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Summary: Another excellent read from Grisham
Review: A Painted House is not your typical John Grisham novel, but don't let that scare you away from reading this story. Seven-year old Luke Chandler lives on a cotton farm with his parents and grandparents in rural Arkansas in 1952. Every year, his family hires hill people and Mexican field hands to help the harvest the 80 acres of cotton they own. This summer is different though for Luke as the workers move onto the farm. The Chandler family must deal with weather, lack of money, and two dangerous men who help them in the fields. A Painted House is completely different from all other Grisham novels. Usually writing legal thrillers, Grisham instead wrote a different type of story. Simply put, the man knows how to tell a story. It takes awhile to get going, but it is well worth the wait.
What makes this story so interesting is the characters. The novel is told from the perspective of seven-year old Luke, who provides some surprisingly deep insights. The Chandler family includes Pappy and Gran, Luke's grandparents, and Jesse and Kathleen, Luke's parents. Besides the family, there are also some excellent supporting characters that help move the story along including the Spruills, the hill people family, Miguel and Cowboy, two of the Mexican farm hands, and many more. For an excellent story with great characters that is different from your usual Grisham novel, check out A Painted House!
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the ending?
Review: 1ST let me say I love John Grisham but this was not one of his best works. It was if the story just ended. You want to see what happens to the characters when you read a book and this one just left you hanging. Not one story line was finished. You get to a point in the book and think it must be coming up...then you realize you only have 20 pages left and he can't tie up all the loose ends. The ending of this book was a big disappointment.
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Summary: Luke's Initiation
Review: A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham is a classic piece of Americana. Luke Chandler's adventures in an Arkansas cotton field are as eloquent as Tom Sawyer's trip down the Mississippi or Huck Finn's sneaky excursions in and out of his aunt's house. Secrets keep piling up on seven-year old Luke during the summer of l952, a pivotal time for his struggling farm family. He deals with secret knowledge of vicious beatings, an illegitimate baby, and murder. It's much more than an adult could be expected to handle successfully. But Luke does it with great coolness. John Grisham is a lawyer turned writer. His storytelling skills have thrilled readers ever since A TIME TO KILL was published in l988. Plot twists turn up at a fast pace and the reader is left to wonder how young Luke can withstand the steady pounding of one tragedy after another. They engulf his life like the flood waters that creep inch by inch into the cotton fields. But the secret painting of the farm house is a metaphor of hope and change to come. Grisham crafted a story that is complete. It works. Subplots intertwine masterfully creating a tightly woven tapestry of a lifestyle that exists in the poor backwaters of the South. Grisham fans will enjoy A PAINTED HOUSE even though the courtroom has been left behind. The brutal work in the cotton fields becomes real and a perfect setting to display human passions that flare and wreck havoc. Some of Grisham's other novels are THE FIRM, THE CHAMBER, and THE BRETHEN.
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Summary: Luke in St. Louise
Review: Gran was left in the Chandler's house crying with the rest of the Lather's Family..Pappy drive them to the Bus Station. Luke reminiscing the last look of the County Black Oak. She went to Pop and Pearl to say Good-bye.(Pearl and Pop new that they are going to live County). Luke gave Pearl a bag of Candy... A good time for travelling eating candies.. They arrive to the Bus station and Pappy without a word went to his truck and say bye bye to luke and to his parents. the sadness was in the face of Pappy.. The Father of Luke went to the ticket booth and bought 3 ticket to St. Louise ... As when Luke heard this he began to ask question of his father.. Asking if he will see his idol Stan Musial..
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Summary: Pleasant story of life in working poverty
Review: Grisham has a smooth, engaging, easy-going writing style. There is a significant pleasure in the reading experience itself as he relates two months in the life of seven-year old Luke Chandler in September and October 1952 in Black Oak, Arkansas. Having spent some time in Arkansas myself, the story rings true. The story has elements of "To Kill a Mockingbird". But there was more. There's a bully, an outcast, a beautiful teen-age girl, a gruff Pappy, an uncle fighting in Korea, a mother longing to get off the farm, and a heroic, stoic dad. In two months, young Luke witnesses two murders, a birth, tornadoes, and flood. Grisham details the life of the working poor, an impoverished farm family who, by the grace of God and their hard work, keep their heads just above the even more destitute around them. Cotton farming in the Mississippi Delta was a daunting task, and Grisham's story of the hired hands, the harvest, the early start to the day, the oppressive heat, the aches of the work, a ball game on the radio at the end of a hard day, the Saturday market, and the Sunday church service is as interesting as many of the characters themselves, some drawn in simple stereotype.
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Summary: Like watching paint dry...
Review: I am a huge fan of John Grisham and was sorely disappointed with "A Painted House". This book had great potential to become a modern day "To Kill a Mockingbird" but it just never happened.
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Summary: Engrossing and addictive
Review: I couldn't put this book down...I had to bring in the last 2 CDs into work so I could finish it. Prepare to be transplanted not only to the empoverished cotton patch of Arkansas, but into the mind of a seven-year-old boy (Luke) of devout Baptist heritage. This book takes you to a place where, as Grisham notes, every part of the pig gets used but the squeal. What a trip.
This may be a poor cotton farm, but there's lots going on here. Mexican laborers and hillbillies come to help pick the cotton, and when they arrive you already can tell that sparks are going to fly. All flavored with the typical boy interests - discovering girls, baseball, soda pop and ice cream, and the Saturday matinee. Although the family is strict Baptist who get their share of fire-breathing preaching from the pastor, there's lots of secrets from the parents, a few lies, and a little more...
Luke's grandparents play a critical role in this family. If you have/had grandparents from the Depression-era you'll probably be able to relate to the senior Chandlers. Stoic, proud, and industrious, just keeping up with these kinds of folks either wears you out or makes you feel lazy.
I just noticed that this has been made into a movie. I don't know if this would translate to the screen well. Much of the book's appeal is in what Luke is thinking, how he is assessing situations, and making judgments. If you take away the lens of the boy, this story loses lots of substance. I don't plan on ruining my appraisal of the book with watching the movie! This book is currently selling used for a penny, and is a quick and enjoyable read. What a deal!
Rating: 
Summary: A Painted House
Review: I found this book compelling and unpredictable! It begins a little slow for my taste, but definitly picks up about half way through the book. I fell in love with the characters and the way John Grisham brought such drama and intensity to what would seem to be such a normal,predictable book. Unlike most of his other novels where Grisham uses lawyers and intense trials to keep the novel thrilling and exciting, he used a simple American family and a confused 7 year old boy to get that same heroic, adventerous feel. I was thouroughly impressed and engaged throughout the entire novel.
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Summary: You Really Know the Characters - A Great Book!
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone who loves stories about coming of age as well as those who love books where the characters are so real you remember them for years. I would put this book in the same category as Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy - an awesome read!
Rating:
Summary: I really really liked it!
Review: Its not a really exciting book or anything, But it was captivating, you will really want to finish this story, I want a sequel Mr Grisham.
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