The Cider House Rules
by John Irving
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Book Summary Information
Author: John IrvingEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-12-09
ISBN: 0345387651
Number of pages: 598
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of The Cider House Rules
Book Review: The Cider House Rules
Summary: 5 Stars
The Cider House Rules, written by John Irving is about the alienation women faced back during the mid-1900's. The book has to do with the on going conflict about abortions and adoption, and the choices that women have to make with these particular topics. The book also has to do with a forbidden love that two people share. It is an extreme love triangle at its worst. Homer and Candy fall in love, but Candy has boyfriend who goes away to war and now she is left alone with Homer. Candy does not know what to do; she is going crazy. "..it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it. (216)"The book begins with a man named Doctor Larch. Larch is an obstetrician who works with one of the most elite practices in Boston, until he is forced to help a woman in need for an abortion. His fellow doctors are greatly against this. Larch leaves Boston and creates an orphanage/hospital called St. Clouds in Maine. Larch believes that women should have a choice. He does not necessarily believe in abortions, but since no one else will perform them, it is not fair to the women. He allows the women to make their own choice, to either have an abortion, or to give the child to the orphanage.
One day Homer Wells is born, and he lives in the orphanage until the age of twenty. He had been adopted 3 times, but none of them ever worked out. Homer never really wanted to be adopted. He always believed he belonged at St. Clouds. Larch loved Homer like a son and as he got older he started teaching Homer everything he knew about obstetrics. Homer became very knowledgeable. He could deliver children himself, and once he saved a woman from dying. As Homer grew, so did his own opinions about abortions. He did not even want to be present when Larch performed one anymore. Larch had always wanted Homer to be a doctor, to take over St. Clouds when Larch could go on no more. Homer did want to be a doctor, but one day that all changed.
Candy and Wally came from Ocean View. Candy needed an abortion. Homer instantly fell in love, but Candy was with Wally. Wally liked Homer. He liked him so much that all three of them became best friends and Homer finally left St. Clouds to go into the apple business. For years he would not return, until his forbidden love had gotten him into a little trouble.
The book is all about the rights and wrongs of life. Homer has to continuously be reminded from Larch that he should be a doctor whether or not he believes in abortions or not. "How can you allow yourself a choice in the matter when there are so many women who haven't the freedom to make the choice themselves? How can you feel free to choose not to help people who are not free to get other help? (518)" Homer thinks he knows the right decision, but when it comes down to it, he changes his mind. Homer faces a lot of challenges being an orphan as well. Sometimes he never felt like he belonged, but he was always loved by so many people. He faces problems that a lot of orphans face today. Candy faces the problems of love. She is in love with one man and at the same time, in love with another. How can a person feel for two people in that sort of way? Then there is Doctor Larch. He faces great decisions everyday with adoption and abortions, and along with it, he is an ether addict. There is a man who cannot even take care of his own problems and here he is taking care of other people. In our society, all of these things are wrong.
The Cider House Rules was an exceptional book. The amount of emotion felt while reading the book was amazing. I couldn't put it down. I love the detail that Irving uses to make the reader feel that deep, lonely emotion. The love that two people have for each other no matter how different they are is beautiful. The book also makes the reader realize that women in trouble, during that time, really did not have many choices. They are going to be alienated either way because that is how it has always been for women in our society. They have never been up to the same status as men. The Cider House Rules has to do with the sacrifice certain men make just for a woman. It was the best book that I have ever read. I find myself always thinking about it, contradicting my own beliefs. I would recommend anyone reading it. My only advice is to have an open mind and do not judge things you may be ignorant about.
Summary of The Cider House Rules
"AN OLD-FASHIONED, BIG-HEARTED NOVEL . . . with its epic yearning caught in the 19th century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain . . . The rich detail makes for vintage Irving."--The Boston Sunday Globe
"The Cider House Rules is filled with people to love and to feel for. . . . The characters in John Irving's novel break all the rules, and yet they remain noble and free-spirited. Victims of tragedy, violence, and injustice, their lives seem more interesting and full of thought-provoking dilemmas than the lives of many real people."
--The Houston Post
"John Irving's sixth and best novel . . . He is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irving's own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Entertaining and affecting . . . John Irving is the most relentlessly inventive writer around. He proliferates colorful incidents and crotchets of character. . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity."
--The San Diego Union
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