Found this at a book sale, remembered liking Garp a million years ago, and thought I would give it a try. It was uninteresting. Mostly focused on making a movie of a book he wrote called The Cider House Rules, which I never read. Included about 50 still photos of that movie. Also a lot of his opinions about how terrible the pro-life community is.

Not another Irving epic. This is a looser collection of anecdotal stories about screenplay writing and the filming of THE CIDERHOUSE RULES.
A brief, fun ride for Irving fans with a bit of Michael Caine and Charlize Theron thrown in to spice the mix.

Whether you're a fan of Irving or not, this is an entertaining and enlightening view of the business of translating novels into movies.

Fans of John Irving will love this memoir. As a fan of his novels it was a joy to read as it more than just his dealings with the movie business. Reading it gave me more insight on Irving's motivation to write "The Cider House Rules" and make sure it was made into a film. He does write about his other novels and their film adaptions, but Cider House is the heart and soul of the memoir. Along with it Irving intertwined his family history, intense research and the politics of abortion as motivators for the novel and film. Even if you have only seen the movie "The Cider House Rules" this memoir would still be an enjoyable read.

interesting Irving experience on screenwriting and movie production.

I tried to read this a while back, but couldn't get into it. The first fifty pages deals with the of abortion and the role Irving's grandfather played in it as a respected OB/GYN. This was a slog and I gave up. Last week, my wife and I saw Irving speak in New Hampshire, and I felt the need to try a book of his soon. It was snowing, we were in the house, I figured I would give it another shot. The first fifty pages was still a slog, but the rest of the book was good. Conversational, a little bitchy, it tells about all of his interactions with the movie business, though it did not mention the Owen Meany/ Simon Birch broohaha. I liked it. I won't remember much of it in a few more days, but it was fun listening to Irving prattle on for a few hours while I watched our drive way fill up with snow.

Mostly stories from the lengthy process of turning his novel 'The Cider House Rules' into a movie with little detours into details of his other publications and their movie versions, this book provided a perfect entry into John Irving's world for me.

I must admit that after a good friend and bookseller warned me that 'his books might just be a little too distasteful for my tender age' (which, back then, she was certainly right about) I never showed any interest in one of Mr. Irving's books or their movie adaptations anymore... until a colleague I often share books with lent me this one.

Talking about what he was trying to say in the novel 'The Cider House Rules' and where and why the plot needed to be changed for the movie adaptation in a calm but humorous conversation tone that made him seem a nice enough person, Mr. Irving now has me quite curious about the movie... and I might at some point need to pick up one or two of his novels, too.

As a huge Irving fan who could not wait for the movie The Cider House Rules to come out, I found this account of John's writing of the screenplay for the movie fascinating. I still find myself thinking of this book when I see movies adapted from novels I have read. Irving describes the choices and changes that he struggled with in bringing his novel to the screen and answered to some extent one of my burning questions about the film; why no Melony. This book is probably best appreciated if one has both read the novel and seen the movie.

Too short

Easy to read, and entertaining. It's a short little memoir and it's broken up into very very digestible chapters (maybe 5 - 10 pages long, some much shorter). I would say a good 50% of them have real insight in not only his screenwriting but his novel composition as well. When you read a John Irving novel everything is so precise and well placed that I never think it actually takes down and dirty work to place them in those precise places. Now I realize how much thought (and obviously natural talent) goes into both his novels and his screenplay.

Yeah, I like his writing, but I don't think I like him. This was an interesting look at a the movie-making process for a book I read and a film I saw, but in my opinion it was pretty poorly written. Choppy, disjointed, wandering.

Niet de typische Irving en vermoedelijk alleen. Interssant voor fans van the Ciderhouserules.