Jack’s Reviews > A Prayer for Owen Meany > Status Update
Jack
is on page 272 of 637
Really going back and forth. I’m feeling very comfortable in the Gravesend setting. I enjoy the characters. But, at the same time, it’s more of a “coziness” than it is a town populated by ‘real’ people. Sometimes it feels like Irving wants to write something complex, but often it’s so archetypal that he undercuts himself. Always knowing how a character will react makes them a character, not a person.
— Feb 07, 2026 06:16AM
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Jack’s Previous Updates
Jack
is on page 301 of 637
The formula for a chapter looks like this: Irving writes beautiful, funny, sad scenes of boyhood for the first third. In the second third, Owen is shown to be precocious in some way and Johnny flashes forward to adulthood to emphasize the themes the former embodied. In the third third, Owen becomes Jesus Christ and is worshipped by those around him. The book would be better if restricted to that first third
— 8 hours, 25 min ago
Jack
is on page 226 of 637
Okay sorry but the Christmas pageant scene is an 11/10 on the melodrama scale. I’m getting secondhand embarrassment.
— Feb 03, 2026 06:51AM
Jack
is on page 204 of 637
Often heavy-handed but its so charming that I can’t put it down
— Jan 30, 2026 08:56AM
Jack
is on page 118 of 637
Having trouble getting into this, which sucks because on paper this is a book I should love
— Jan 27, 2026 04:05AM
Jack
is on page 18 of 637
My grandmother’s new husband gave this to me, they read it to one another during “their courtship,” which I find very charming. It’s hasn’t hooked me yet, in part because the beginning is exposition-heavy, but I’ve heard good things. Hopes are high!
— Jan 04, 2026 08:05AM
