Not a crime novel at all. I started this book thinking it was another one of those much appraised courtroom crime novels that've made Grisham rich and famous but no- it is a simple yet an effective book about the paradox of human choices and relationships, not only amongst themselves but with each other in a society too. I read somewhere that after having written so many courtroom thriller, it was only natural for Grisham to want to write something with no juries or trials or nagging conspiracy issues. This was his first attempt and I cannot say I'm disappointed. There were all kinds of wrong-doings in the book but not all criminal. A murder or two did take place but unlike his other works there wasn't a trial here.The book is about a poor farming family living in the little town of Black Oak, Jonesboro, Arkansas, where the author happens to have been born. It is the picking season and they are looking for Mexicans and "hillbillies" to work their farm. Luke, a smart 7-year old kid, goes out with him Pappy, grandfather, to pick them. It was almost a good crop but as it turns out, "the land is as unforgiving as it's people". The harvest and the good weather did not end long and in the one and a half month of it's longevity, their lives changed in ways they couldn't have imagined all those days ago. Luke was a simple, good Baptist boy who prayed like one and believed in sin. He was a smart kid in the sense that he could understand all that was going around him whether or not he was supposed to. Sometimes a little too much for his own good. The story goes on smoothly with no particularly important event unless one Saturday on a 'ritual' trip to town a beating takes place that ultimately results in a death and then after a while another gutting that no one has any clue about but the Little Luke.Sometimes you cannot help but feel sorry for the poor boy. He's seen more than even a little farmer boy from a small town with all sorts of people, was supposed to have seen. And he's forced to keep them all a secret. You feel sorry for the poor boy because you know the mental state all this "knowing the things he shouldn't" have put him in and yet he's burdened with more secrets to keep as the days go by. He longs for a companion since he was an only child and his only friend, his uncle Ricky, was away fighting the War in Korea. By the time it all ends, or gradually draw towards it, he feels he's had enough and cannot hold it in any longer when he starts unraveling some of them one by one to either his mom or Pappy. You're both happy and sad for Luke who's both happy and sad to be going away to a better city with a better future but at the same time away from his grandparents and the house he's never spent a night away from. It's amazing how the small little town of Black Oak constitutes for most of what the world really is to him. He's also kinda funny! He's a bit too curious for his own good sometimes. He's burdened with responsibilities from an early age but it's refreshing to watch him indulge in little mischief that a boy of coming age is more than often expected to get himself in. Not only was it a murder that he'd seen, he'd also sneaked around to see the birth of an illegitimate child and then explaining his mother how it wasn't his idea at all.His mother is a feel-good character in the sense he portrays a "ray of hope" that Luke ever has in the form of a real future.The book portrays quite many human emotions and reveals a lot about our relationships. It borderlines on the topic of paradox of human choices but does not go very deep. Grisham is believed to be as good a storyteller as US has in the recent times and I do not beg to differ. As good as his legal thrillers are, this book has been written with equal brilliance and his style is just as easily distinguished. Even though the story of a simple farmer boy with dreams of playing for the Cardinals when he grows up, the book never just drags on. The choice of words is interesting (specially where he tells us that his hometown Black Oak, "was too small to be divided''-- an interesting phrase to choose!) and keeps you turning pages after pages. When you've finished the entire book, it's then that you realize how touching the title actually is. It touches you because you realize the value the not so big now a little less than entirely-painted house- holds to Luke. He might've been coy in completing the task but he's took great pride in it for it was the first time in 50 years that their house was painted. And he did it. Although the project was started by someone else but it ultimately fell on his shoulders to complete the project and it was an achievement of remark that he was almost able to finish it all. When you look at it that way, the title falls in line perfectly with the essence of the story.
I... I really don't want to finish the book. I'm about 2/3rd of the way through and I'm forcing myself to turn page after page so I thought I might as well write a review and just put the book down. I think someone read 'Angela's Ashes' and got jealous of the prize it won. haha... just joking...A Painted House was not a memoir like Angela's Ashes but it portrayed the picture of a 1952 Autumn in Arkansas very well. Not surprising as John Grisham was born in the same state a few years later. From time to time, the boy who was 7 seemed like he was supposed to be at least 13, showing interest in naked women and being treated much like a teenager than a young boy at the farm. That's a very minor thing though and I had no problem with those.Through out the book, I was pretty much on an everlasting search for the plot. I have no idea why the introduction at the back made it sound like there was going to be one. The one event that really happened was insignificant as much as the nostril of Mona Lisa and then from time to time it seemed as though the author was trying to point out this nostril as a really significant part by reminding us of its importance.. But strangely, I lost interest in things very quickly. I didn't care whether Libby was pregnant or not (I don't like gossip in real life either). I didn't care whether Hank was arrested or not. It just wasn't so engaging.Explanations of daily life at the farm was interesting at first, but it got boring and a little bit repetitive after a while. I grew up reading books like To Kill a Mocking Bird or The Color Purple for English classes and I guess I've just sorta, seen bits and pieces of it before. It's just like, "Yeah I get the boy likes baseball, but do you have to remind the readers about what happened in all the games he listens to?" In fact, not a lot of books get away with just a painted background and no story.Anyways, I think if you're new to style of writing, I think you'll enjoy it. I don't think it was my type of book though.
What do You think about A Painted House (2004)?
Such a well-written, engaging book. As the back cover suggests, A Painted House reminded me of books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn. A boy from Arkansas (who loves the Cardinals and baseball and dreams of moving to St. Louis, all pluses in my book) grows up living the hard life on a cotton farm in the 50s. The book paints a vivid picture of what that common life might be like, with coming of age stories, family drama, and interpersonal conflicts, all while throwing in the less common intrigues of murders and a natural disaster. The relationships between ethnic groups, the role of the church, the pace of a 50s farm life, the ties of family, the importance of the paint on your house and its contrast to disasters, and finally the ambiguity of realized dreams... all highlights from a worthy one day read of 480 pages.I'd never read a Grisham book before, but when I realized he wrote books that didn't involve lawyers, I decided to check this one out. Not disappointed. One of my favorite reads of the year.
—Johnny
This was my first book read by John Grisham and still is one of my all time favorites!!! I listed to the audio version of the book.It is full of suspense, drama and humor and there is not a lawyer in site. Written from the viewpoint of 7yr old Luke who is the Chandler family's son, the book covers a season of cotton picking along with all of the details and drama the cotton farmer experiences as a result of mother nature. The family hires a crew of Mexicans and "hill people" to pick the cotton for the season alongside of Luke. Luke is witness to a serious of events between the Mexicans and hill people that will leave you reeling for more, honestly I know why there is not a sequel to this book because I don't really think you can top the drama that occurred on the farm.The Chandler family struggles to get the cotton picked before the storms come which will wipe out the crops ... in the meantime, Luke convinces his father to purchase paint for the farmhouse (even though they cannot afford it) and the Mexicans agree to help paint the house.
—Patsy
John Grisham's novel A Painted House met with mixed reviews when it was first published in 2000. Many derided his pacing, one of the work's greatest strengths. And some thought he was in over his head after fleeing the safe harbour of the legal thriller that he had come to dominate.I really like the book. Told in the first-person through the eyes of seven-year-old Luke Chandler, A Painted House chronicles three generations of cotton farmers and their trials in Arkansas in the 1950s. The story is as much about the transition between eras--an agricultural economy toward a commodities-based economy--as it is about the brutal murder that stands as the story's central conflict. I classify this book as a literary novel, and Grisham is right at home here in taking his time to really describe life in rural Arkansas. The major difference in this project and, say, A Time to Kill (a classic, in my estimation) is the different ratios of expository writing. In ATtK, Grisham sends the plot down the chute at break-neck speed. Here he can indulge in some very engaging characterization (I love the family patriarch, Eli Chandler) and really focus on the tedious, risky prospect of relying on a crop to remain afloat. Farm life is depicted with care and reverence and the audience's emotions rise and fall with the Chandlers as elements outside of their control--namely weather and work ethic--impact their ability to harvest the cotton.I think Grisham doesn't get enough credit as a stylist, and if you haven't looked at A Painted House I think you should. I finished J.G. Ballard's The High Rise last night and it was also good--though the second act had some major flaws. Fans of dystopic science fiction will no doubt devour Ballard's caustic appraisal of social class in exurban London...
—Daniel Powell
