Talk:A Prayer for Owen Meany

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Untitled[edit]

Just a comment, and it may not be relevant to the entry: but wasn't much of this book, or at least the character of Owen Meany, based on Gunter Grass' The Tin Drum? They both prominently feature small-statured individuals as the cgfvbbfgbentral character, who have a idiosyncratic voices, who work as stone cutters and have crushes on older women. I'm not sure how much criticism has been brought to bear on this aspect, but if it is significant, it might be worth mentioning. Keen Machine 15:34, 27 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is definitely the case. Irvings main reason to study a year in vienna was to be able to read The Tin Drum in german and he claims this book to have shown him how he could write a book himself (See the article "A Soldier Once" by Irving in the New York Times as linked in this article). And there are a lot more of parallels, beginning with the initials of Owen Meany and Oskar Matzerath. Irvings book has a far different plot, it's definitely not a remake but a hommage! And of course you are right again, this should be mentioned. --Käptn Weltall (talk) 18:16, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Origins of the Character, Owen Meany[edit]

I hope this is the right place to discuss this. I don't recall where I read this, I believe it was 15-20 years ago, but I've long understood that the character is loosely based on Irving's childhood friend, Charles Krulak, who was also small in stature as a child, wrestled, and allegedly had a speech impediment in childhood that caused him to speak louder than normal. It was the same Charles Krulak that later went on to become the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Is this true or an urban legend? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stu D Lyman (talk • contribs) 03:39, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Friendship with Guenther Grass[edit]

Why is this in past tense? Grass is still alive, are they not friends anymore? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.177.98.6 (talk) 07:28, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Spoiler warnings[edit]

This article needs spoiler warnings. I'm in the middle of reading this novel and I didn't want to know that Owen died, not that it was hard to guess that, but I still didn't want to be told that. --67.190.54.4 10:05, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You retard, I avoided the plot section intentionally, but had a question about another section, so came to the discussion page. Yet you still managed to spoil part of the book for me. Like it was really necessary to have a spoiler in your comment? Good job *thumbs up* Jesus Christ, I hate stupid people.

So, what was the question? - Caswin 19:29, 14 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok apparantly there are a great may fools out there so I will use as many small words as I can. Them saying that Owen inisisted that he knew the time and method of his death does not necessarily count as a spoiler. Does it say how he died, no. Does it say anything other than the basic circumstances that the book gives fairly early in the story, no. Does it mention in what way the 3 interweaving stories combine for his death, again no. If your saying that its a spoiler because it says he is going to die then I want you to close the book and look at the cover. The book is called A Prayer for Owen Meany and many copies it is a closeup of engraved granite. Just the title alone on the granite told me he was going to die in the book. Now stop your complaining and read. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.14.203.32 (talk) 05:34, 1 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism[edit]

I've reverted the article to a state where the plot summary made some sense; for the last few months people seem to have been tinkering round the edges of the bits the vandal had left. Mhardcastle (talk) 21:48, 25 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have the time at the moment but if anyone does, the plot summary needs some heavy editing. There are a few errors including some conclusions that the author of the summary appears to have inferred on his or her own. There is also the omission of an important part of the late plot when the main character discovers the identity of his father and his mother's secret life. The end of the summary especially gets confusing and pretty much falls apart. It's tough to summarize a 500+ page novel, especially one that jumps around in time so much, but some reorganization and rewriting needs to be done. If I did it myself, I would rewrite the whole thing, having just read the novel, but if someone has time, they might be able to salvage most of the current summary. It's not terrible, but not excellent either. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.135.238.55 (talk) 18:13, 9 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cultural References[edit]

The song "Goodbye Sky Harbor" by Jimmy Eat World is CLEARLY based on Owen Meany. There are explicit quotes in the song such as "one small instrument." It is not speculation to make this connection and this should be changed. It does not "more likely reference the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport," not related to the book. 216.66.108.210 (talk) 15:27, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Günther" Grass[edit]

It's Günter Grass, not "Günther." I changed it.

How do such glaring errors happen on an entry about literature?

Sca (talk) 20:00, 11 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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