
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I thought the movie was real good.I 'll have to read the bbok.
I started reading this book back in highschool, but it was the end of the year, and I had to return it before I was done. I should pick it up again.
I finished A Widow for One Year about a week ago, though, and I thought it was very good.
son of the circus put me off of irving for a long time, too, ycan't. i just loathed it. when widow came out, i bought it, but let it sit on my shelf gathering dust b/c i was scared it would be as terrible as son. then fourth hand got a lot of hoopla as being irving's comeback book, so i read it. thought it was good, but not great. then i picked up widow and LOVED it. great irving book! world according to garp, hotel new hampshire, cider house rules - all great. but the greatest of all is owen meany. :nod
I have yet to read Widow.
I have it sitting on a shelf but just haven't got round to reading it yet.
Have to agree with Sher, nothing will ever top Owen Meany for me.
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" isn't genius fiction. Irving's prose doesn't steal my breath away like some other authors' do, nor does his narrative stun me with its ingenuity, vision per se.
But the book made me cry. Hard. And few books I've ever read have had that kind of effect of me. Owen's a great protagonist, incredibly mortal yet, somehow, bigger than it all. And that scene with the granite saw...
Haven't read "A Widow for One Year", though. I have been meaning to for more than a year now.
I tend to disagree. But perhaps that's more a fact of my perspective than anything else. And the point in my life when I picked up the book.Quote:
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" isn't genius fiction.
It did take my breath away because at the time (ten years or so ago) it was EXACTLY what I needed.
Dangerous side note: This is the only book I ever read while DRIVING a car. DO NOT!!! do that. EVER.
I am a huge fan of John Irving and his books. My favorite aspect of his books is his marvelous way of bringing extremely unique characters to life. There is something uniquely memorable about almost all of his main characters.
My ranking of John Irvings Books are:
1. A Prayer For Owen Meany
2. The World According To Garp
3. The Cider House Rules
4. A Widow For One Year
5. Trying to save Piggy Sneed (Short Stories)
6. The Fourth Hand
7. The Hotel New Hampshire
Followed by
A Son Of The Circus
Setting Free The Bears
The Water-Method Man
The 158-Pound Marriage
In no particular order.