2022: DNF 1/4
Póki co nie mam do niej serca, a brzmi jak coś co mogę pokochać.

2025: To świetny przykład, że czasami trzeba poczekać, aby to docenić. 4,25/5

I've read this more than once and can say it is my favourite J Irving novel. It has a tapestry of warmth to it.

Well, after two long and somewhat tedious months, I have managed to push myself through to the other side, and I'm ecstatic to say, I have finally finished The Cider House Rules. This was a massive disappointment to say the least, and as always, I'll explain why.This book has many positive and glowing reviews, but for me on a personal level, it did absolutely nothing for my pleasure as a reader, or, my mental health. ( I wanted to desperately give this book away)The Cider House Rules could have ...

How the bigotry, insanity, and inhumanity of institutionalized stigmatization of and hatred against women, especially regarding pregnancy, marriage and the control about bastardization of humans, lead to disgusting world views and practices that were omnipresent just a few decades ago and still are in many parts of the world, is a key element of the novel. Orphanages for kids that could have parents, but are born under the stigma of being illegitimate and thereby the societal death and endless ...

Hey! I just plucked my first John Irving with The Cider House Rules!Something strange happened midway through reading The Cider House Rules, my first John Irving book.* I found myself completely immersed in its world.What’s strange is that for the first couple hundred pages, I didn’t particularly believe in this early 20th century Dickensian fable about orphans, surrogate families, an ether-addicted abortionist and the arbitrariness of some rules. But Irving’s storytelling skills eventually won ...

The Cider House Rules is a heartfelt novel… And it is full of empathy…Orphans… Children without parents… They must grow up too… Similar to other children…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.This way their life in the institution began… They grew up and their independent adult life started… So it was with the hero of the ...

I read this book a long time ago (more than 20 years), but today seems like a good day to review it. It was published in 1985 and starts in the 1940s.It's a long, complicated, literary novel that tackles the issue of abortion and also racism."Good night, you princes of Maine, you kings of New England." That's how the elderly Dr Larch says goodnight to his collection of orphans.Larch is an abortionist who took to the task after seeing the suffering of prostitutes forced to seek unqualified help i...

While The Cider House Rules is an undeniably well-written novel, I grew impatient with the lengthy narrative and the idle characters. It was hard for me to feel any sense of connection to the different characters, and I cared very little about Homer's life at Ocean View - I was always anxious to get back to St. Cloud's and the orphanage. For me, the real story was about the relationship between Dr. Larch and Homer Wells, and I lost interest in the story once Larch and Homer ceased to communicate...

I shouldn't be throwing semicolons around too often; and yet, after reading Irving, what do I find myself doing? semicolon, semicolon, SEMICOLON ; ; ; ; I'm not winking at you; those are semicolons.. now you know what I mean. Irving affects me in many ways -- the semicolons are just one example. (And yes, I know I'm probably not using them correctly -- you don't have to point that out. You really don't.) More than a week after finishing, The Cider House Rules, it's still on my mind, still sneaki...

I just finished reading this novel, and it is so phenominal that I'm almost speechless, and I'm sad that it is over. The story is engrossing, rich, moving, tragic, and satisfying, and the imagery is extraordinarily powerful. The plot takes place during the first half of the 1900's in rural Maine, and tells of Dr. Larch, an obstetrician, founder of an orphanage, abortionist, and ether addict, and his favorite orphan, and heroic figure, Homer Wells. Irving develops the characters superbly, such th...