Rating: 
Summary: A New Voice for Grisham
Review: My bookshelf is populated by authors familiar to all addicts of the cops and robbers, legal thriller genres: Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, Scott Turow, etc. Naturally, a few Grisham books have found their way there, although relegated to a lower literary position than the others. Grisham has always told a pretty good story, but with the exception of his first Novel, A Time to Kill, there has been little substance. Not so with A Painted House.This book has, of course, nothing in common with his earlier novels, all of which featured lawyers and courtrooms, deceit of the grown-up variety, and characters largely constructed of, well, plastic. Toss them around for a few hours, then forget them or throw them away. The people in this book are real and sympathetic, and you'll miss then when you finish reading. A Painted House is as fine a coming-of-age in the South as has appeared since Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Grisham's voice in this book is more than evocative of Lee's. His narrator is 7-year-old Luke Chandler, is a child whose narrowly defined existence is challenged by the adults and semi-adults who intrude and interrupt. The comfort of what he knows (if backbreaking labor in a cotton field can be part of comfort) is challenged by terrifying events, and his life must change.
The central metaphor of painted and unpainted houses and what they imply about their inhabitants is drawn as subtly as it could have been, although the implications of life in a house of bare, weathered clapboards and one covered with paint becomes a little overwrought late in the book. While Luke's pleasures are true to his age, his judgements are more those of an older child, perhaps even a precocious eleven or twelve-year-old. The real strength of the book is its nearly perfect transport of the reader to 1952 rural Arkansas and its depictions of the struggle of tenant cotton farmers and their tenuous grip on economic survival, buttressed by Baptist moral certainty and a clear sense of nowhere else to go. Grisham creates his central characters, the Chandler family, and the ancillary neighbors and migrant "hill people" and Mexican laborers with hardly a gratuitous "ain't" or "y'all." The books ends without a new beginning for the Chandler family; while I read its last page wanting to know more about the family's life, it was time for Grisham to stop. His creation of a definitive slice of American was complete.
Rating:
Summary: i enjoyed this book
Review: sometimes i do not like john grisham because he became a paper cutter and then he writes a book like A painted House and validates his creativity. The story is told thru the eyes of young boy. It is the season for picking cotton in the south,
people are poor and there is a murder. I was struck by Grisham's willingness to step into a youngster's world and leave behind the sensibilities of the adult. a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I spent two days reading this book and wondering when it was going to get to the point. Basically a "Farmers Almanac" of rural Arkansas cotton country in the 50's through the eyes of a 7 year old. A lot of would-be plots that never seem to blossom into anything and then vanish into the endless dialog of Cardinal games and cotton picking. Sorry...this was a Grisham disappointment. I only finished the book because I thought somewhere it would eventually tie together and make some sense, but the ending was the most bland and disappointing part of the book. I always keep the books I read, but this one goes to the used book store as a donation.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing Arkansas tale
Review: This is the story of sharecroppers and their world. It was very enchanting to have the narrating voice in the story be that of a child. As such, there are many trials and tribulations that arise throughout his baseball-intensive world. My favorite scenes occur when the carnival comes to town. The antagonist in the story manages to beat out the heavy-weight champion in a duel. Also, I like it that the community spirit prevails throughout this story.
Rating: 
Summary: The Good Earth, in Arkansas
Review: It made me laugh, and it made me tear up. It is so good. For people who haven't read it, you will either like it a lot, or you will not like it at all. Has to do people's outlook on life, I suppose.
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Summary: Grisham's finest; the right amout of sweetness
Review: I do not know how one can not like this book. The characters are likable, the story is engrossing, and it's written by Grisham which means it's easy and poetic to read. The main character is the most likable because he is so innocent and yet so mature. Some of his actions incited some great laugh-out loud moments. The story is about the life of cotton farming in the Midwest in the early 50s, and it's not romantic. But the characters are and that is what makes this story so endearing.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Different
Review: John Grisham is wonderful at writing Pot-Boilers which Hollywood just happens to love. His knowledge of law and his imagination have catapaulted him into success ever since The Firm. What we didn't know (but always suspected) was that Grisham can transcend his familiar genre and still work his magic. Told in the voice of a small boy on a cotton farm in the 1950's, A Painted House is a wonderfully told novel that I really enjoyed. While the story has a compelling pace and plot, it may not satisfy the hard-core Grisham fans. There is, indeed, no courtroom scene. I kept bracing for certain storylines to evolve into full-blown, Grisham-esque thrillers, but was pleasantly surprised when they did not. There's a quiet little corner in Grisham's heart, a little Kent Haruf. If you have that in you, read this book. You'll find it resonates a lot longer than most of his blockbusters.
Rating:
Summary: A change of pace!
Review: I really enjoyed this divergence from the usual Grisham fare. While I have been a big fan of his since the beginning, this book really demonstrated to me the range of Grisham's talent. He's definately more than a one trick pony! The ending was not neat, but that's what has kept me thinking about these characters. The book was a great story to get lost in.
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Summary: Grisham back on track, still lacking his edge
Review: John Grisham is getting back on track, and this book is definitely an improvement over his weak effort in The Testament. But his plot is too loose and disjointed, and the story's potential is never fully explored, like it is in his earlier works. Has success spoiled John Grisham? This book argues: Yes. And yet, it has flashes of brilliance that seem to indicate he may have a classic in him yet. He's on familiar territory with his southern childhood setting, ala The Client (abeit first person narrative is a new and enjoyable variation). I picked up shades of Ivan Doig, Mark Twain, and even Steinbeck. Oh yes, and Ricky Sway too. The problem is that Grisham has departed from his home-ground legal-thriller venue, and hasn't found his sea legs yet. I enjoyed the vignettes of southern life, of the hardscrabble cotton farming business, of family life and rural life in Arkansas in the 50's. I enjoyed his character development, and I liked Luke, the 7-year old protagonist (do seven-year olds really use words like "cajole"?). But in the end, the characters seemed little more than passing acquaintances, the story unmemorable if enjoyable. A good read, not a page-burner, and not up to Grisham's potential.
Rating:
Summary: To Kill a Tom Sawyer
Review: Good but not great. Would be a super book to give to a spoiled teenager. I'm amazed at the vignettes that resemble To Kill a Mockingbird and Tom Sawyer. Quite accurate portrayal of poor rural southern life - in this era of technology it is hard to believe that just a few years ago many did just live hand to mouth. A nice book though I would cut out the house painting business.
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