Rating: 
Summary: A delightful listening experience!
Review: I listened to the audio version and it is absolutely fantastic! I became totally immersed in the 1952 rural Arkansas that is so exquisitely painted by John Grisham. Seen through the eyes of a seven year old boy, the story is full of interesting characters, adventure, suspense, and a good dose of humor. I loved it!
Rating: 
Summary: If you are a John Grisham's fan, this book is not for you
Review: There are only handful events happening in rural area of Arkansa. They were repeated over and over again to makeup a story. Characters in the book developed very slowly and once they got developed, the story goes nowhere with them. If you are a John Grisham's fan, you might want to stay away from this book. I have doubt that he even wrote this book.
Rating:
Summary: Stays With You
Review: I'm glad Grisham took this departure. It really worked for me. I've often tried to understand what makes a classic a classic. The fact that this story stayed with me for several weeks and kept coming to mind in the same pleasant mental context of 'The Grapes of Wrath' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' may just be enough for me. I was able to live the story, enjoy the tight family unit, and become involved with the hopes, dreams and sorrows. I was a 7 year old that enjoyed being a kid and never wanted anything to change so this was very reminiscent.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Departure
Review: In "A Painted House", John Grisham breaks away from his usual yarns of suspenseful shenanigans in the legal world to write a story of a family farm, as seen through the eyes of a small boy. The result is a book in the tradition of Steinbeck and Faulkner, an interesting and fairly well-done departure from the typical Grisham novel.Luke Chandler, age seven and a devout Cardinals fan, lives on a cotton farm outside of Black Oak, Arkansas with his parents and grandparents. Since a good harvest is essential if the family hopes to break even for the year, everybody works hard -- even young Luke, who is kept out of school to pick cotton and expected to do his share alongside the grownups. Two other groups are hired for the harvest season to help with the picking -- a truckload (literally) of Mexican migrant farmworkers and a family of "hill people". The interrelations of Luke's family, neighbors, and the two groups of pickers; and the resulting events, make up the bulk of the book. While I enjoyed some aspects of the book, others were less successful. For starters, the book was rather leisurely paced, especially at first. That's probably appropriate to the feel and tempo of life on a small farm in the Deep South, but unfortunately, the book lacked focus, tended to ramble, and the length came at the expense of other qualities. It took some stick-to-it-iveness to get through, say, the first 50 pages. Things pick up after that point; however, some judicious cutting by a good editor would have improved matters. Characterization was uneven. I liked Luke, and enjoyed reading about his world, so different from my childhood years. Though I'm not much of a sports fan, I was charmed by his absolute certainty that his becoming a professional baseball player was only a matter of time. But as other reviewers have mentioned, his character wasn't credible -- I could have believed that he was fourteen or twelve or even ten... but seven? The other characters were a mixed bag. Some -- e.g., grandfather Eli ("Pappy") -- were outstanding. Others were not as well portrayed. Hulking sadist Hank was a monster straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, apparently unstoppable, with no motives other than pure malevolence. Except for the snake-eyed, snake-hipped, lean and mean Cowboy, all the Mexicans are generic. So are the Spruills. Tally, and especially Trot, had the potential to be developed to a far greater extent -- and consequently, to be much more interesting -- than they actually were. We learn virtually nothing about Tally except that Luke is sexually attracted to her (now is he one precocious seven-year-old, or is he not?). Bo and Dale are barely mentioned all book, let alone given anything to say or do. Ricky, the relative who was off fighting the Korean War, was more vivid and engaging than many of the characters who were actually physically present. The result is that, with a few exceptions, we get a book's worth of Luke thinking and acting against a backdrop of vague, nearly faceless characters. Some of the rambling narrative might have been trimmed, thus allowing for more detail and depth in characterization. Having Luke interact with a variety of fully fleshed-out individuals would have given the book greater richness and balance, while still having it remain Luke's story. I will say, however, to Grisham's credit, he managed for the most part to stay away from the opposing pitfalls of making the characters either salt-of-the-earth rural saints or too-bad-to-be-true rednecks. As other reviewers have also pointed out, Grisham raises a number of questions and plot threads that are resolved inadequately, if at all. This was frustrating, since the questions and plot threads start out slowly, gradually become intriguing -- and then, after drawing us in, leave us hanging. The ending also had an abrupt feel. I felt as though so much time was spent setting up the problems that, by the time we got to even thinking about the resolutions, we were on the next-to-last page. These problems could easily have been solved by tighter writing and/or adding an additional chapter; an epilogue set one year later, or five years later, or told by the adult Luke. Despite these problems, however, I thought the book was good overall, an interesting and generally commendable effort. The story, even given its laconic pacing, kept my attention and (except for the baseball-intensive segments) my interest. Working on a cotton farm is undoubtedly less glitzy than working in a high-powered legal firm, but there were enough twists and turns and suspense to keep me turning pages. There were a lot of nice little if-you-blink-you-miss them moments, like when the rather menacing Cowboy, star pitcher for his softball team, shows his human side long enough to teach Luke how to throw a curve ball. It's also worthy of note and respect that Grisham was willing to write this book at all, instead of being content to remain a one-trick pony. He could very easily have played it safe and cranked out yet another legal thriller -- or ten more, since there are probably enough fans out there who would buy anything with his name on it to make that sort of thing profitable. But rather than stick to the sure-fire formula, he took a risk with something that was obviously a little more close to home (literally), and personal. The resulting book, though a bit flawed, is in some ways better and more authentic than the bestsellers. Grisham's evocation of life in that time and place is immediate and has a very real, naturalistic feel to it. Those who want a more traditional Grisham tale and won't be truly happy with anything else should probably pass on this book. Everyone else who gives it a chance just might be pleasantly surprised.
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Summary: Such a delight to read-not just once, but over & over...
Review: This book was one of the best novels I've read. From page one I was hooked. The plot, characters, setting- all the elements-were excellent. I think the fact that the narrator was a seven year old(Luke) make the story better than if it were an older character. When I was reading it I couldn't stop and when I finished it, I wanted to read it again. Grisham doesn't let a dull moment happen throughtout the novel.The events that did occur were great. But I must say, I was looking forward to meeting Ricky which didn't happen. But oh well, I don't think we were meant to actually meet him. A book you've GOT to read- wonderfully written.
Rating:
Summary: Not a lawerly story, but an interesting tale nonetheless...
Review: I picked up the novel being an avid Grisham fan from the older series of The Firm, The Chamber, The Pelican Brief, etc. And I was quite suprised to see an entire departure from these forms of story. However, I found the book to be a page-turning mystery of interest to me and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: An Absolute DELIGHT
Review: READ THIS BOOK! It is NOT a typical Grisham (which I do enjoy for a little escapism). I hugged the book when I was done, and was sorry to end the lovely journey -- and I did little but read until that last page. ...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: As a John Grisham fan, and only read books that pertains to law, I found this book FANTASTIC! I couldn't put this book down!! I highly recommend reading this book; you will not be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Boring, not worth the money
Review: This book put me to sleep. John should stick with what he does best, legal thrillers.
Rating: 
Summary: Leaves you thinking
Review: Grisham has really impressed me with this novel. It is very well written. All dialogue is natural and believeable. Characters are developed thoroughly and interestingly. The setting is also very well described. Combining these and other elements with a solid, clear style made this book interesting for me. Anybody looking for a movie script will be sorely disappointed; This isn't the type of novel that one can put down at night and forget about for 24 hours. I often found myself daydreaming in the office, wondering what would happen to Grisham's characters and how their lives would be changed as a result of the cotton harvest in 1952. When the final page has been read, this feeling does not go away. It seems to me that Grisham has put an exceptional amount of work into this novel. He sends a lot of messages and develops many different themes (secrets, Ricky coming home, a painted house) to keep the reader wondering how this summer will affect Luke in his adult years. In all, was very happy to read this novel and have already recommended to others.
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