The Cider House Rules

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Summary: Cider House Rules
Review: I really like this book and how the author try to address a controversial issue, i.e. abortion in a very interesting plot. It gives opportunity for readers to see both sides of the coin in that issues and it is certainly a gray area. I really enjoy it so much, particulary when Dr. Larch wrote to Homer Wells and his statement about playing God. We always assume that by performing abortion, we certainly playing God. But, John Irving in this book, reverse the question, either way we played God. This book is good to remind us not be too extreme or fanatic in certain issues, because certainly in most issues there are both stories in each side. Even though it is against our belief, but sometimes we are left with no other choice, but to do the other.

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Summary: John irving really hit the jackpot with this one
Review: I really loved the cider house rules, despite it vulgarities. It a wonderful story and i plan to read many of John irving's other books, starting with a prayer for owen meany. Homer Wells is such an interesting charecter the story had me responding right to everything for awhile while reading it. the cider house rules it tied with A tree grows in Brooklyn for my all time favorite books. I'm gonna go start reading now because i can't wait another second to start reading a prayer for owen meany.

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Summary: Great characters, poor finish
Review: This book probably deserves four stars overall, but the weak finish caused me to give it three.

The character and plot development are fantastic, particularly for Homer Wells and the doctor. Not as great for Candy and Wally. The plot was very well composed and had strong sub plots, though I thought Irving tended toward the unnecessarily and destractingly graphic at times.

The rich development of both story and philosophy only emphasized Irving's inability to provide the warranted climax. This is where his ability diverges from Dickens'. Dickens wrote great endings. I will elaborate now, but if you haven't read the book you may not want to read on.

Irving developed tremendous tension between the five main characters leading up to multiple resolutions, but bailed. How could he resolve the emotions of Homer, Angel, Wilbur, Candy and Wally with such ephemeral paragraphs given the detail he provides everywhere else? Philosophically, Irving also wimped out. He allows Wilbur to rant and rave the entire book about one side of the abortion dilemma. Homer simply describes the other side by saying that he believes they have a soul. I am not concerned about the inequity of the presentation. I think the two points of view were, if not well developed, at least clear. However, Homer simply walks away from a conviction that had him away from St. Cloud's for fifteen years once again without resolution to the emotional turmoil the dilemma deserves.

Considering such strong story development and talent, it felt that Irving had not even written the final hundred pages. I hope his other books are more rewarding all the way to the end.

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Summary: Search For Identity
Review: The Cider House Rules, written by John Irving, is the classic story of one young man's journey: leaving home, finding love, and finding his place in the world. The Cider House Rules is the story of Homer wells, a child without parents who is raised and mentored by his orphanage's doctor, Wilbur Larch, a.k.a. St. Larch. They had an extraordinary bond; Larch was the father that Homer never had. Larch taught Homer everything about medicine and a little bit less about right and wrong. All Homer wanted was the one thing that Larch couldn't give him . . . rules to live by. Homer Wells cannot seem to get away from St. Clouds (an orphanage in Maine), or his father figure there, Dr. Wilbur Larch (Nurse Edna, Nurse Angela, Nurse Caroline, and Mrs. Grogan help him at the orphanage). Larch, upon realizing that Homer will be at the orphanage forever (he thinks), teaches Homer the skills needed to deliver a baby and to kill a fetus. While Homer does like the fact that he knows so much about a certain subject, he knows that he does not want to be a doctor. One day, a young and very beautiful couple arrives at the orphanage. Candy Kendall and Wally Worthington decide to take Homer back home with them, and the story takes off from there. Wally goes off to war and is soon presumed dead. Homer and Candy end up having a baby back at St. Clouds, and their son, Angel Wells, is made to believe he's an orphan. Whilst Homer Wells is quite an experienced obstetrician and general practitioner from his childhood, he does not possess the everyday skills needed to survive life. He is constantly searching for his purpose, and what it is he is supposed to do. Now that he is a father and living in the same house with Wally and Candy, he experiments with the idea of telling Wally and Angel that Angel is he (Homer) and Candy's son. Before he can destroy the whole family atmosphere, Dr. Wilbur Larch, the closest thing Homer ever had to a father, dies. Homer finds his calling in life, when he goes back to St. Clouds to head up the orphanage. Homer is against giving abortions, but he will give them if the situation calls for it, and that ends up being his calling in life. If there were one other book that I had to relate The Cider House Rules to, it would have to be The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a very similar person to Homer Wells. I think that the major similarity is that throughout each novel, neither character knows what they want to do with their lives. Holden does say that he wants to be "the catcher in the rye," but what does that actually mean. Homer does work at an apple orchard and then as a doctor back at St. Clouds, but neither of those jobs is what he actually wants to do with his life. Another interesting similarity between these two characters is how they are blunt yet outspoken. Holden loves to tell it like it is, and Homer loves to repeat every question to make it seem like he is pondering over what to say and how to respond. I highly recommend The Cider House Rules to anyone interested in reading a great novel. I read it in a little under a week; I could not put it down. I have also heard great things about the movie by Miramax. So, if you have some time, pick up a copy of The Cider House Rules.

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Summary: Disappointing Beyond Belief
Review: I had origionally seen the movie and I absolutely loved it. When we had to pick a novel to read for my Modern American Lit class, I naturally chose one I thought would be decent. However, I was decieved. Although the book addresses the topic of abortion fervently, I am decidedly pro-choice and the rest of this conflict does not interest me. Nor do I find his extra additives about unimportant characters that merely flit through the book. John Irving goes into so much unessecary detail that I thought I would scream. These details add nothing to the story but length and torture. I agonized over every dull and unentertaining passage. I could barely read five pages without being disgusted to the point of nearly turning green. I had to put the book down every few pages to regain my composer. I had to force myself to pick it up a few days later to read another couple of paragraphs. Needless to say I decided to do my final reports for the class without having finnished the book. And I don't plan on reading anything by Irving ever again.

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Summary: Good Night You Princes of Maine...
Review: First off, I would like to state that I have thoroughly enjoyed this book(so far). The characters are very engaging and the raw human emotion is entrapping. I liked the way Irving described the sullen little town (can it be called a town?), but at some times the details were a little much. For example, I could have done without the details on the process of abortion. This may have been necessary to prove a point, however, so it is entirely forgivable. The characters are enchanting and the boy-next-door quality of Homer Wells is very believable. I enjoyed the easy to read flow of this book. Once I began I felt as though I knew the characters personally and, through this I could relate to what they were going through. I didn't like the drawn out details because, to be honest, they got boring. All in all, I would recommend this book and I will most likely add this to my shelf of books to read again. The reader feels pulled in and will miss the comfortable appeal of the characters when they finish.

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Summary: Hated to see it end..............
Review: What a wonderful novel! I truly cried with this one! It brought out emotions that I didn't even know I had. As I read on (this is a long one), I felt like I was part of the "family" and knew everyone on a personal level. My heart ached for Dr. Larch when Homer left, and when Melony finally came back.....oh boy! This book starts out slow and frankly, at first, I didn't know if I was going to stick with it or not (I did get tired of hearing about the pony picture), but gradually, it kept getting better and better, until it got to the point that I couldn't wait to get back to it every night - there are not too many books like that for me - this is a wonderful story - you will not be sorry to get this one and begin to become part of the orphanage at St. Clouds - truly a heart warming read.

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Summary: Absolutely Incredible!
Review: When we are young, we almost always take on our parents' beliefs as those are the only ones we know. In John Irving's novel, The Cider House Rules, Dr. Wilbur Larch's pro-choice views on abortion that a fetus is a fetus are initially taken up by the play's other main character, Homer Wells. However, Homer soon discovers after examining a removed fetus that there was, among other things, a facial expression. The image of it preyed on his mind and Homer began to form his own opinions. While Homer is an orphan and Dr. Larch has no family, they have become so much like father and son. They share the same bond and Homer has seemed to have found his niche. Homer mirrors many of the characters in books by his favorite author, Charles Dickens, particularly that of Pip in Great Expectations. In Great Expectations, Pip is an orphan who lives with his abusive sister and her husband, Joe. Joe becomes as close to family as Pip will know, and it seems Pip will take up Joe's blacksmith business once he's reached the proper age, much like Homer is expected to take up medicine. However, both Pip and Homer both leave to take a different route in life. For Pip, he becomes a wealthy man, for Homer he goes with Wally and Candy (a couple who went to Dr. Larch for an abortion) to work for a couple of days. Their views greatly change as well. When Pip becomes rich he adopts the mannerisms and does not find being a blacksmith an acceptable profession for a man of his means. In the novel, Homer goes head-to-head with Dr. Larch about abortion. He insists that "you can't call it a fetus, or an embryo, or the products of conception. But whatever you call it, it's alive. And whatever you do to it...whatever you call it what you do...you're killing it...It's a choice. If it's a fetus to you, that's fine. It's a baby to me. If you have a choice...I have a choice too." Suddenly the medical profession doesn't

seem like the right thing for Homer. He doesn't know exactly what he wants to do; medicine was basically something he took up as it was apparent he wouldn't find a foster home, but he knows that he cannot perform an abortion. Like most arguments between parents and children, very rarely does either side consider where the other is coming from. Had Homer's mother gone with an abortion, Homer would not be alive. He at least had the chance for life. What Homer fails to realize though is that Dr. Larch has witnessed the horrors of illegal abortions and feels the need to provide a way out that is safe. Abortion is not just a black and white issue, unfortunately. Will it ever be ultimately resolved? Probably not. There are too many complications and loopholes. However one lesson we should learn is the acceptance of other people's beliefs. As Homer explains to Dr. Larch, "I don't disapprove of you, I disapprove of it." An excellent retelling of Dickens, not to be missed. I was left after 600 pages desperately craving more.

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Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: I love this book! I laughed and I cried. It was a powerful story with a strong message. I don't think I have ever read a story that completely captured humanity like this one. Usually in fiction it is very black and white Villian/Hero etc. This story involved humans. I loved it.

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Summary: You will miss the characters when the book is finished.....
Review: The Cider House Rules has become the novel by which I will judge all future novels. Its characters are written with warmth and truth, and the story has a resonance that is as bold as it is simple. You will read it over and over again, just in case you missed something the first or tenth time, and each time you read it, you will feel a sense that you are rejoining friends. Do not hesitate to buy this book. It is wonderful.