Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I decided to read this book after seeing (and loving the movie). I figured that I knew the plot, but wanted a few things cleared up (for example, why Dr.Larch was addicted, and what to). I read this book, and it was powerful. After I got going into it, I finished it in about a week. This story goes into the lives of so many people: Homer, Dr.Larch, Candy, Wally, Angel, the station master, Melony, Curly Day etc. etc. It makes you feel like you know the community. John Irving is a great writer, who knows how to write a good story, with complex characters. Homer Wells is an orphan, who grew up as an apprentice to Dr. Larch, an old man who performs illegal abortions and runs an orphanage. The story of how he struggles to make a life for himself at the apple orchards is touching, and throughout the book he discovers who he really is, and what he believes is right. I saw the movie, I read the book. Now I want to see the movie again. This is a wonderful book, but for those who are skeptics, or who always find the worst in everything, this is not for you. It's touching, and special, and a masterpeice. Enjoy!
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Summary: A wonderful book despite what the ProLife movement tells you
Review: Even though the Pro-Life movement would like you to think that this is a book totally about abortion and how wonderful it is...guess what....it ISN'T! This is a book about rules and choices. It shouldn't be offensive to a Pro-Life or Pro-Choice individual and if it is they are very confused. They let their own personal beliefs cloud a book that leaves you with your own choice about what you can think about abortion. It does NOT tell you that abortion is the absolute best choice always...it simply tells you that abortion is a woman's legal choice...you can decide yourself if it is also a moral choice. The historical aspect of this book is very interesting...the history of abortion in America is a topic on which so little has been written. The characters in this book are very fascinating and very real. You won't actually find yourself hating any character in this book...the author does not tell you to totally hate or totally love the characters...he lets you think what you want to about each character and he lets you love them or hate them based on your own feelings. I would recommend this book to anybody...be them a liberal Pro-Choicer or a conservative Pro-Lifer.
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Summary: Survey of Life in the Narrative
Review: "The Cider House Rules" is the first book by John Irving that I've read. For far too long I failed to listen to the opinions of others, who lauded him as one of the best and most interesting writers of our time. When I picked up the book as required reading for my first year in college, I was completely struck by the brilliance of the author's characterizations. As Hemmingway took hours thinking of the exact words to put down on paper, John Irving must have taken great time and care populating the various towns and cities of Maine. All the references as to the source of his knowledge of medical terminology and methodology shows how committed he is to conjuring up a world that, while fantastical, demands serious consideration. This book is for almost everybody. Abortion and the various philosophies concerning the viability of its ethical use is quite obviously a major theme. The gritty details, the chillingly neutral descriptions, and most heated of emotions that burst out of the characters give the reader an opportunity to consider his or her own beliefs, whether "pro-choice" or "pro-life." However, there are many other topics to be considered such as the definition of family, family life, and family values. All three terms are thrown around casually in the sociopolitical arena, but the characters in Irving's novel, like in real life, must deal with them every day; few have a consistent belief throughout their entire lives as growth (yet another but lesser theme) influences their minds. Life in many ways is unstable, for the young and old, and the various metamorphoses undergone by the characters are what made the book really endearing to my heart. Not all things are as they appear, character traits in one human may change over the course of her or his life independently of each other. It is difficult to define heroism and villainy, although we all too easily characterize others as such. Unfortunately one frequently cannot put a person in one category or the other as Harold Bloom might with Shakespeare's cast of characters where one is either "good" or "evil," important and non-essential. "The Cider House Rules" shows us how one may analyze another piece by piece when determining "moral purity" (if the so-called judge has any real right to do so in the first place). Tolerance and understanding reign triumphant in this novel, in which one sees all colors of the world's palette. "Agree to disagree" and move on with life. Spending too much time not doing so often seems to harm others, even complete strangers, that one may not even have considered; and therein lies the tragedy.
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Summary: Loved it!!!
Review: A fabulous read!! Classic Irving. One of those you just can't put down, my favorite kind. I still haven't seen the movie, but am dying to since reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Touching and Compelling
Review: "The Cider House Rules" is deffinitly one of the best books I have ever read. Irving makes you connect and "feel" for his characters. The description is so realistic that the novels plays in your mind greater then any screen play could. This is a novel you will not want to put down.
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Summary: superb storytelling
Review: Reading this book reminded me how much I liked The World According to Garp and how staggered I was and continue to be by Irving's capacity to tell such amazing, rich, and innovative stories. Where did he come up with "Princes of Maine, Kings of New England." How did he come up with these full and rich and wonderful characters? I, too, read the book after seeing the movie. Therefore, the last 1/2 of this book was a complete surprise to me. The movie is wonderful in its own way but although I enjoyed it, I didn't quite "get it." After reading the book, I understand why. This isn't so much a story about race (which seemed to be a powerful point of the movie) as a story about abortion (which was rather NOT a big point of the movie). I agree, however, that this book isn't really "about" abortion. I guess its more about discovering your place in the world -- despite or because of your flaws, and everybody seems to have them. It took a while to fully sink into this book and at times I had to put it down because it was SO rich with detail I would get a little full. But I was truly blown away with it and immediately started to reread it. This is the kind of book that you just hold in your hand with awe and look at and say, "How does he DO that?!" I'm glad the movie came out so that the novel will get a second chance to be read by a new audience...like me.
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Summary: wonderfully affecting
Review: A few confessions: I was only vaguely aware of this novel until the film came out. Also, I had not read anything by Irving since really hating "The World According to Garp." I saw the film and liked it and this prompted me to read the novel and it was a revelation. I have not been so emotionally caught up in a story in a long time. And STORY is the operative word. This is a real story of a kind rarely seen recently. It is commonplace to talk about how much of a novel is missed in a movie. This is abundantly true in this case. Although the movie is good [and the casting superb], it does not have the richness and layering of the novel. Maybe this would not be possible. For one thing, we learn so much more about the Dr. Larch character in the novel. And, it is in the process of learning Dr. Larch's STORY that we also receive a heartfelt and articulate defense of a woman's right to choose when it comes to abortion.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite
Review: I have read a thousand books but never before have I read such a beautiful and touching story. I loved the characters as if they were my family, I even hated them at times for the same reason. The thing about this book that is so different from all the others I have read is the fact that it forever changed me. Dr. Larch's reasons for being prochoice became mine. It depeicts a world where such a right is denied in such a realistic fashion. It is honest with every word and gives such a variety of characters to relate to. If you only read one book in your lifetime, make it this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Great characters . Slow, disjointed plot.
Review: After a 20-year hiatus from John Irving I decided to give him another try. As in "The World According to Garp", his skill at character development is unparalleled in modern fiction. Each character in the book is unique. They are complex yet fit seamlessly into the story and, without exception, they are enjoyable. Unfortunately, as with 'Garp', the plot is anything but seamless. The wealth of detail that makes the characters so lifelike weighs heavily on the plot and it tends to drag in several places. In others, vast periods of time are skipped over with hardly a mention and I felt like I've skipped a few chapters. I didn't feel like I "had to" finish it but it was only because I was interested in the characters that I stuck it out. Whatever I read next, though, will definitely have to have a snappier pace to it. In its defense, I will say that "Cider House Rules" would be a great selection for a discussion group. It should be easy to pick apart its many interesting details, especially since they aren't that tightly woven together to begin with.
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Summary: Reading Group Pick- Martha's & Alice's "Notes in the Margin"
Review: John Irving was born in 1942 in Exeter, NH. He is married and has three sons; he lives in Toronto and in southern Vermont. In "For the Love of books" Irving said that "Great Expectations" was the novel that made him want to be a novelist- specifically to move a reader as he was moved then. He went on to say that in addition to Dickens his other heroes include Gunter Grass and Robertson Davies. Each of Irving's characters break conventional rules and each has to work out for themselves which rules are to be followed. Irving wraps his story all around this title and ties his characters up in knots with it. Your reading group could discuss whether by the end of the novel the characters regret breaking any of the rules or whether they believe there are highter rules. Do the characters suffer remorse in breaking rules? Just as the nurses at St. Cloud's pondered each child's name and saw meaning in each name, Irving christened each of his characters with a name that can tell the reader something important. Orphan Homer Wells only needed his name until he returned home. Candy was a treat that couldn't be resisted anymore than the orphans could resist the honey she brought to the orphanage. Your reading group could devote an entire meeting to this cast of characters where a rose is a rose, Melony is not a melody and Wally's mother, Olive, labors under the weight of her own olive branch. There are two powerfully symbolic settings in this novel which your group could discuss along with the symbolism of water, floating, flying, safe lodging, shared reading or the Canada lynx which could not find a purchase on the crusted snow outside the orphanage. There were a number of interesting words to add to our compendium or interesting words but our favorite was: "Caul"- A membrane that is usually ruptured and expelled at the onset of labor. Irving noted in his notes at the back of the novel that in Dickens' time being born with a caul was a sign that a child would be lucky and specifically would not be drown. Selecting one favorite quote was challenging but we thought this one spoke volumes: "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 some 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." With the "Cider House Rules" your Reading Group will not be without some guidance; you will have a good book with you.
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