The Cider House Rules

By: John Irving

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 24 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

From one of America's most beloved and respected writers comes the classic story of Homer Wells, an orphan, and Wilbur Larch, a doctor without children of his own, who develop an extraordinary bond with one another.

©1985 John Irving (P)1999 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Witty, tenderhearted, fervent, and scarifying." ( New York Times Book Review)

"Gardner understands and conveys the book's sly humor and comprehension of human foibles." ( Los Angeles Times)

"John Irving's best novel....He is among the very best storytellers." ( Philadelphia Inquirer)

Right

A really wonderful story. This was my second Irving book (the other being Garp). Wilbur Larch and Homer Wells were both great characters with interesting ideologies. The ending was beautiful and made me tear up while listening.

abortion

ABORTION
Sometimes we underestimate things. One of the things I underestimated was John Irving’s “The Cider House Rules”.
It was an interesting novel and they made a movie about it. It was an excellent movie. Movies never quite make it, never give as much as reading and no one reads; might be the origin of prevailing ignorance.
But when I contemplate abortion it pops into my mind. Then, I think, wow, this is one fine, complicated piece of writing. Just when I was thinking there was no good literature left in America I realize, like all good literature, that John Irving captures the question of abortion in all its intricacies and more. The realization of how good “Cider House” is astonishes. Does he even know how good it is? Does any writer, I am talking writers of real literature, literature that reaches another dimension in the telling of the story, know from whence it came, the 5th dimension. Hemmingway describes it as “Writing the story as true as you can, and you get more.” Every true story has wisdom; it’s people that obfuscate that kill understanding. Basically, they don’t want to understand, they want to pontificate and control. They hate truth; they hate the advancement of wisdom; they are divorced from wisdom. You know what that means; they are divorced from the wisdom of the universe, divorced from inspiration. In affect they are blind and as such a disfigurement on human potential.
When you find a nugget, you must follow the vein. I am going to read everything John Irving wrote.

Complex and wonderful

I love the characters, their complex lives and internal struggles. Irving does not shy away from difficult issues and beautifully weaves them into his story. I even enjoyed his author notes. TY for a great story with social issues that have unfortunately become relevant once again.

Will be adding this to my favorite list

Wonderfully told and wonderfully read! The story drew me in from the beginning and did let go !!! I'll listen to this again!!!

Fascinating

This book was recommended to me and I had my doubts but once I started listening I couldn’t stop.

Love this book!

I saw the movie awhile back and enjoyed it, but after reading the book there is so much left out. This book takes you on a journey through so many lives, and leaves you feeling so close to all the characters. I both laughed and cried while listening to this book. Very much a recommended read!

Thoroughly enjoyed.

This is the first Irving novel that that I've read. Very good, will read more.

Wish I Could Recommend It

If you could sum up The Cider House Rules in three words, what would they be?

Way too long

What did you like best about this story?

The humanity of the characters

Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to this reader before. He did an excellent job here, and that is saying something because to me,when choosing an audio book, the reader is more important than the author.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not a book of this length and complexity.

Any additional comments?

I love audio books. I also love to "turn friends on" to books I enjoy. And although Cider House is one of my favorites, I am limited in who I recommend it to because of the crude, gutter language that keeps popping up (ex. the limericks). It's the same reason I stopped listening to the Scarpetta stories. (BTW - John Grisham et al don't have any trouble writing novels without this type of language.)

Good, not great.

Well written & thoughtful story, but Irving's usual knack to make you love his somewhat damaged characters misses the mark. And his offbeat humor is barely present.

If you're an Irving fan, you may be disappointed.

Great!

As is typical with Irving, this takes a little while to warm up. But once all the characters and settings have been introduced it's such a great story. Highly recommended.