I've been reading this in fits and starts over my lunchtimes and have to admit to finding it a little hard going at the moment. I think I need to give it a bit of a blast in order to get into the style of writing. Dickens puts in a lot of omniscient narrator stuff which sits strangely for a modern reader I think, and the fact that it was originally in serial form (I imagine) probably doesn't help. I'm not very far through yet, but I have no idea really what it's about, or what is going to happen! The thing I think I find hardest about books of this period is that they often don't refer to people by name, or refer to them by several different names and it gets very confusing.
I'll give it a proper go over the weekend and see how I go.
26 October 2006
15 October 2006
Book 3 - 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' (rank = 28) - Finished
Apologies for the lapse between posts, those who read my personal blog will know that I have been recovering from a broken back. My inability to get to the library for a while, along with a desire to read light (as in literal weight) and light (as in content) novels, shelved my project for a while. However, I am back and am planning a foray to the library this afternoon, list in hand.
While in hospital I did read another from the list however - the fantastic 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving. I had tried to read another of his, A Widow for a Year, without much success, so wasn't holding out much hope for this. However I was proved drastically wrong and I loved this book completely.
It follows the stories of 2 boys in their passage to becoming young men, and adults. The narrator is the best friend of the eponymous Owen, a tiny, high voiced anomaly with little regard for the normal ideas of society, or the normal behaviour of his peer group. To be honest, it is now a few weeks since I read it and some of the details are a little hazy. I will say though, it kept me compelled and entertained for a good half of the week I spent on my back in a hospital bed, unable to move whilst I waited for my surgery. Any book that can do that is worth reading, and I shall definitely read it again in the future, and try more of Irving's as well.
Try it. You'll like it. :o)
While in hospital I did read another from the list however - the fantastic 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving. I had tried to read another of his, A Widow for a Year, without much success, so wasn't holding out much hope for this. However I was proved drastically wrong and I loved this book completely.
It follows the stories of 2 boys in their passage to becoming young men, and adults. The narrator is the best friend of the eponymous Owen, a tiny, high voiced anomaly with little regard for the normal ideas of society, or the normal behaviour of his peer group. To be honest, it is now a few weeks since I read it and some of the details are a little hazy. I will say though, it kept me compelled and entertained for a good half of the week I spent on my back in a hospital bed, unable to move whilst I waited for my surgery. Any book that can do that is worth reading, and I shall definitely read it again in the future, and try more of Irving's as well.
Try it. You'll like it. :o)
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