Rating: 
Summary: A Painted House
Review: Grisham has created a work that parallels "Grapes of Wrath" in presenting the problems and depressing lives facing sharecroppers and rent farmers in the south during the middle part of the past century. He crafts the work from the viewpoint of a 7 year old boy whose ambition is to become a Cardinal baseball player and symbolically has the young boy to mature during the summer of 1952. As the story of the summer unfolds, young Luke is forced to make mature decisions about the 'secrets' that he knows. It is one Grisham's finest works if not his best.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not his best.
Review: If you are a big fan of John Grisham's writing, you should get this. If this is your first time reading John, try some of his earlier work first. This book was good and I knew before I got it that it would be different from what he ususally writes. He creates a great enjoyable story. The charactor development is excellent and the plot keeps you turning the page. What makes this book not his best is because I believe that I really didn't get what he wanted me to get from this book. He seemed to have left a few ideas hanging at the end. I expected something different at the end than what happened. I am not sure what I expected, but that ending was not it. The ending is the only reason this book did not get 5 stars. A valiant effort that comes up short.
Rating: 
Summary: A Painted House
Review: This book should have been named "Watching Paint Dry." I found it very boring. It was astounding that a 7 year old boy could witness so much in a such a brief time span. His narration of it made it very hard to believe that we were seeing this story through his eyes. He was much older in his observations and thoughts than his chronological age would convey. The plot never really pulled together for me. It was a waste of time. I am not a Grisham fan, but gave him another chance because a friend told me this one was "different." Maybe a different story line, but the same mediocre writiing style.
Rating: 
Summary: Certain to be a classic
Review: I am not a wordly or overly educated person. I could probably use a class or two in the proper use of the English language. I never understood why a dangling preposition was offensive to some folk and I'm not real sure when to use a semi-colon. I know I'm not the brightest color in the crayon box but I do know this much - I have read every one of Mr. Grisham's books and The Painted House, in my ever-so-humble opinion,is destined to be a classic. It is perfect; it is superb. And Mr. Grisham, if you ever happen to read this, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: Unlike Grisham
Review: Unlike your other reviewers, I was disappointed in this book. It was more like Faulkner than Grisham. I dislike wading in poor people's misery, and the immigration problems. I hope he goes back to his court rooms and mysteries in his next novel.
Rating:
Summary: SLOW, SLOWER, SLOWEST
Review: This was the slowest most boring book I have read in along time. Please don't waste your time. It starts out slow, never gets going and then unbelievably crashes to a stop on the last page mercifully. There is absolutely no plot or action in this book. It's as exciting as watching paint dry literally.
Rating:
Summary: Watching Paint Dry
Review: Pappy, the patriarch of the Chandler Family, in John Grisham's 'A Painted House' drives only at 37 mph. What's the rush? Grisham follow's Pappy's pace in the first part of the book, finds the accellerator in the middle, and coasts home at the end. At times the reader is charmed by the sly and ironic narrative of Luke Chandler, a seven year old future St. Louis Cardinal. At times the reader is hooked into nail-biting intensity as two rival villains develop. The rest of the journey is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Overall, I recommend this book. We must encourage Grisham to get out of the court room. He demonstrates a skill beyond mere litigators. This is especially true with the narrator's sweetness, reminding me of moments from "To Kill A Mockingbird." The big difference between this novel and the Atticus Finch classic is the ending, Grisham's Achilles heal. While there is some satisfaction, at least four major characters and one disaster are too easily set aside or left hanging. True, we can all imagine their fates. But the page count is light enough that a couple knots could have been tied. That would bring this effort 'Cliff Notes' status. Keep experimenting, Mr. Grisham. Both 'The Testament' and "A Painted House' show a great deal of promise.
Rating:
Summary: Grisham Paints a Pretty Story
Review: This charming fairy tale is a dramatic departure from Grisham's previous work -- not just because it contains nary a lawyer. The narrator is 7 year old Luke Chandler who lives with his parents and grandparents on a rented eighty acre cotton farm near Black Rock, Arkansas. It is a place so idyllic that it bears comparison to Camelot or Middle Earth. The main divisions in the town, according to Grisham, are not along racial, economic, or political lines, but rather between Baptists and Methodists and between supporters of the St Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Luke tells us there are no black people living around Black Rock. Black Rock is preparing for the 1952 cotton harvest. Migrant workers arrive from the Ozarks and from Mexico. A family of hill people, the Spruills, and ten Mexican men take up residence at the Chandler farm to pick cotton. Over the next six weeks Luke finds plenty to worry about and learns a great deal more about life than he wants to. His uncle is fighting in Korea. He learns his family desperately needs a good cotton harvest. He witnesses Hank Spruill beating a local bully to death. Cowboy, one of the Mexicans, carries a switchblade and starts spending time with Hank's sister. Grisham knows that even a fairy tale needs suspense. With a couple of obvious exceptions, everyone in "A Painted House" is good-hearted. Luke's mother and other ladies of the town worry that the Mexicans were transported from Mexico in open trucks rather than buses. (That alone puts Black Rock in a different space-time continium than contemporary America) The owners of the cotton gin and the local grocery store extend credit with un-Snopes-like prodigality -- even to the Mexicans. The Chandlers' landlord may not get his rent, but doesn't threaten to foreclose. Luke's mother's garden, a veritable cornucopia, yields enough tomatoes, sweet corn, onion, okra, butter beans, grean beans, and peas to provision the Chandlers, their workers, and a share-cropping neighbor family of nine with all they can eat. One can't help but be struck by the contrast between this rural Eden and the new south Grisham has depicted in his other novels. It came as a suprise to me that the locale Grisham uses for "A Painted House" actually exists in northeastern Arkansas. Black Rock is in Mississippi County and Jonesboro, which figures in the story, is its county seat. Highway 135 does indeed constitute Black Rock's main street. But according to the 1950 US Census, nearly 30% of Mississippi County's population was black. Sometimes it's better not to know the way to Never Never Land.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly unexpected !!
Review: I've read many of John Grisham's books, maybe all of them, they all have some similarity. The Painted House is totally different and unexpected. Through my reading I was expecting a lawsuit or some issue related with courtrooms, but I didn't care not to find any. This story keeps you going and going. Chapter after chapter you get so involved with the Chandler's, is amazing how Grisham describes everything so well, you can picture the places and stories described in this book. A motion picture would be perfect for it. For sure another Blockbuster!!
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!!
Review: This is by far one of the best books I've read. As told by a 7 year old it is honast and believable. I disagree with another reviewer who said that this was unlikely the view of a 7 year old, but rather of an older child. Truly worth the read!!
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