Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful story!
Review: I thought this book has to rank as one of Grisham's best novels. Having grown up in a similar rural area as Grisham and the characters in this novel, I felt like I was transformed back in time. This is the type of book that you wish would never end. The details and language are a joy!
Rating: 
Summary: Good to see you again Mr. Grisham... haven't changed a bit..
Review: After years of reading the same story over and over again with new characters in a new city, Grisham casts off his former claim to fame and goes country. But still, if dear reader looks between the lines, our old reliable John is still using his familiar schtick.In all of Grisham's former stories, he told us about a weak-kneed, small-time lawyer in some southern backwater city who takes on the wicked team of powerful, big city, fancy lawyers over some suffering circumstance by an innocent victim. The weak little lawyer wins, saving the day of the downtrodden because his good sense and good morals see him through. The dastardly big bad lawyers walk away, grumbling. Walt Disney used the same trick to make Steamboat Willie (AKA "Mickey Mouse") capture our hearts so many decades ago. The good guy always wins in the end. Grisham takes his formula to the heartland, where 1950's farmers suffer at the hands of finance, weather and fate. But they aren't the real basis of the story. It's all about an innocent little seven year-old boy, who gets caught in the middle of some pretty unsavory circumstances by all of those big, powerful adults around him. He struggles with his secrets and what is the right thing to do, but once again, goodness prevails and weak little boy ends the story smelling like a rose and all the big bad people in the story go away grumbling in regret. Good to see you again, Mister John Grisham.... I see you haven't changed a bit.
Rating: 
Summary: Not an Accurate story
Review: This is one of John Grisham's worst books. He should have stuck to what he knows - law. He tried to paint a picture of rural life on an Arkansas farm and went into so much detail about the family's daily activities. However, he left out one important aspect -- the animals! He alleged to cows and chickens because they had to gather eggs and milk in the morning. At the end he mentions they butcher a hog once a year. But never in his story are these animals taken care of. Why so much detail for mundane things but an important part of a farm is left out! Does no one attend to these animals? They never even mention the cost of feed when saying they will be short for the year. Totally unrealistic.
Rating:
Summary: His Best Yet
Review: I loved this book,it took me back before my time to a rural country setting. Times were simple ,but hard.The narrator is a seven year old boy.John Grisham shows why he is such a wonderful writer.He pin points a little seven year old boys view of life and how a kid that age really thinks. No matter what walk of life you are and where you came from I think you will relate with little Luke.
Rating: 
Summary: A Nice Change of Pace
Review: I've always enjoyed Grishams work even though he tends to self plagerize a bit.You know what I mean what with the young idealistic lawyer/law-student,or the "to-hell with peoples rights" policeman/FBI agent/D.A,and don't forget the kindly understanding oh-so-wise judge.And I enjoyed them all anyway.He does tell a damn good story.Well except for Testament,I still haven't figured out what the hell that was about.and of course who could forget the Bretheren(believe me,I've tried)can you say anti-climax? The Painted House is a nice departure and overall I'd say very well done.In fact as I read through the book I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my all time favourites "To Kill A Mockingbird" not so much in content but in style and ambiance it was for me very reminiscent of that great classic. I've spent most of the last 20 years reading thrillers,sci-fi/fantasy and war stories,it made a nice change for me to sink myself into this warm blanket of a story and if this is the direction that Grisham decides to take from now on I for one will not complain at all.
Rating:
Summary: A Painted House By John Grisham
Review: I believe that this book was a good one. John has showed how he can be diversifed in his writing, instead of always writing about court cases. The story takes you back to the time when all you had to worry about is how you will be able to live day by day. I enjoyed this book and I have recommended this book to friends
Rating:
Summary: Not for Yankees!
Review: This is a book for persons who understand what it was like to grow up in the South before the 1960's. This is not a book for someone searching for modern courtroom drama. The book's main character suffers from being unrealistic - in the same sense that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were not typical young boys. "A Painted House" is a wonderful book for persons who know from experience what it means when a crop is lost to flood water, and who know from experience the smell and sounds of a cotton gin at midnight on a hot, humid autumn night. This is a book for persons who have felt the weight of a full pick sack in the late afternoon. And it is also a book for persons who never had these experiences first hand but wish to learn about this period in history. If you really want to know what it was like to grow up white and "middle class" in the rural South, this is an excellent book - with some murder and drama thrown in for suspense. With the exception of the precocious seven-year-old, this book has some remarkably realistic characters. This is not a book about a young boy coming of age. Instead, Grisham uses a young boy as a window through which one is shown remarkable insight into the family traditions, dreams, mores, sex roles, and culture of the rural South in the early 1950's. Only baseball heard over radio offers diversion from the daily concern for a family member in Korea, hard daily labor, an obsession with weather that only farmers understand, and the ever present worry about unpaid debts. This is a book with a plot that is completely far fetched - but a book written in a manner and style that has remarkable realism. This is a combination that sometimes results in a book attaining the status of being known as a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Not your typical Grisham....
Review: For those of you used to John Grisham's novels about courtroom antics of lawyers, you'll be surprised by this one. While there is a lawyer in this book, the real relish of this book is the view of life in a small Arkansas town where electricity, indoor plumbing and the hustle and bustle of daily life are a thing of the past. Reading this will remind a number of people, especially in my generation, about times past when things were simpler, and life was more enjoyed for what it was rather than how much money can be made. I'd recommend this highly, but again, don't expect a suspenseful courtroom drama when you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Trite
Review: Uninspired and boring. Grisham's writing has been on the decline since The Pelican Brief and this novel does nothing to elevate his writing. I couldn't force myself to finish the last quarter of the book. The novel's pace is languid, the characters are uninteresting and story itself is uninspired. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!!
Review: I'm a big Grisham fan, but I knew this wasn't going to be the typical legal thriller and was looking forward to the change. Unfortunately, Grisham should just stick to his formula. A Painted House was boring, predictable, and unrealistic. Luke, the 7-year-old narrator, sounds too much like Grisham and not enough like a 7-year-old boy. I believe this is supposed to be a touching coming-of-age story, but that theme has been done much more justice in many other books, namely Catcher In The Rye. Grisham had a formula that worked, he should stick to it.
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