Help!! Book Any Good?

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Are you only going to read just one? Summer is a wonderful time for good reading!

OWEN MEANY IS AN AMAZING BOOK.

MrSyntax- "If I was a funeral director, I'd be a necrophile for sure!"

I've read three of the four books - "No Country," "The Road," and "Cider House." Personally, I like "Cider House" the best of what I've read. McCarthy is very bleak, very minimalist. (He rarely uses punctuation, even.) I prefer Irving's rich characters, his old-fashioned style. While I was reading "Cider House," I felt like I was being told a story by some wise grandpa on a park bench somewhere. "Cider House" has interesting themes of humanity, choice, rules, and abortion, of course. "No Country" is bleak, in the can't-stop-what's-coming-to-you type of way, and "The Road" is depressing for its overall lack of hope, but it's an interesting study on father-son relationships in the most dire of circumstances.

Bottom line, my suggestion is to go with Irving's novels.

As the person above notes, it depends on what kind of novel you enjoy. If you enjoy blunt imagery and grittiness, I'd go with the McCarthy. That is not to say that McCarthy is easier to read. It's certainly not easier to swallow. "The Road" gave me actual nightmares, which is the first and only time that has ever happened to me from reading. If you enjoy the ride a bit more, and don't mind complex characters and phrasing, then you might really like Irving. "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is, like another commenter above, my favorite book ever. I just finished "Cider House" and must say that I really enjoyed it!

However, what's all this stuff about Dr. Larch having a "more-than-fatherly" love interest in Homer Wells in the movie? That, to me, sounds disastrous. That is far off from the book.

And I would really love to see a movie rendition of "Owen Meany"... and not the Simon Birch nonsense. It's got to be the real deal.

In my opinion Irving is the much better author. If you enjoyed the movie of "The Cider House Rules" then you will enjoy the book a hundred times more. The book adds so much more depth and understanding. At least 50% of the story was left out. Also, if you've seen "Simon Birch" then you will also like "A Prayer for Owen Meany" on which it was based. The story of Simon Birch (who is Owen Meany in the book) is only about 30% of that story. Though both movies are well done and very entertaining, rarely can John Irving novels be completely converted to film due to their length and the brilliance of the author.

It's excellent; one of my favorite "popular fiction" works.

If you were to ask literary critics "which author writes better/more interesting books," you'd certainly get McCarthy as a response. If you were to ask the general populace, you'd more than likely get Irving.

I won't venture to answer that question. I will say they're both worth reading, but very different in style, philosophy, and interests. I haven't read No Country for Old Men or A Prayer for Owen Meany but judging by the other works I've read by both authors, Irving writes warm, big-hearted prose with large casts of characters bound to each other (think Dickens) and McCarthy is bleak, harsh, far more technically refined, and interested in "bigger questions", if you get my meaning.

Edit: I disagree with the posters above that Irving is challenging. I find him incredibly easy and comforting to read. McCarthy, I do find challenging from an emotional perspective.

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There'll be no butter in hell!