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Summary: Part Two.....PLEASE!!!
Review: I loved 'A Painted House'. It kept me laughing, crying, stealing time to find out what was going to happen next. John Grisham has such a sharp sense of humor. The only complaint I have is that it ended too abrubtly. I think there should have been a homecoming. Maybe at 'Christmas'? Just hoping, wondering. I need to know how Luke is!
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Summary: Tools for Living
Review: This book is easy to read and packed with ways to help you deal with everyday situations, or a serious relationship. Ever feel frustrated with your spouse's behavior? Read this book and you will learn how to cope in a rational, sane manner. I've read this book from cover to cover and keep it nearby to use as a reference.
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Summary: Warm, charming, interesting
Review: Not a Grisham novel as we've enjoyed in the past; totally different and utterly enjoyable. Mr. Grisham takes us to a far away place in this story, rural Arkansas in the 50's. The characterization of young Luke was so genuine, so honest -- I felt I was within the lump in that young man's throat most of the time. I too have read and loved a great many of Mr. Grisham's books, esp. The Testament. A Painted House is truly is a different genre for him and I hope he continues to write wherever his heart leads him and that his fans will give him the room to do so.
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Summary: Paints a picture
Review: This story enveloped you in the world of a seven year old during a season of change. The story did not move quickly but moved steadily with a curiosity rather than mystery or suspense. The story felt real and placed me at the dinner table and on the streets of little town America in the 1950's. In summary... in the end as you lay your head back and close your eyes a grin will slowly form at the "corners of your mouth". Enjoyable and worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Painted House
Review: Found this book extremely boring. Nothing really happens until you are two thirds through it. The last third of the book seems to be setting you up for the sequel. If this were someone else's novel, rather than John Grisham's, can't believe publishers would have ever considered it. Maybe they read the sequel.
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Summary: Not your typical Grisham novel.
Review: Eh. That's the best I can describe my feelings when I finished this book. Eh. There were some parts that kept me interested, but generally the book wasn't all that engrossing. I've read all of Grisham's novels, and I really love his books. It's supposed to be about a young boy, Luke, who goes from innocence from maturity. I'm not sure I followed this plotline either. Seemed to be that the kid was still a kid when the book was over. Eh.
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Summary: Loved it!
Review: John Grisham is such a wonderful writer! I predict that anything he writes will become an instant sucess! I've read all of his books, and have enjoyed them all.
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Summary: BORING
Review: I have loved all previous Grisham books. This one was so boring. Was this really written by Grisham??? Dont waste your money on this one.
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Summary: A Painted House
Review: I believe this is the best novel John Grisham has written. As narrated through the eyes of a 7 year old boy who lives on a farm in Arkansas in 1952, I felt like I was there on the farm and could see the thousands of acres of cotton. It also captures rural America and the way cotton farmers lived and how much they depended on their crops to survive. The young boy Luke Chandler has a lot of secrets to keep and a lot riding on his shoulders because he has seen things he shouldn't have, like two murders. But his relationship with his paternal grandfather is strong and special,they both love baseball and each other. The end is very emotional but uplifting.
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Summary: I Was Disappointed
Review: "A Painted House" is the least favorite of my Grisham novels, and I have read most of them. Is the problem with the situation? Not really. Grisham takes us into the lives of the Chandlers, a poor cotton-growing family in the Arkansas Delta in the fall of 1952, and their make-or-break cotton harvest. The entire story is told through the eyes of Luke Chandler, who at that time was seven years old (though the "voice" is clearly adult; this is the same technique Harper Lee used with Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird"). We come to know Luke's parents and grandparents, the violent Ozark family and the [Migrant farmworkers]; who come to stay temporarily to help with the harvest. Descriptions of pre-mechanized cotton picking abound, and Grisham is equally convincing when he takes Luke into town for church, visiting or shopping. As always, Grisham's eye for subtle gradations of class and caste is acute. It was while in town that Luke witnesses a vicious crime, and soon after he has the opportunity to tell the law all about it. But he doesn't--for an understandable motive--and he watches in dismay as his little lie spreads like a disease. Grisham's way with suspense is just as good as ever. So what am I complaining about? The end of the book. There isn't a climax here, just a slow fizzling out. It's as though Grisham has constructed a marvelous plot mechanism that doesn't have any sparkle left by the book's end. Luke has already come to a more sophisticated understanding of adult mores and morals, the family's econmic future has been foreordained and foreshadowed in many different ways, and the end of the book seemed arbitrary and forced. Not to mention un-entertaining. No Boo Radleys here! To borrow a line from Oscar Wilde, it was just as boring as reality. It's a shame that so much craftsmanship went into this book without a more satisfactory ending. I guess if you're a real Grisham fan like me you'll still want to read "A Painted House," but I certainly can't hold it up as one of his better efforts.
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