A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The book is a tale of two childhood friends, one of whom believes he is God's instrument. The story is set in a New England town during the 1950s and 1960s and follows the lives of the two boys, one small and with a strange voice, who has visions of his own death and believes he is an instrument of God, and the other, the narrator, who struggles with faith. The novel explores themes of faith, fate, and the power of friendship against a backdrop of historical and political events, including the Vietnam War.
The 524th greatest book of all time
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- Published
- 1989
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Long
- Pages
- 600-700
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(4.1)
- Alternate Titles
- None
If you're interested in seeing the ranking details on this book go here
This book is on the following 25 lists:
- 8th on The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians (Bookman.com)
- 8th on The Celebrity Reading List (Gardiner Public Library)
- 12th on Top 100 Books, As Chosen By Canadians (The Gazette(Newspaper))
- 14th on Waterstones' Top 25 Books of the Last 25 Years (2007) (Bookstandard (wayback machine))
- 17th on Edmonton's Top 100 (Edmonton Journal)
- 20th on Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books (Harvard Book Store)
- 28th on The Big Read (BBC)
- 28th on The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Readers' List (The Modern Library)
- 37th on Big Read (German) (Germany)
- 37th on Readers’ Top 100 Novels Of All Time (Guardian)
- 50th on Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century (themodernnovel.com)
- 52nd on Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 73rd on The New Classics - 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008 (Entertainment Weekly)
- 84th on My Favourite Book - Australian Big Read (Australian Big Read)
- 139th on Our Users' Honorable Mention Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 189th on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 488th on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die (BBC Radio Oxford)
- 50 Essential Reads by Contemporary Authors (Orange Prize for Fiction)
- As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition (New York Times)
- Best Books Ever (Book Depository)
- The 100 Best Novels Of All Time (Runners-Up) (The Guardian)
- The Great American Read (PBS)