A Painted House

Rating:
Summary: A Painted House
Review: I had put off reading this book when I realized it was a deviation from the Grisham style I had so grown to love. WHAT A MISTAKE!! The characters are so colorful and believable that I felt like I was sitting right at the table with Pappy drinking my morning cup of joe or curled up taking a nap under the cotton in the early afternoon. I could smell the odors of the carnival and taste that Coca Cola at the theatre. It's too bad there wasn't a follow up novel...I didn't want the book to end! I love the law-related novels Grisham writes but I will look forward to any others that are a pleasant deviation as well. Fantastic!! You will not be disappointed!

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Summary: Another Grisham GREAT!
Review: I still have about another 100 pages to read to finish this book, but I'm enjoying it so much I thought I would write an early review.

The story takes place in 1950s Arkansas on the farm of cotton pickers. 7 year old Luke dreams of one daying playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, but in the meantime is stuck helping around the farm, spending most of his time in the fields picking as much cottom as a 7 year old can. But the story doesn't just stay in the fields where the family has hired mexicans and "hill people" to help with the work. Lots of new experiences for Luke take place over the next few months during harvesting season. Some good, some bad.

I don't want to talk about them as it might ruin things for you while you're reading it, but there are so many things and Grisham manages to throw them all in flawlessly. I've read several of Grisham's books and its true this one is completely different then the others, but I'm loving it all the same and I can't wait to see where the final 100 pages I have to read takes me. Whatever the case, don't be fooled by the 7 year old narrator. This isn't the kind of book you would read to your kid at bedtime.

Rating:
Summary: A Painted House
Review: I have read all of John Grisham's books and found A Painted House to be totally different from the rest of his books. If your interest is legal matters you may not like this book because it is not his usual style. Several other readers I spoke to about the book were disappointed . This book was action packed from start to finish in my opinion. It tell of a boys life living in the South on a farm where their income is in cotton picking.

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Summary: Now I know what all the fuss is about
Review: This is the first novel I have read by John Grisham. What a marvelous storyteller he is!! This book is written from the standpoint of seven year old Luke, who lives with his parents and grandparents on a farm in Arkansas. In the beginning of the novel, Luke's grandfather is trying to hire workers to help the family pick their cotton crop. From there Grisham weaves a wonderfully engrossing tale about life on a farm and small town, rural America during the fifties. A place where everyone knows everyone else's business and secrets are very hard to keep. One very good book!

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Summary: Review of A Painted house
Review: A Painted House Written by John Grisham is a story set in the late summer of 1952 about a boy's memory of the last summer that he lived with his grandparents on a cotton farm in rural Arkansas. It is a story of different classes of people, excitement and hardship but in the end I was disappointed with the lack of information as to what happened after the farm was flooded and a large portion of the cotton crop.
Don't get me wrong. I'm an avid fan of John Grisham's writing. I love the way that he describes in detail his subject. For instance, as he described the family of hill people and the poor little lame child from the hills in such detail that I could see him and felt sorry for him. He describes the Mexicans that come to the farm to help pick cotton in such detail I could these people in my mind and I felt as if I knew them. As he described the farm I could picture in my mind an old farm with the siding grayed and sun bleached. The book gives a detailed description of the life of a cotton farmers life during the 1950's and the lives of migrant workers that would show up to pick the cotton. It is a story of different classes of people and how they interact and conflicts between them.
Early in the book Grisham describes a fight between one of the migrants (Hank) and some of the lower class citizens of Black Oak (the Siscos). Then later in the book there is anther fight between Hank and one of the Mexican workers (Cowboy) because Cowboy had the nerve to fall for Hank's sister, Which by the way cost Hank his life. These fights and the reasons they occurred illustrates the way that the different cultures and classes of people look down on each other.
Grisham masterfully describes the hardships that were endured by not only the Chandler's when they lost the majority of there cotton crop during the flood, but also those that lived around them. For instance he talks of a sharecroppers family that was living in a shack on the edge of the river that were so poor they could barely afford to eat. He described the transient lives of those that came to the farm to work. As he described these hardships it made wonder if I could have survived living under the same circumstances? I'm glad I don't have to find out.
After weighing what I liked and didn't like about the book I would have to say that the book is a good read all the way to the end. I simply feel that the book would have been much better if he had put some closure to it. Did dad get a job in Detroit? Was their enough of the crop picked for grandma and grandpa to pay their bills? What happened with cowboy and the hill girl after their get away?

Rating:
Summary: Great story by a great author
Review: I've become so accustomed to Mr. Grisham's legal thrillers, it was hard for me to believe that he even wrote this book. I felt this book was remarkable on many different levels. The Chandler's were obviously a poor family, but never once did I feel like they were living life below the poverty line. They had what they needed, they loved each other, they stuck together, and it was the little things that were so important to them. To me, that was the most impressive thing about this book. Using a child's eyes to lend innocence to the story made the actions of the other characters even more important.

I can't say enough about how good this book was. If you want to read a great coming-of-age story by a contemporary author, look no further than this book. Whether or not Mr. Grisham set out to prove something to critics is debateable. What isn't debateable, for me, is how brilliantly he converted his style and mastered another genre.

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Summary: Want to be a rural farmer?
Review: If you were considering a move to rural America to experience the thrills of owning your own private farm, then this book is a must read. Otherwise choose another book!

Most Grisham books are captivating. I really enjoyed "The Firm", "The Partner" and "The Summons". While "A Painted House" is a well told literary story, I actually found it quite boring. My guess is he wrote it to proove to himeself and maybe his peers that he can write as well as other authors even in the absence of a compelling story.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly entertaining
Review: 7 year-old Luke Chandler lives on a low-lying cotton farm in 1952 Arkansas with his parents and grandparents and hopes someday to play professional baseball for the Cardinals. The house they live in is unpainted, because a painted house is too pretentious. The story deals with the harvest of that year, and the many secrets he becomes a part of. The Spruills are a family of "hill people" who are hired to help pick the cotton along with a group of Mexicans. There are tensions between the various groups of people, and they occasionally erupt with violent results. Much of what Luke sees he is forced to keep to himself, some of which becomes quite burdensome for such a small boy.

I realize this is different from Grisham's usual courtroom fare, but I found the story very entertaining. It was maybe a bit slow moving for the first half (but sometimes you want a book like that) but it always kept my interest. The descriptions of the people and area customs were especially interesting, and often reminded me of some of the stories I'd heard my grandmother tell of growing up on a farm. The way he describes the Baptists, and how they believed they were more pious than the Methodists, and how many ways there were to commit sin, and particularly the rituals of "saying goodbye," help to make this book a fun read. I thoroughly recommend it for a nice relaxing read.

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Summary: A beautiful piece of literature
Review: John Grisham takes us into a separate world one that most of us will never see, in A Painted House: the world of a northeastern Arkansas family, trying to get the cotton out of the fields. He tells the story with much passion and understanding, describing the characters in detail from a seven-year-old's experience and never relying on cliches or overused stereotypes. His characters are true to life and hopefully this book will be remembered years down the road on school reading lists.

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Summary: A let down for Grisham fans
Review: I've read all of John Grishams books, and have anxiously awaited each new publication. This book, though fine in its story telling, left me searching for more around each page. I kept waited for a Grishamesque character to come into play, and was sorely disappointed by the end of the book. I will continue to buy his books, but perhaps will buy the used version instead of shelling out $20.00 for a hard cover book that I wouldnt want to share with any of my other book loving friends!