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Summary: A Bit of Steinbeck, A Dash of O'Connor, A Lil Faulkner...
Review: ...and I have a weakness for stories told first person by a kid.
It shows evvery thing America promised in the 1950s. It is Cross Roads America, Delta Bank America, Farmland/Sharecropper America.
Grisham needs to do one more novel like this to really gain a voice that speaks 'literature'. But overall, this is a good story that is highly readable, entertaining. I love the way he uses the St Louis Cards.
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Summary: No Ending
Review: The book keep my attention but had no real ending or plot to it. Would not recommend.
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Summary: Quite Disappointing
Review: Frankly, I expected much more from this book after reading other books from him. This time, Grisham veers totally away from law and instead plunges himself to write about a boy, Luke Chandler, growing up in rural Arkansas.
After a whole bit of introduction and description, I was expecting some form of suspense and mystery abounding. Yet, as I kept reading, I didn't feel the least excited or scared. The story took expected turns and even the murders weren't really exciting.
I was really disappointed and raced along trying to find some form of suspense but never found any. It left me with a bitter taste in the mouth after i finished reading it.
Perhaps the only salvaging part is grisham's good description and style of writing which made the sotry bearable and not boring. Still, i was quite disappointed.
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Summary: A Cool Read
Review: This is not the type of book customary of John Grisham but I enjoyed it anyway and think it's worth the read.The book is set in rural Arkansas and centres around Luke Chandler and his family of share croppers. Luke's family hires help each year from Mexico and the 'Hill People' to cut their cotton so that they can pay their bills. It's their only income and they depend heavily on the labourers as the Chandler family is too small to manage it all. The characters in the book are quite entertaining seen through the eyes of the young boy Luke. Luke who sees and hears too much for his own good at 'cotton picking' time. And all that he sees and hears must remain a secret from his close knit family who are ever eager and full of interrogation. It was a sweet read and another book that will be with me for keeps. Nutface
December 3rd, 2001
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Summary: A relaxing reading
Review: It is a really easy reading book, the story, secrets and dreams of a 7 years old farmer kid keeps you entertained at all times, I will recommend this book for a trip or when you don't have a hurry to finish it, just relax and read.
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Summary: Good Read
Review: Although it was not his "usual", Grisham proves here he can write on other levels and utilizing completely different subject matter. I was as enthralled with this as I was with The Client and The Firm.
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Summary: Delightful
Review: I didn't want to read this for the longest time, thinking it another of John Grisham's same old thrillers. But someone gave it to me and I was bored, so I gave it a shot. It was very good and not what I expected at all. I loved all of the characters and enjoyed finding out what was going to happen next.
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Summary: First Grisham book I've read, definatly not the last!
Review: I'm not really a big reader most of the time, but I had to read a book for my history class and my teacher told me that "A Painted House" was the best book on the list that he gave us, so I picked it knowing he liked it and my mom read's a lot of John Grisham books. Let's just put it this way, for being a slow reader, I got the book on November 24 and finished it on November 26! From the VERY beginning it went into the story and it didn't take 100 pages to introduce you to the plot, it maybe took 20 pages and the story was plot was already set up for you. Pretty simple, seven year old Luke that lives on a farm in the south in 1952, but definataly more exciting than I'm making it sound, but that is the basic plot. Exciting and very hard to put down! Every free mintue I had, the book was in my hands! Excellent book, would recommend it to anyone, even if you're thinking what I thought, "How am I ever going to finish a 388 page book?" hehe!
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Summary: A Different Grisham
Review: John Grisham took a gamble in changing tacks from his usual law theme to tackle a novel that ran along very different lines. It could have fallen on its face, but for the most part, it didn't. In A Painted House, we meet Luke Chandler and his family, cotton farmers who rent, not own, farm land. They slave for months on end in the hopes that they will "break even." A profit is unlikely. The book, written as Luke in the first person, leads us through the adventures of rural Arkansas as Luke comes into contact with horrors, mysteries and friendship. Grisham writes the book in such a way that you become the seven year old who is experiencing life in a new way. Grishams' characters are well developed - the book is well written. However, with the exception of a few scenes, the book is far less gripping than his previous law novels, and in this respect, I was disappointed. And, having read the back cover, I probably would not have read the book if it was an author other than Grisham. But it's a worthwhile read, especially if you're into Grisham and would like to see a change in style. This book is definitely a different Grisham.
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Summary: A classic American tale in the tradition of Faulkner
Review: John Grisham's A Painted House memorably describes the life of poor, Bible-Belt cotton pickers during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. The small but crucial class distinctions are vividly portrayed, and the women - teenage Tally, the narrator's determined and ultimately successful mother, the poor and shoeless but proud mater familias down the road - are presented especially sympathetically. In place of lawyers, there are killings, though - Shakespeare's exhortation to the contrary notwithstanding - neither of nor by lawyers. This work will become an American literary classic.
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