The Cider House Rules (Hardcover)

One of Irving's most delightful qualities is the ability to take a fiber of premise, twist it with a thread of profound thought; and through the miracle of language knit together an awkward group of word to craft a remarkable and sturdy quilt upon which his reader may contemplate. In *A Prayer for Owen Meany*, he did something like this in comparing late 20th Century America to the sad story of Marilyn Monroe Irving succeeds on several levels in *The Cider House Rules* by mixing the Right to Life and Abortion debate with 1940s black-white race relations, ménage-a-trois, incest, addiction, all different varieties of love, and the art of apple growing.

I don't believe in re-telling the story in a review, but if you can imagine an author pouring all those ingredients into a mixing bowl and coming out with a Great American novel, you will find that John Irving pulls *The Cider House Rules* out of the oven delicious and fully formed.

Irving's books are seldom cheerful. *The Cider House Rules* is no exception. However, it is a well-balanced juxtaposition of image, event, morals and humor that does not bog down under the heavy weight of its controversial ingredients. For every negative image or event, there's a couple of laughs or bright spots to balance things out.

Irving performs this balancing act especially well in his sensitive presentation of the abortion issue. His characters successfully debate both sides of the argument and allow the Reader to make his own conclusions. His presentation changed the way I feel about abortion. I am richer because I gave him the opportunity.

As is usual with Irving's books, *The Cider House Rules* abounds with vibrant and fully fleshed characters. Among them: the enduring and complex Dr. Larch, ever-useful Homer Wells; the secretive, efficient Mr. Rose; Melony's seething and angry passion.

Michael Caine received a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of Dr. Larch in the feature film. But if you have seen only the movie, bear in mind that the screenplay very effectively truncates the story within the book, covering only a few of the subplots. The book and film stand apart from another, each as true works of art. Something you don't often see happen with film versions of quality novels.

I enjoyed just about every page of *Cider House Rules*. It has an intellectual depth seldom found in books today. If you have even a passing interest in experiencing this candid and sensitive allegory of American Life and values, you will find your time and intellect richly rewarded.

I must admit my enjoyment of the movie led me to read the book. The book and movie have sharp differences. The big difference is in the book, Homer and Candy have a baby together while Wally is presumed dead. People who read Irving can not have an aversion to reading about sex. In itself, it is not bad to involve sex in the plot of a novel. The discussion of sex is not problematic, it is that the sex is deviant sex. Irving includes sex with animals and keeping pubic hair as a keep-sake in the Cider House Rules. Events like this are outside the lines of good taste. It is obvious why these events were left out of the movie.

The love story in the book was beyond my comprehension. Even Melony, an apparent lesbian, is disappointed with Homer. Why would he have a son with a woman while her boyfriend is away at war while settling for "sloppy seconds" for the rest of his life. How could her real husband possibly accept the story that his wife and a friend just decided to adopt a boy while he was apparently dead in the war? The only point in the story that moves well is when you think Homer will finally tell the truth. Homer fails though. There is a lot in the story that is hard to swallow.

The main theme of this book seems to be abortion. Regardless of how you feel about the issue, the argument is poor. Dr. Larch, Homer's father figure, has accepted the practice. Homer has not. As a way of ending the incestious pregnancy of his son's girlfriend , Homer accepts abortion. It appears that Irving has written nothing more than pro-choice propaganda with a lot of mixed up character in the background.

While Irving is a thorough and very skilled story teller, I have grown tired of his sex obsessed themes in his novels. At least romance novels don't have a political agenda. This is one case where the movie is better than the book. The movie is more of a coming of age film than propaganda.