By now, every person I associate with on a regular basis knows how big a John Irving fan I am. It’s no secret that I think he is, arguably, the greatest living writer (with respect to Thomas Pynchon, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, etc), and he has penned a number of modern American classics. I had read all the works from his “classic” period, except for one.

The Cider House Rules.

It was time to get rid of this blindspot.

I spent almost a week within the pages of this long novel. I spent a lot of time trudging the halls of St. Cloud’s orphanage with Doctor Larch and the nurses; my hands feel almost calloused from the months and years (or so it felt, at times) picking apples at the Ocean View orchard, with Homer and Angel and the migrants. Irving’s 1985 release almost totally took me back to the time he writes about: the first half of the twentieth century, in rural Maine country. The sense of setting perfectly evoked, able to swallow almost any reader.

Like every Irving novel, this is not a quick read. It unspools slowly — and Cider House seems to unspool even slower than this author’s other works; maybe it’s the long chapters — and forces the reader to have patience. All is worth it in the end.

I want to reread this book, or at least read about a world similar to this one. Maybe I’ll pick up another Dickens. My heart is left aching, knowing I’ve just experienced another modern classic as penned by John Irving.

”It’s natural to want someone you love to do what you want, or what you think would be good for them, but you have to let everything happen to them. You can't interfere with people you love any more than you're supposed to interfere with people you don't even know. And that's hard, because you often feel like interfering—you want to be the one who makes the plans.”

L'ho amato da subito. Perfetto nei personaggi, nei temi trattati e nel modo di trattarli. C'è un non detto che aleggia tra le pagine come le sensazioni non confermate. Magari certe "coincidenze" sono un po' tirate, ma amo come alla fine tutto sembra combaciare per un disegno più grande. Mi ha restituito la magia dei grandi romanzi, dove alla fine le cose tornano al loro posto e magari non è quello che ti aspettavi.

As a general rule I don't read books after I have already seen the movie but for one of my favorite authors I made an exception. I was actually surprised to find that the movie did not really deviate much from the book as movies usually do. I think the parts that they left out of the movie were acceptable and still kept the story intact. In fact I think I might prefer the movie's edited version of the story better though no one can argue that Mr. Irving is a master storyteller. I loved it as would be expected. I loved the movie too. I liked the explanations of how the author got his material for the book at the end. I found it very interesting. A favorite.

I started the Cider House Rules after giving up on 3 novels that just couldn't hold my attention.
John Irving will certainly make you love reading again. The Cider House Rules is once again a novel rich with characters so real you forget this is fiction and you care about what happens to them.
Why can I only say that about a mere handful of writers?

This is a novel about abortion in the 1940s. The dilemmas of abortion are obvious, and this novel does lean towards pro-choice. I think pro-lifers would be well advised to save themselves the ordeal, but
that really is too bad since they would miss out on a wonderful read. John Irving is a master writing about the human condition, and given the setting of an orphanage, unwanted children, an elderly ether-addicted doctor, this is every bit as great as you would expect it to be.

If you find yourself in the same place I was, where you just can't seem find interest in reading anymore, pick this one up and get to know some wonderful (and not so wonderful) people.

I've always struggled with Irving and Cider House Rules is no exception. It's not that Irving is a poor writer, no one can argue that. His characters are always fully-fleshed and alive on the page and each sentence drips with so much detail that you think you're going to get splinters when Homer and Melony are messing around in the abandoned millworker's dorm. I just think that most of the time when I put the book down I feel like I've read the equivalent of cotton candy: really pretty but not much substance as far as plot is concerned.

Another aspect of Irving's writing is his tendency to deliver sentences in blanket pronunciations (i.e.- "An orphan is a child, forever; an orphan detests change; an orphan hates to move; an orphan loves routine"). Far too often they seem like shallow blanket judgments used to convey a character trait but which instead seem to make Irving's characters seem like cardboard cutouts.

What Cider House Rules does provide is a very even-handed look at the pro-choice vs. "pro-life" debate. Told from the point of view of Dr. Wilbur Larch, who came into his own while working in Boston's South End, abortion seems like a necessary option to those who would seek one from any potential provider, no matter how unqualified or injurious. In Larch's view it's far better that women get an abortion from a trained and caring provider than a backroom butcher with no compassion for the patient.

Contrasting this view is the book's hero, Homer Wells, an orphan who has never experienced the results of a botched abortion and, from his perspective as an orphan, tends to view aborted fetuses as playmates that just never were. Through Homer and Larch's conflict regarding abortion, Irving manages to shine an insightful light on a subject which has pulled hard at America's edges for as long as the nation has been extant.

All in all, I think I enjoyed Cider House Rules. Sure, there were definitely moments when I wondered whether Irving was as lost in the story as Dr. Larch was lost in an ether dream, but the moment I closed the book for the final time it took hold of my imagination and left me thinking for quite a while after. By any measure that should be a sign of a good read.

Finally, I feel the need to mention the following quote which grabbed me early in the novel:
"Dr. Larch pointed out that Melony had taken Jane Eyre with her; he accepted this as a hopeful sign- wherever Melony went, she would not be without guidance, she would not be without love, without faith; she had a good book with her. If only she'll keep reading it, and reading it, Larch thought."

Ilgai svarsčiau kiek žvaigždučių šiai knygai skirti... 4.5 būtų tinkamiausias vertinimas, bet labiau į tą gerąją pusę.
Nevertinu knygos pagal tai, ar ji atitinka mano vertybes ar ne. Vertinu pačią knygą, ir autoriaus sugebėjimą sudominti, papasakoti ir palikti kažką skaitytojo galvoje.

4,5⭐️

Veličanstven roman! Najbolji koji sam pročitala ove godine, a sigurno se nalazi i u top 10 najboljih naslova koje sam pročitala u poslednjih nekoliko godina.
Irving je mađioničar, tako suptilno i polako uvlači čitaoca u priču da ovaj ni ne primeti da je njegov zarobljenik.
Žao mi što sam prošle godine posle pročitanih stotinjak stranica napravila pauzu, ali ovo je onaj tip romana za koji je potreban pravi trenutak, a ovo je bio moj.
I dalje sam pod utiskom, pa sve što mogu da kažem jeste čitajte Tuđa pravila, nećete se pokajati, naprotiv, kao i ja poželećete što pre da uzmete u ruke neki naredni naslov Džona Irvinga.
Ocena: 10 ⭐

What I love about John Irving's novels is how they chronicle ordinary people living mostly ordinary lives, but somehow manage to come off as great, sweeping epics. I don't know how he does it - The Cider House Rules contains no epic journeys, no great battles, no romances for the ages, and no heroes. It's an ordinary story, but Irving's writing makes it seem just as incredible and important as The Odyssey.

Maybe it's the time span - the book covers a period of over 50 years, and centers on two central characters. They are Dr. Wilbur Larch, who performs illegal abortions at the St. Cloud's orphanage, which he runs; and Homer Wells, the orphan who is never adopted. Dr. Larch delivers babies who are to be left at the orphanage, and performs abortions on the women who request them. As Homer grows up, Dr. Larch teaches him to deliver babies and perform abortions, planning to make Homer his successor. Instead, Homer leaves the orphanage and goes to live and work on an apple farm.

A lot happens. Most of it isn't very happy, some is disgusting, and some of it is beautiful. Since the issue of abortion is a big part of the story, there's a lot of time devoted to arguing each side of the debate. Although Irving is pretty plainly pro-choice, there's ample evidence within the book to support a pro-life stance as well. For instance, the moment when Homer Wells decides that he won't perform abortions:

"In eight weeks, though still not quick, the fetus has a nose and a mouth; it has an expression, thought Homer Wells. And with this discovery - that a fetus, as early as eight weeks, has an expression - Homer Wells felt in the presence of what others call a soul.
...You can call it a fetus, or an embryo, or the products of conception, thought Homer Wells, but whatever you call it, it's alive. And whatever you do to it, Homer thought - and whatever you call what you do - you're killing it."

I find it very interesting that Homer Wells reaches his decision not to perform abortions by looking at a fetus. Dr. Larch, on the other hand, decides to perform abortions by looking at a mother. A young girl dies because he won't perform an abortion on her; later, he agrees to do the procedure on another underage girl and saves her.

"By the time he got back to Portland, he had worked the matter out. He was an obstetrician; he delivered babies into the world. His colleagues called it 'the Lord's work.' And he was an abortionist; he delivered mothers, too. His colleagues called this 'the Devil's work,' but it was all the Lord's work to Wilbur Larch. ...He could quite comfortably abstain from having sex for the rest of his life, but how could he ever condemn another person for having sex? He would remember, too, what he hadn't done for Mrs. Eames's daughter, and what that had cost.
He would deliver babies. He would deliver mothers, too."

It's heavy stuff. There's also a lot of really detailed, anatomical descriptions of the process of delivery and abortion, and the squeamish should be forewarned: if you can't handle the following passage, give this book a pass:
"'I have made this observation about the wall of the uterus,' Dr. Larch told the ghostly young man. 'It is a good, hard, muscular wall, and when you've scraped it clean, it responds with a gritty sound. That's how you know when you've got all of it - all the products of conception. You just listen for the gritty sound.' He scraped some more. 'Can you hear it?'"

On a lighter note, the book also contains a frankly delightful selection of dirty limericks, and to end this downer review on a funny note, I'll share one. Send the kids to bed and enjoy, folks:
"Oh pity the Duchess of Kent!
Her cunt is so dreadfully bent,
The poor wench doth stammer,
'I need a sledgehammer
To pound a man into my vent.'"

Aw yeah. Keepin' it classy.

While The Cider House Rules is an undeniably well-written novel, I grew impatient with the lengthy narrative and the idle characters. It was hard for me to feel any sense of connection to the different characters, and I cared very little about Homer's life at Ocean View - I was always anxious to get back to St. Cloud's and the orphanage. For me, the real story was about the relationship between Dr. Larch and Homer Wells, and I lost interest in the story once Larch and Homer ceased to communicate.

Though Homer is the protagonist of the story, he remained inscrutable throughout the book. Except for his propensity to interject "right" into any conversation, and his longing for a family, I would not be able to describe any of Homer's other characteristics, his personality, or aspirations. Wally and Candy Worthington, the perfect golden gods, were so flat and dull that I usually couldn't wait for the story to shift away from them. The triangle between Wally, Candy, and Homer could have been interesting, but it is written without any tension between the characters. In fact, Irving completely skips over fifteen years of the trio's life together. I wish the story had skipped completely over Homer's life in Ocean View. Relationships were never explored to their potentials. Even Olive Worthington is so sensible that she never blames or stigmatizes Homer and Candy for their actions; Ray Kendall, who might have had an interesting paternal relationship with Homer (especially since parents are so scarce in this story), dies without confronting either Homer or Candy. In short, a love triangle which could have been an immense source of drama (to characters who actually reacted to events around them) became boring. It was so boring that fifteen years of potential strain was glossed over.

The one truly interesting character in the book (besides Dr. Larch) turned out to be the illustrious Melony, whom I hugely enjoyed reading. Melony may have been ridiculous, but she was a well fleshed-out, interesting character, whose life followed a reasonable yet interesting route. I was equally interested in the two nurses at the orphanage, who were only described briefly in the beginning of the novel. Yet these two characters - who have such strong presences in the lives of Dr. Larch and Homer - never have any face time of their own. I couldn't separate Angela from Edna, nor understand why Homer chose Angela as the namesake for his child. Even a few pages on either of the nurses would have been useful and illuminating.

Instead, Irving segues into long descriptions of characters such as the stationmaster. While the stationmaster is undoubtedly amusing, I wondered why I cared. And yet I liked the stationmaster passage better than the scenes at Ocean View. It's unfortunate that the 5 pages introducing the stationmaster were more interesting than Homer, Candy, and Wally combined.

In the end, finishing The Cider House Rules became a chore. I fail to see the brilliance apparently displayed in this novel. Perhaps it only appears on a second reading; however, I don't think I'll ever pick this up again. (Oh, and can I express my distaste for reading pages and pages about characters named Candy and Angel? One would have been enough.)

не вірю, що нарешті дочитала цю книжку, певно, я витратила на неї найбільше сукупних зусиль на цей рік, вона далася мені з боєм. вона дуже добре пасує для обговорень, тут стільки деталей, стільки відгалуджень, що хочеться зустрітися з кимось хто читав і кілька годин вести розмову в стилі "а ти помітила те й те? а як тобі це? а не думаєш, що тут йшлося про ось це?"

мені не дуже сподобалася пристрасть автора на десятки абзаців смакувати особливо гидкі моменти, показувати якомога детальніше: запалені матки, гній, слиз, пеніс поні в роті, з одного боку воно створює сильні враження, а з іншого від цих образів потім важко кудись подітися.

в останній третині книжки автор робить стрибок на 15 років вперед - і це мене роздратувало, створило певну нерівність у темпі, бо того час рухався дуже повільно, ми могли якомога детальніше досліджувати всі поривання і травми героїв.

я намагаюся пояснити собі назву - і бачу відповідь у тому, що правила існують для тих, хто може їх зрозуміти. як неграмотний збирач яблук не осягне написаного на листку послання від власника саду, так і жінка в скрутному становищі не мусить спиратися на жорстокі ідеї привілейованих чоловіків.

Мені мало 5ти зірочок для цього роману, тому що він захопив мене так, що кілька днів з ним я прожила у далекому штаті Мен, на узбережжі океану, в яблуневих садах. Роман такий багатогранний, як саме життя. Тут немає понять правильно/неправильно, бо кожне правило має винятки. Чи має право жінка робити аборт і якщо ні, то що робити із сиротами, яких жінки не взмозі виховувати? Що таке обов'язок, відповідальність і посвята себе якійсь справі? І кохання тут таке складне, неоднозначне і я досі не зрозуміла, як до всього, що сталося з героями, ставлюся. Мені було щиро шкода кожного з них. Ірвінг пише і про домашнє насильство, расизм, інцест, а також багато про медицину тих років. Самі події в романі розвиваються протягом 30-40-50х. І війна також не минула стороною наших героїв.

Одним словом, в щирому захваті! Зріднилася з героями і тепер "житиму" з ними ще деякий час. Бо такі романи так просто не відпускають.

Дайте мені ще Ірвінга