Posted by Ritch on June 15, 2002, at 22:49:33
In reply to Re: Owen Meany, Literature and real life, posted by mair on June 15, 2002, at 22:15:16
> Susan
>
> I loved this book both times I read it - maybe this time even more than the first. I think John Irving does a wonderful job of taking a rather remarkable story and weaving it into the fabric of historical events. However alot of what amazes me about this book is just the novelty of the plot. Bits and pieces of the characters seem familiar to me, maybe more so because I've spent much of my life in northern New England and know many places that could be Gravesend. Maybe that's the deal - Irving can create a really unusual plot where alot of very unusual things happen, and pull it off because he does it in the context of actual events, in a place that seems familiar to many and with people who have enough of us or someone we know in them to seem more believable than they actually are.
>
> I've never really thought about this - I dislike science fiction and other sorts of true fantasy books, but i'm not wild about stuff that seems too realistic either, and thus somehow derivative. I don't have to identify with characters at all - I just need to find them interesting. I think the books I tend to prefer are probably more descriptive and longer on character development than they are on plot. Somehow this one just fit the bill for me. I guess this is a way of saying that no, I didn't find it to be particularly realistic, although I can identify some with the times.
>
> Mair, puzzled as usual
>
> PS: Did you find Owen Meany at all like the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird? I loved the way that Owen seemed so precocious and so adept at getting what he wanted. He sounds sometimes like an old maiden aunt or something, even when he's quite young.
Wow, you have definitely freaked me out by your statement regarding "To Kill a Mockingbird"! I was going to post a question to BeardedLady about this. She said she liked Slingblade in one of her posts. Well,...that story is a little geographically quite close to well.. home. Anyhow I was going to ask a question about the relationship of Mockingbird and Slingblade. I didn't get it until I saw the end of Mockingbird and the little girl is coming home in the woods with the "HAM" costume. She is walking there with her brother and is attacked. Anyhow, the "slow" guy in the movie (Dill?), prevents them from being hurt. That is when all the lights came on with regard to Slingblade and Mockingbird. If that is correct (about Dill-the character), then the Owen connections work bigtime. Ok, now you got me looking though my tape collection for Mockingbird...
:)Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:495
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20020206/msgs/498.html