A Painted House

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Summary: Living my life through John Grisham's books
Review: I have read all of Mr. Grisham's books. In A Painted House, like Skipping Christmas, he veers from his legal thrillers, and he does it very well. I have worked with migrants for over 30 years and he gives a perfect picture of their lives. I also lived through the great flood of 1997 in Grand Forks, ND and he made me shudder as the family in A Painted House watched the river rise. Oh, how well I remember those feelings.
Like all of his books, he draws the reader into the life of his characters. The only problem I have with his books is that he seems to keep drawing on my life to create his characters... Mr. Grisham does an excellent job, no matter what his venue.

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Summary: Grisham lacks no thrill in this book
Review: John Grisham continued his mastery with A Painted House. He did not lose any of his excitement without the courtrooms and such. With the story being about a young boy who is a witness to several events, It just becomes better when he is in doubt like any other child would be.

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Summary: Worth the Read
Review: The Painted House by John Grisham

I read it because I was curious to see how well Grisham could pull off a "legalless" environment novel. I'm quite happy that I did because I really enjoyed it.

The story is told by a seven year old farm boy, Luke Chandler. Don't let this be a turnoff. Luke has the insight, thoughts and feelings of someone (Grisham, perhaps (?)) well beyond seven years.

I'm very relieved that I did not have to grow up in the early 1950's Arkansas cotton country. Grisham brings the reader very close to those hard times. Even the St. Louis Cardinal radio games were marred because the Cards were playing second fiddle to the Dodgers and Giants.

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Summary: Only Seven?
Review: I have a seven-year old son and I am certain he does not grasp life as well as Luke. Grisham should of chosen an older child to present this story and it would of been a lot easier to swallow. I was disappointed.

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Summary: I Loved it!
Review: After waiting until this book came out in paperback, because of all the negative reviews I'd read, I bought this book. I loved it. Perhaps you need to live in the south to appreciate the back breaking work of picking cotton, no I've never picked a boll, but I could see the faces, feel their feelings, see them sneaking around at night, feel the fear and their hopes for a better life. Truly a heartwarming, delightful story that will be with for a while to come.

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Summary: The softer side of Grisham
Review: Grisham continues to stretch himself as a writer. This book held my attention. Well paced.

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Summary: A first-time reader of Grisham....
Review: This is my first Grisham read, deliberately. I am not into the legal thriller genre, but I was told that this book is "different." So I picked it up to read while on vacation. And curiously, I was in Mexico, in Mazatlan, reading about the tensions between Mexicans and the hill people of Arkansas. Felt pretty real to me. Sadly, tensions, prejudices, bigotry are still with us like Grisham portrays in the 1950's. The book is a very easy, quick read with believable struggles going on amongst the people in the rural south of that era. However, Grisham's characterization of Luke as a seven-year-old was very hard for me to believe. I felt the thoughts that went through Luke's head and the events he witnessed and the escapades he survived could more believably happen to a boy of 11 or 12. However, the role that the grandparents played in Luke's life was beautiful. Every child needs a grandpa and a grandma close by to help raise them. Grisham concludes the book with an open-ended ending, but I have no problem providing my own resolutions: Luke and his family will never return to the farm, but will start life anew "up north;" Luke's dream to become a great baseball player will remain just that, a dream; the grandparents will continue the farming struggles with and adopt the Latchers as their own. After all, the baby is their grandson?! I came home from vacation and again picked up the four or five Grisham novels that I have on my book shelf to see if now I could change my mind and be able to read them. Nope. I will let Grisham rest with "A Painted House."

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Summary: A Nice Detour
Review: Obviously not the typical Grisham legal thriller. Most of his books, while entertaining and fun, feature simplistic plots and characters who seem way too ordinary to do such devious things and succeed. This book is different.

For the first time since "A Time To Kill" there are well-drawn characters. Luke is a very likable young man whose curiousity and sense of mischief are never explicitly mentioned but which constantly put him in places he shouldn't be. His family is quite believable, and their interactions are heartfelt and genuine. Most of all, Grisham does a wonderful job evoking the wrenching poverty and calendar-driven lifestyle that characterized the rural South in the middle of the 20th century.

Two criticisms:
First, Grisham struggles a bit with the first-person narrative. Luke is seven years old, but the narration comes from someone far older and wiser. Luke might have been telling the story as an adult; if so, we should be told that.
Second, while I have no problem with the open-ended nature of the ending, too much transition is crammed into the last 20 pages. It's as if he couldn't figure out how to end the novel, so he just decided to wrap everything up really quickly. I call this "Tom Wolfe Disease."

All in all, though, this was very enjoyable -- the first book in quite a while that Grisham didn't appear to write from a formula.

Rating:
Summary: Booooring!
Review: Hands down the worst book I have ever read. Absolutely nothing happens, unless picking cotton or talking about picking cotton is your idea of something happening. I have generally been pleased with Grisham's books but this is a great deviation from his usual material and not a welcome one in my opinion.

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Summary: Did Grisham Really Write This?
Review: Having read most of Grisham's books, I find it hard to believe he wrote this one. I wanted to quit reading it after a few pages, but I plodded through the entire book from beginning to end and it never got any better. I would not criticize a book unless I read it all to see if it had redeeming qualities - I found none. This book depicts a miserable summer in the poor cotton belt as seen through the eyes of a seven year old boy fixated on the Cardinals. It may appeal to some readers, but I find it hard to visualize it appealing to regular Grisham readers.