Book Review: The Cider House Rules by John Irving

Thanks, Exclusive Books warehouse sale! I am always excited when I find critically-acclaimed fiction at ridiculously low prices, as this is the year that I am beginning to explore the world of GOOD good-old-fashioned fiction. So I picked up The Cider House Rules despite having never actually watched the movie – I just knew that it was a movie as well.

This book is about Doctor Wilbur Larch; the orphanage that he runs in St. Cloud’s in rural Maine; and the unadoptable orphan Homer Wells. Looking at that sentence, which at first seemed to sum the book up rather well, I feel that it doesn’t nearly do The Cider House Rules justice.

I have a sort of mental category for books like this; tricky to get into (but once you’re in, you’re absolutely hooked), with writing that at first glance seems simple and effortless but under greater scrutiny reveals itself to be absolutely masterful, and with subject matter that makes me really reconsider my views and opinions about the world at large. Oh, and let me not forget the characters. The word that sticks in my head is ‘real’. They are imperfect, unpredictable, sometimes beautiful and sometimes terribly ugly. They are absolutely human and they make the book worth reading.

If I had a complaint (and this is taking some serious thought) it would be that I struggled to really get into the book – readers will know what I mean by this. It starts slowly, at the beginning, and takes time to pick up momentum. Me writing a review is proof that it can be done, though, so just persevere. 😉

Of course, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for more of John Irving’s work, as I feel that he is a bit of an understated genius and a wonderful study of human nature and character (both of which I find incredibly interesting to read about).