HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Cider House Rules by John Irving
Loading...

Cider House Rules (original 1985; edition 1986)

by John Irving

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
11,691157550 (4.07)310
Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. HTML:

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

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.

"Entertaining and affecting . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity." - San Diego Union

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

.
… (more)
Member:rachrun24
Title:Cider House Rules
Authors:John Irving
Info:Bantam (1986), Edition: Reprint, Paperback
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

The Cider House Rules by John Irving (1985)

  1. 41
    Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (GoST)
    GoST: Both books relate the eventful, coming-of-age stories of physicians and their struggle to learn their craft, complete with detailed descriptions of medical procedures.
  2. 20
    The Irresistible Henry House: A Novel by Lisa Grunwald (sruszala)
  3. 11
    The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (suniru)
    suniru: Although the settings are wildly different,the central figure in both books is the "head boy" in an orphanage. Also, "identity" is central to both books.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 310 mentions

English (142)  Spanish (3)  German (2)  Italian (2)  Dutch (2)  Finnish (2)  French (1)  Norwegian (1)  Danish (1)  Lithuanian (1)  All languages (157)
Showing 1-5 of 142 (next | show all)
John Irving always writes big bricks of novels and they can sometimes seem daunting when you’re about to start one, but personally I usually end up enjoying them. The Cider House Rules has been on my shelf for a LONG time and was very overdue for a read, and I’m glad I finally picked it up.

The book is set in an orphanage in St Cloud, Maine before, during and after World War II. The orphanage is run by Dr Larch, who also performs illegal abortions for women in desperate need. One of the orphans is Homer Wells, who is adopted four times but for one reason and another always ends up back at the orphanage. Homer is a favorite with Dr Larch and his two nurses, and although I thought the book was going to be focused mainly on the doctor, it actually follows Homer throughout his journey into adulthood, from being the doctor’s young protege, to managing a cider press with the love of his life (who unfortunately is also the love of his best friend’s life).

I liked the book from the beginning – around 200 pages in, I started to love it. When I finished it, I had thoroughly enjoyed all 700+ pages. It is crammed with rich detail, the minutiae of lives, and I really because invested in the characters. What I wasn’t expecting was how gloriously funny it was in parts. This is not a comedy novel, but one long scene that occurred at around the 200 page mark and went on for several more had me laughing out loud. It’s no surprise that so many of John Irving’s books have been adapted for the big screen, because although I have not seen the 1999 film adaptation of this book, I could imagine it playing out in my mind.

I don’t want to give away too many plot points as I think readers deserve to experience it all for themselves, but I’m glad that I got around to reading this book, and highly recommend it. ( )
  Ruth72 | Oct 3, 2023 |
Abortion and a physician's responsibility for providing healthcare to women and children are the focus of Irving's novel which describes life in an orphanage in Maine far from the rest of the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. Abortions are illegal but people know that St. Cloud's is one of the few safe places they can go to either have the procedure done safely or leave behind the child knowing it will be well cared for. Dr Larch and his nurses will not ask questions beyond what they need to know. The accuracy of Irving's descriptions of the place, the procedures, the instruments, the options are informed by Irving's grandfather having been a Harvard Medical School graduate and the model for Dr Larch. Beyond caring for the woman Dr Larch cares for their offspring, helping them get adopted, reading Dickens to them every night, showing King Kong every week and as he turns out the light telling them "Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England" - a classic line. It's a warm and supporting environment. Dr Larch, a bachelor, does have one vice, he is addicted to ether, a not uncommon addiction of physicians at that time.

Once Dr Larch realizes Homer will not be adopted be decides to make Homer his protégé teaching him everything he needs to know to eventually replace Dr Larch. As he explains to Homer, if you're going to stay you're going to have to find a way to be useful. He gives Homer a copy of Grey's Anatomy which Homer reads thoroughly. Eventually the problem is that Homer decides he cannot do abortions as that is killing a soul. He decides he is not going to become a doctor even though he has developed all the skills needed to become an excellent surgeon. Dr Larch pushes back aggressively having Homer face the result of an unsafe abortion which has put the woman beyond where anyone can save her. An opportunity appears when a rich couple comes to St Cloud's seeking an abortion. Homer convinces them to take him back to the young man's orchard near the coast of Maine. Dr Larch reluctantly allows Homer to go with them knowing full well this will be for more than a brief visit.

A close friendship develops between Homer and Wally and Wally's fiancée Candy. WW II intervenes. Wally enlists and volunteers to fly bombers in the dangerous Burma Run. In Wally's absence Candy and Homer's relationship becomes intimate with each finally admitting that they love each other and Wally as well. Wally's plane is shot down and he's missing in action for months. Candy becomes pregnant and they head to the orphanage . They return to orchard with Homer bringing back a boy he has adopted, a story they maintain for many years. Wally returns paralyzed from the waist down but Candy decides to honor her pledge to marry him when he returned. Homer and Candy maintain their relationship with secret meetings. Star crossed lovers? Definitely a very tangled web.

Meanwhile a third storyline percolates. Melony, the girl Homer left behind in the orphanage stalks Homer across Maine unsuccessfully. She is very strong, has definite anger management issues, and is honest to a fault. She's going to tell you exactly what she thinks regardless of the consequences. She is determined to confront Homer with the promise they made to each other that when either left the orphanage they would take the other with them. She feels abandoned by him. How that gets resolved is constantly hanging over Homer. It increases the dramatic tension. We're always wondering will this be the point where the confrontation takes place.
And since this is John Irving there's yet another storyline to heighten the mix. The apple orchard needs migrant workers to harvest the apples. Our sympathies immediately go out to these Black marginalized workers. They live in a less than adequate bunk house which has the owners "rules" tacked to the wall. Homer is comfortable living by communal rules and is surprised to see all the rules seem to be ignored. Mr. Rose, leader of the migrants explains, in here we make the rules. His dominance is reinforced by his subtle but considerable skills with a knife. Homer lives in Wally's room at night but learns apple picking and cider making from Mr. Rose during the day. This symbiotic relationship persists for fifteen years but when Mr. Rose's daughter, Rose Rose, appears with the rest of the crew she appears to be pregnant. Candy finally gets Rose Rose to reveal the child is the result of incest with Mr. Rose. Homer realizes he has the skills to deal with this safely and overcomes his long standing avoidance of the issue. The abortion goes well but Rose Rose disappears almost immediately and Homer learns she's knifed Mr. Rose. In a strange turn Mr. Rose exacts a promise from Homer and the migrants to adopt the story that Mr. Rose has killed himself and no one is to mention his daughter's role.

And since this is John Irving there's yet another storyline to heighten the mix. The apple orchard needs migrant workers to harvest the apples. Our sympathies immediately go out to these Black marginalized workers. They live in a less than adequate bunk house which has the owners "rules" tacked to the wall. Homer is comfortable living by communal rules and is surprised to see all the rules seem to be ignored. Mr. Rose, leader of the migrants explains, in here we make the rules. His dominance is reinforced by his subtle but considerable skills with a knife. Homer lives in Wally's room at night but learns apple picking and cider making from Mr. Rose during the day. This symbiotic relationship persists for fifteen years but when Mr. Rose's daughter, Rose Rose, appears with the rest of the crew she appears to be pregnant. Candy finally gets Rose Rose to reveal the child is the result of incest with Mr. Rose. Homer realizes he has the skills to deal with this safely and overcomes his long standing avoidance of the issue. The abortion goes well but Rose Rose disappears almost immediately and Homer learns she's knifed Mr. Rose. In a strange turn Mr. Rose exacts a promise from Homer and the migrants to adopt the story that Mr. Rose has killed himself and no one is to mention his daughter's role.

The die is now cast. Homer receives word that Dr Larch has died of an accidental ether overdose. Before he died Dr Larch created a false persona, Dr Fuzzy Stone and convinced the board he objects to Dr Stone's views clearing the way for them to want Dr Stone to be Dr Larch's replacement. Dr Larch hopes Homer will assume the role. Just one of the many ways Dr Larch does the right thing by telling some small lies. Homer returns to St Cloud's where he was always meant to be. It's a safer place than the world out there.

After reading the book I found a Blue Ray copy of the movie at my local library. The movie was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It won two major awards, Michael Caine, Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr Larch and John Irving for Best Adaption. The cast included a stellar set of actors who went on to long and distinguished careers including Toby McGuire, Charlize Theron, Paul Rudd, Kathy Bates, J.K. Skilling, Kieran Culkin, Delroy Lindo, etc. It was directed by Lasse Hallstrom.

The Blue Ray features a commentary by Hallstrom and Irving. We learn many decisions they had to make to turn a 600 page book into a 2 hour movie. By far the most important was to shorten the time frame from fifteen years to less than 2 years. The decision by Irving, drove many other changes. Irving also eliminated several substories which others often wanted put back in such as Homer's failed adoptions which left him a permanent St Cloud's resident. Candy and Homer's son did not fit the shortened time frame and the love triangle needed less attention. To speed up Wally's becoming a pilot he now shows up in uniform at St Cloud's for Candy's abortion. Melony is almost entirely eliminated. And Homer moves in to Cider House with the migrants rather than in to Wally's room, accelerating his interactions with Mr. Rose who no longer has a pacifier and now can't read and comes across much less threatening than in the book. Somehow Delroy Lindo turns the villain into a sympathetic figure, quite an accomplishment. We also learn that Irving found some advantages to shortening the time frame. It meant when Homer returns to St Cloud's at the end he no longer has to assume the false persona of Dr Stone, he can still be Homer and best of all the orphans he had left behind are still there and can give him a hero's welcome including some enticing looks between Melony and Homer.

Both the book and the movie are well worth reading and seeing, and l recommend listening to the commentary. While this review has been long there's definitely much more. Both are rich and worth your time. ( )
  Ed_Schneider | Aug 7, 2023 |
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-cider-house-rules-by-john-irving/

A long but tremendous book, set mainly in an orphanage in Maine before, during and after the second world war. Dr Larch, the head of the orphanage, is also an abortionist and helps women from all over the community to end unwanted pregnancies. His protégé, Homer Wells, makes friends with coastal orchard kids Wally and Cindy and leaves the orphanage. We know that he will come back in the end but the journey is beautifully told and heart-breaking. ( )
  nwhyte | Jul 28, 2023 |
What a pleasure it was to read The Cider House Rules. I’m smiling as I look back on it.
The cider house rules, it turns out, are rules that are perfectly sensible in the abstract, but that have to be applied in a context where it may not be sensible to follow them – or at least, where people don’t follow them because they are too troublesome. This is the paradigm that shapes the key conflicts in the story – people who don’t want to do abortions but find that many women have a real need for an abortion. Surprisingly, for a story about abortion, orphans and repressed love, the story is great fun to read. It’s full of humour, delightful characters, imaginative situations and a plot that keeps moving and shifting so that although the overall story arc seems pre-ordained, a reader never knows what to expect.
The story’s protagonist, Homer Wells – like several of Dickens’ protagonists – seems quietly passive a lot of the time, letting things happen to him while others around him are driving the action of the plot. He’s attracted to Melony, who is charismatic in a negative way, but he lets her define their relationship initially. Even his ultimate fate is set up by others and after some resistance he finally decides to accept it. However, he does make the decisions that he has to at key points – to stand by his principles, and to re-evaluate them when he has to. Homer chooses to pursue his love even though it leads to unhappy compromises. It seems to me that this is how most of us get by, doing the best we can as long as we can, and adapting when we find that our thinking no longer matches our reality. Is this why the protagonist is named Homer? He’s adrift through his life, facing extraordinary challenges until he finally makes it home?
Dr Larch is another interesting character. A father figure to Homer, he is driven and rigidly committed to his objectives. He cares deeply for Homer, and recognizes that Homer will have to break away from him to make his own choices. But Dr Larch is a very thoughtful and kind man, both to the women that he provides medical services to and to the orphans in the St. Cloud’s home. His nightly reading of Dickens novels to the children, and his good-night to the boys – “Good night, you princes of Maine, you Kings of New England” – offers them a sense of pride and a future. His distressing early history sets a path for his life that is almost saintly in its selflessness and commitment, in spite of his addiction to mind-altering ether. So it’s appropriate that he lives in St. Cloud’s.
As I write this, I think that there’s a parallel to Greek drama as much as there is to Dickens’ novels. The characters struggle with morality and fate and with their own personal flaws. They have to made decisions where the choices are complex and the outcomes are unclear. They face the fundamental situations of human life: birth and death, love and longing, and ultimately the search for meaning. While telling the tale, Irving comments on their situation as a Greek chorus might. (His frequent asides about the lives and longings of orphans seem a bit questionable at times, while they show a compassionate way of thinking about people who face emotional and material challenges.) But of course Irving rolls out this story with humour and a lightness that has a very different tone from Greek drama.
I loved the big, complex plot line and Irving’s descriptions of rural Maine. I’m sure I’ll look back on the characters and the story with pleasure for some time. Although the debates around abortion will move on (I hope), Irving’s exploration of how the characters deal with life questions will remain relevant for the future. ( )
  rab1953 | Jul 21, 2023 |
(7.5) Well I found this a long slog. This book has been described as polemic and I would have to agree. I suspect it has become a banned book recently in certain American states with its strong emphasis on abortion, although he does provide a certain amount of balance with his two main characters taking opposing stances. It is long, with much detail on the different lives of the orphans and supporting characters and digressions into medical matters.
I did find the author's notes helpful and it made me appreciate the research that he had had to do. ( )
  HelenBaker | Jun 22, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 142 (next | show all)
For ''The Cider House Rules'' has greater force and integrity than either of its two immediate predecessors. It's funny and absorbing, and it makes clever use of the plot's seeming predictability.
 

» Add other authors (8 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Irving, Johnprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Paolini, Pier FrancescoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rikman, KristiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
"Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last." ~ charlotte bronte (1847)
"For practical purposes abortion may be defined as the interruption of gestation before viability of the child." ~ h.j. boldt, m.d. (1906)
Dedication
For David Calicchio
First words
In the hospital of the orphanage--the boys' division at St Cloud's, Maine--two nurses were in charge of naming the new babies and checking that their little penises were healing from the obligatory circumcision.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. HTML:

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

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.

"Entertaining and affecting . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity." - San Diego Union

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

.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
The Cider House Rules is set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud's, ether addict and abortionist. This is also the story of Dr. Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.
Homer Wells is shown growing up in an orphanage where he spends his childhood trying to be "of use" as a medical assistant to director Dr. Wilbur Larch, whose history is told in flashbacks: After a traumatic misadventure with a prostitute as a young man, Wilbur turns his back on sex and love, choosing instead to help women with unwanted pregnancies give birth and then keeping the babies in an orphanage.

He makes a point of maintaining an emotional distance from the orphans, so that they can more easily make the transition into an adoptive family, but when it becomes clear that Homer is going to spend his childhood at the orphanage, Wilbur trains the orphan as an obstetrician and comes to love him like a son.

Wilbur's and Homer's lives are complicated by the abortions Wilbur provides. Wilbur came to this work reluctantly, but is driven by having seen the horrors of back-alley operations. Homer, upon learning Wilbur's secret, considers it morally wrong.

As a young man, Homer befriends a young couple, Candy Kendall and Wally Worthington, who come to St. Cloud's for an abortion. Homer leaves the orphanage, and returns with them to Wally's family's orchard in Heart's Rock, near the Maine coast. Wally and Homer become best friends and Homer develops a secret love for Candy. Wally goes off to serve in the Second World War and his plane is shot down over Burma. He is declared missing by the military, but Homer and Candy both believe he is dead and move on with their lives, which includes beginning a romantic relationship. When Candy becomes pregnant, they go back to St. Cloud's Orphanage, where their son is born and named Angel.

Subsequently, Wally is found in Burma and returns home, paralyzed from the waist down. He is still able to have sexual intercourse but is sterile due to an infection caught in Burma. Homer and Candy lie to the family about Angel's parentage, claiming that Homer had adopted him. Wally and Candy marry shortly afterward, but Candy and Homer maintain a secret affair that lasts some 15 years.
Many years later, teenaged Angel falls in love with Rose, the daughter of the head migrant worker at the apple orchard. Rose becomes pregnant by her father, and Homer aborts her fetus. Homer decides to return to the orphanage after Wilbur's death, to work as the new director. Though he maintains his distaste for abortions, he continues Dr. Larch's legacy of honoring the choice of his patients, and he dreams of the day when abortions are free, legal, and safe, so he'll no longer feel obliged to offer them.

The name "The Cider House Rules" refers to the list of rules that migrant workers are supposed to follow at the Ocean View Orchards. However, none of them can read, and they are completely unaware of the rules – which have been posted for years.

A subplot follows the character Melony, who grew up alongside Homer in the orphanage. She was Homer's first girlfriend. After Homer leaves the orphanage, so does she in an effort to find him. She eventually becomes an electrician and takes a female lover, Lorna. Melony is stoic, who refuses to press charges against a man who brutally broke her nose and arm. She intends to later take revenge. She is the catalyst that transforms Homer from his comfortable, but not entirely admirable position, at the apple orchard into Dr. Larch's replacement.
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.07)
0.5 4
1 31
1.5 6
2 106
2.5 18
3 471
3.5 124
4 1234
4.5 133
5 1062

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,234,017 books! | Top bar: Always visible