The Cider House Rules
John Irving
Reviewed by: Erin W. Date: 10 February 2003
John Irving is notorious for writing obnoxiously long novels, and this is one of them. But don't let that deter you from reading this book. The protagonist, Homer Wells, never worked his way into my favor, but one of my favorite literary characters lives in this novel: Dr. Larch. While I greatly enjoyed The Cider House Rules, it seemed like it took me forever to read. I think I can chalk that up in part to my eagerness to watch the movie, which I was determined to postpone until after reading the book. (The movie, by the way, is good if you haven't read the book, but I wouldn't recommend watching it after reading the novel. There is no comparison, although Michael Caine is great as Dr. Larch.) If you don't like long, verbose novels, you'll probably get bored reading this, but if you can hold out until the end, it's very rewarding.
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