A Painted House

The story is narrated by seven year-old Luke Chandler, the son of an Arkansas family renting and farming in 1952 Arkansas. To say Luke "grows up" between the covers would be an understatement. Luke tells us a story of cotton pickers that will have you feeling every possible emotion, right along with young Luke. No, there are no slick lawyers or beautiful law students in A PAINTED HOUSE, but there ARE plenty of wonderful characters that come to life on the pages of this Grisham classic. To stay away from this John Grisham novel because it is not "typical" Grisham, would not be giving yourself enough credit for being able to appreciate a great author, and his work, because he is not writing something that is ready-for-the-screen. Trust the man who brought us THE FIRM, THE PELICAN BRIEF and others to keep you entertained in a different genre, to be sure, but entertained and mesmerized nonetheless. Do yourself a favor -- suspend your judgement about "literary fiction" -- and don't miss this one!!


A Painted House   January 28, 2001
Ken Channer (Inverness, Il USA)
105 out of 119 found this review helpful

I have read every one of Grishams books. You could call me a real fan. I read this book in Oxford Magazine, and I found only one fault in it. It was to short. Yes, it is much different than anything else he has written, but so what, it is a great, yes great book. I can't wait until my 15 year old daughter gets time to read it. I see it as a classic for almost any school kid. Told from the view of this 7 year old boy on a poor farm, it had me from page one, and while it was not a great thriller it was a great story that could not have sounded more real. Do yourself a big time favor and don't pass up this wonderfully told story.


A Hard Life Through Young Eyes   May 13, 2001
Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful

As an ex-country boy, now living in the city, A Painted House really struck a chord with me. Farm life is tough. The people who live on farms have to be tougher or they won't survive. I felt John Grisham captured this observation beautifully.

We look at cotton farming in Arkansas in the 1950s during harvest. We experience the many different apprehensions involved with this season. That of hiring hill folk and the Mexicans, what the weather will do, whether the price will be high or low, will the Cardinals have a winning season.

The big strength of this book is the way the characters are brought to life so wonderfully. We experience their joys over simple pleasures such as sitting on the verandah listening to baseball, the loneliness of farm-life, despair of ever finishing harvest, wariness of the strangers employed, intermingled with the acceptance of the life they lead.

Sure it's not what you'd normally expect from a Grisham book and yes, we're not glued to our seats with heart-hammering courtroom drama, but so what? We experience the drama of racing to bring the crop in, the troubles that come from mixing people of different backgrounds together, and life on the land as it was in the 1950s.

I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone who enjoys looking back on simpler times.


Not What You Expect...But Better   February 7, 2001
G. Medina (Racine, WI)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful

I like many people first thought that this book was not going to be a good book. I mean, think about it, Grisham, not writing a Legal Thriller? That's his masterpiece work, why change? But you have to give this book a chance. I went out this morning and bought the book and just finished reading it. This book is definetely a book to add to your John Grisham collection. Even though sometimes it doesn't have same suspense of a legal thriller it has its' own way of manuevering your mind to the extent that you can't put it down. This is another great book by John Grisham!


Good   February 6, 2001
43 out of 48 found this review helpful

A change of pace, but not quite as much as the reviews would have you believe. The tone is not that dissimilar from other Grisham novels, and it is still a thriller (probably the best thriller I've read since Craig Furrnas' THE SHAPE) involving a murder, which is very Grisham. And it takes place in the South. So I recommend it highly.