Comments on: First Line: A Prayer for Owen Meany

By: Erin Leigh

Erin Leigh — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:32:00 +0000

Yea, I would definately recommend Cider House! I thought Homer’s progression as a character was just lovely. It was a very thought provoking read for me.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:29:39 +0000

I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read much else (or maybe anything else? can’t remember) by Irving. I think I’m afraid it won’t be able to live up to Owen Meany…

I saw on your blog that you read Cider House Rules – would you recommend it?

By: Erin Leigh

Erin Leigh — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:38:29 +0000

I read this book for a Beer&Book Club my friends and I started one summer. I was horribly scared that Owen Meany would be horribly boring since I always had that prejudice of John Irving.

But that line killed all my preconceptions, and John Irving is now one of my favorite story tellers.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:10:47 +0000

I also have to wonder if the Stephen King audience and the Prayer for Owen Meany audience have a lot of crossover.

Granted, I enjoy both, so maybe there’s more than I would have thought?

By: Mome Rath

Mome Rath — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:52:44 +0000

I’d say this is an intriguing first line that would strike my interest. At least I wouldn’t be entirely surprised when the narrator’s mother dies! What also strikes my interest is why or when Stephen King was reviewing books in the Washington Post Book World…

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:11:39 +0000

Personally, I was satisfied with the big reveal in Gateway. Looking forward to hearing what you think.

By: Shawn FH

Shawn FH — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:40:32 +0000

Another book you’ve recommended — “Gateway” (Frederik Pohl) — has been doing the same thing. I’m quite intrigued to see what the events in the middle turn out to be.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:19:25 +0000

Agreed – my biggest complaint with America, America was how it kept referring to these events that changed the narrator’s life, but when you discover what they were it was a huge let down. I remember thinking “Really? That’s it?”

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:48 +0000

I don’t mind when plot points are revealed in the beginning, if it’s done in the way of Owen Meany, for example (a book I started in high school but didn’t finish). As you said, with a first sentence like that, you want to know the journey to those plot points, how they came to happen.

Sometimes it’s possible for an author to be too coy in hiding things from the reader. I see this a lot when there are hints of a ‘dark past’ for a main character. Usually the reveal isn’t worth all the previous dancing around.