I was assigned to read this for IB English. It's about an unusual boy, who believes he is an instrument of God. Owen Meany is tiny, has an insane voice, and killed his best friend's mother at a Little League Game. Since then Owen Meany's story is one of fate and faith, and he is driven by an absolute belief in the will of God, taking him and his best friend through journeys of understanding and enigma, all the way through the Vietnam War and beyond. This book is fantastic. The only way to describe it is as the AP English version of South Park. Owen Meany is both hilarious and tragic, and this book can be interpreted in so many ways, as a story promoting faith, as a story mocking faith, or as a simple story that asks the reader to walk away with their own message. It's great for English students, because it has a plethora of symbols, motifs, references, and themes. Irving is practically hitting the readers over the head with the Christ Figure symbolism, even going to one obvious plot point where I literally had put the book down and groan at Irving's abandonment of subtlety.
The only drawback is that it's about 200 pages too long. For the last stretch of the book I was just dying to get it over with, but the ending redeemed the book in my eyes. Overall, it's an excellent read, and I highly recommend it. If you don't have a lot of time or don't like to read books over a long period of time, then there are other books I would suggest. But it is still a classic sure to please and impress, and give the potential English student numerous topics to write essays upon.
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