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Summary: A Refreshing Change
Review: I've always liked John Grisham's books, but was pleasantly surprised by his latest. I found it a refreshing change of pace. Although there were no plot twists or surprise endings, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it very relaxing and nostalgic to read.
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Summary: Except for one thing...
Review: While thoroughly enjoying John Grisham's attempt at simple story telling without the suits, he seems to be missing one simple element in his story. As a father of a seven year old boy, there is no possible way that the main character and narrator, Luke, could be involved in the thought processes, libido tinglings or verbalized dialog as presented in A Painted House. While Mr. Grisham has said that the book draws on his own early years in Arkansas, he loses any potential connection between the reader and main character due to the implausable actions of a second grader. Perhaps he should stick to the lawyer appproach, since he knows it so well, or research his characters range and limitations before he tries to sell his case to a jury of his peers.
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Summary: A PAINTED HOUSE
Review: I read this book as soon s it was available for sale. It was very interesting for me, because I grew up on a farm in rural Jefferson County,Arkansas in the 1950's. I lived very much the way Luke lived. As soon as I was big enough to hold a hoe, I went to work in the fields. The work was hard, tiring and not very gratifying. I hated it and the only way to make it through the day was to day dream of my future. I'll assure you, I never dreamed of growing up to be a farmer. At the end of the season, when the crop was harvested and sold, the return for all the hard work barely netted enough money to pay off the local grocer who supplied us with food through the winter,spring and summer until the crops were sold. It was a very hard life indeed. All this came flooding back to me as I read Luke's story. I did not witness any murders, but I did witness and live a very hard and destitute life of a farm child. I loved the book. It reminded me of how thankful I am that I no longer have to labor in the cottonfields of the south. I have a tremendous respect for those who still do. Even with all the modern machinery and technology, farming is a very hard vocation.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but just not Grissom
Review: I have enjoyed all of Grisom's previous novels, but think that he should stick to Lawering. While this is an easy read, it has been done to death. He didn't miss many sterotypes or standard plots of the genre. I was reminded of "The Education of Little Tree", which was far better. I'll admit that it did hold my interest,though.
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Summary: Memories from the past.
Review: When I began reading this book, it brought back so many memories when I used to visit my grandparents' farm in Princeton, TX. My father had 8 siblings and most of them were still there helping raise cotton and then harvesting it. I road on their cotton sacks as they walked along. I remember the Saturday night baths just like Mr. Grissom had and going into town on a load of cotton pulled by mules. The grandchildren all received a quarter to go to the movie, buy candy, etc. I highly recommend this book full of yesterdays remembered. Betty Griffin
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Summary: A glimpse of the past
Review: I'm the daughter of a farmer from Arkansas. A Painted House helped me see what my dad's first twenty years of life was like, something that was very hard for me to imagine until reading this book. I loved Luke, at times it was hard to believe that he was only 7 years old. All the characters were descibed in detail and I could picture them vividly in my mind as I read. The humor was very subtle but at times made me laugh out loud. I read many humorous pages to my husband so I would have someone to share the feeling with. The story line was slow in parts, especially the baseball games, but life was much slower back then and baseball is a slow game. It made me stop and smell the cotton, garden, and heat and then the rain and mud after the heat. My father's eyes are weak now, at age 81, so I'm getting him this book on tape, it will bring back his past which he now speaks so fondly of.
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Summary: Not bad but a bit out of his element
Review: Mr. Grisham's dip into a hometown story is ok but I think he's a bit out of his element. Hickam's "Coalwood" books are the class of this genre. October Sky and The Coalwood Way are wonderful tales of small town life and the characters that inhabit them. Since I love these kinds of books, I'm hoping Mr. Grisham will continue them and maybe a get a bit better. Since he's a neighbor of mine here in Charlottesville, he's got lots of examples of small town life to draw on!
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Summary: A welcome change from the lawyer lore
Review: A Painted House was a welcome change from the lawyer lore of the author's previous works. Luke Chandler's interpretation and delivery of the multi-generational experiences of war, farming, and baseball alone made the book worthwhile. The book also addressed several complexities of economics, social structure, and values of the rural South without returning a judgemental verdict. My main negative criticism of the book was that it started a heap more stories than it finished. In fact, the Hank Spruill story was about the only story that the book finished. I keep thinking that there ought to be one more installment in the Oxford American to sort of tie things together. Regardless, I enjoyed it very much, and hope for more cotton pickers and fewer lawyers in future renderings... please.
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Summary: Yes Its Different... Viva La Difference!
Review: I had heard that Mr. Grisham's, "A Painted House" was very different and it was. I thought perhaps I wouldn't like it because I have enjoyed some of Mr. Grisham's earlier works so much. The story pulled at my heart. The writing is simple but the story is not. It brought back memories of John Steinback's, "Grapes of Wrath." Hard times, changes, deep currents of feeling... Its about life... the unending back breaking work... year after year the struggle... Life and its pattern in which events occur that are not a part of the pattern but become a part of the pattern because life is like that... stretching out to include the different as much as what is known... Most of all its about family... I could see and feel the love of the family... I will be disappointed if Mr. Grisham doesn't write a follow up. I want to know what happened to all of them...
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Summary: Needed an editor
Review: I began reading Painted House, having bought the book based solely on Grisham's reputation from his previous books....all of which I have enjoyed. My favorite was A Time to Kill. That was the last book that I think Grisham truly cared about himself. Painted House was the second...but not as successful for its genre. Painted House needed the hand of a skilled but firm editor in several places. The pace drags and the reader is not pulled along with the "need" to read the next page. If this book had been by an unknown or lesser known author it would not have been published....but an editor would have taken a firmer hand. Good attempt Mr. Grisham and I applaud your attempt to break out of your mould....keep the pace going next time or ask your editor to be more truthful in his evaluation. I will still buy your next book.......whichever genre you choose.
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