The most boring book ever
|
|
I would give it minus 5 stars if I only could. The worst, most boring book I have ever read. Do not buy it - it looks like someone else has written this book and Grisham just gave his name to promote it.
|
|
His best
|
I read A Painted House not knowing that it was not another legal thriller. I love most of Grisham's legal thrillers, despite them all being pretty much the same story with different names, but this book is better. The vivid description and emotive story lines combined with well developed characters make this book a joy to read.
This shows that Grisham could be a wonderful author of books other than legal thrillers, it is a shame that his other books the branch away from Law have not lived up to this very high standard.
|
|
Beautiful
|
|
I have read a few Grisham legal novels which aren't really my thing. This is far better in my opinion and shows that he is a very skilled writer. It was a beautiful story with beautiful and vivid descriptions. I really recommend this book but certainly warn that it is very unlike any other of his books that I have read.
|
|
|
Awakenings
|
It's 1952 and 7-year-old Luke Chandler lives on a cotton farm in Arkansas with his Gran and Grandad (Pappy) and his mother and father. He was born there and has never known any other life. His mother came from a city and instils in her son the wish never to be a cotton farmer whilst, at the same time, dreaming of one day leaving the farm and going North to a more prosperous life. Even at the age of 7, Luke works all day picking cotton in the fields during the harvest time - September and October. That summer, a family of `hill people'- the Spruills, plus 7 or 8 Mexicans are taken-on to help pick. The story revolves around the happenings of that summer, as seen through the eyes of young Luke, who is now an adult with children of his own. A departure from Mr Grisham's usual lawyer-based tales, but refreshingly so.
|
|
|
A little boy and his secrets
|
In the autumn of my eighth year, mention "cotton" and "cotton candy" was what probably came to mind. In A PAINTED HOUSE, Luke Chandler picks the stuff - real cotton that is. He lives on a farm in the Arkansas Delta with his parents and his father's parents, Pappy and Gran. Pappy rules the household - until Gran speaks. It's now September and there're 80 acres of King Cotton to harvest, for which job the Chandlers hire the Spruills, a poor family down from the "hill country", and 10 Mexican migrant workers.
Set in the fall of 1952, A PAINTED HOUSE is a splendid period piece of that time and place. Its enthralling magic is that it's life seen through the eyes of 7-year old Luke, who spends five and a half days each week of the picking season under the hot Southern sun plucking the cotton bolls until his fingers bleed. In the evenings, he and the men folk listen to radio broadcasts of their beloved St. Louis Cardinals baseball team led by the great Stan Musial. On Saturday, there's the weekly bath and the afternoon movie matinee in the nearby settlement of Black Oak. Sunday is for churchgoing at the local Baptist house of worship.
Needless to say, this is a coming-of-age story, or a least the very beginning of one. To date, Luke's major worry has been for his 19-year old Uncle Ricky, his father's brother, off fighting in Korea. Now, his mind becomes preoccupied with things he's seen unbeknownst to his elders - two murders, a childbirth, and his first sight of a live and pretty, naked, young woman. Some things are best kept secret from adults, especially the last:
"If (the girl) caught me, she'd tell my father, who'd beat me until I couldn't walk. My mother would scold me for a week. Gran wouldn't speak to me, she'd be so hurt. Pappy would give me a tongue-lashing, but only for the benefit of the others. I'd be ruined."
And, because of the dynamic that exists between parents and offspring, there's the keeping of secrets because:
"(Mother) told me many times that little boys shouldn't keep secrets from their mothers. But every time I confessed one, she was quick to shrug it off and tell my father what I'd told her. I'm not sure how I benefited from being so candid."
A PAINTED HOUSE is not a "thriller" in the usual sense, but I couldn't put it down nonetheless. (I usually read two books at a time, one at home and one at work during my lunch breaks. I brought this novel home to temporarily shove aside the second book.) By the last page, I was strongly connected with the members of the Chandler clan and wished them well. Having said that, one of the book's shortcomings was author Grisham's failure to adequately describe the physical appearance of the Chandlers - I couldn't picture them in my mind's eye. Moreover, the storyline eventually concludes with too many loose ends. This begs for a sequel. But since that isn't Grisham's style, my curiosity shall likely remain unsatisfied.
Finally, that part of the plot dealing with an unpainted vs. painted house was unnecessary. Grisham probably intended some profound symbolism here, but it was wasted on me.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada