I read so much that I think that sometimes it takes an awful lot to impress me. I love a lot of books, but very few stick with me in a way that they run through my mind after I have finished reading them. However, The Cider House Rules absolutely took my breath away. I borrowed it from a friend who loves John Irving. I thought that I had never heard of him before and she swore to me that I had to read some of his work because I would absolutely love him. When I received the book and started examining it, I realized that previously I had read his novel The World According to Garp and had really enjoyed it. This discovery amplified my excitement and helped to placate my concerns about trying out and unknown author.
However, upon beginning to read I got a lot more excited for a very different reason. The Cider House Rules is simply amazing. The story follows a young, orphan by the name of Homer Wells through his life. It also follows the people close to him including the director of the orphanage, Dr. Larch and his childhood friend, Melony. Irving takes great pains to keep these characters important throughout the story, because they are important to Homer Wells and he is important to them.
Aside from being a story, The Cider House Rules is largely a novel about abortion. It takes place in a time when abortion was illegal and many women were obtaining them illegally. Dr. Larch, being the director of an orphanage and the man who delivers most of the orphans sees some of the worst cases of this and makes the decision to become an abortionist. As time goes on, Dr. Larch continually finds himself evaluating his decision to perform abortions as well as defending himself to his associates. The Cider House Rules is about that decision and how personal it is for both the people obtaining them and the people performing them.
The abortion aspect of the story is one of my favorite aspects. Being pro-choice myself, I feel that John Irving has created a wonderful defense for the procedure. He also manages to do it in a rational and non-offensive manner which, let's face it, is hard to come by nowadays in the media. I also enjoy the fact that he takes us through the entire life of Homer Wells without leaving any loose ends and without losing momentum. Homer could never be describes as a character who has adventures and yet his life is still interesting and remarkable from start to finish.
I would definitely recommend this book to any and everyone. I don't think it is light reading, however, and if you are not the type to take interest in heavier, more somber reading materials then it definitely would not be a good fit. I definitely think that every pro-lifer in the world should read it. It's an all around amazing book. It is interesting from start to finish, has a purpose and a meaning, and it is a well written literary work. It's a great book and I think you all should check it out.
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I agree that the movie Cider House Rules is about both a doctor and a young mentoree who eventually learns to do abortions as I recall as well as harvest apples for the making of apple cider....it is a beautiful film of hope and freedom while examining many pitfalls & relationships of several characters....I've always said: "every child a wanted child"....and no woman should ever be forced to stay pregnant.....I recommend many other films in this realm: VERA DRAKE, CITIZEN RUTH, Story Of Women (French with English subtitles of last woman ever killed by guillotine 1943) but also know your enemy, religious fanatics are spreading vicious lies against Doctors & women, which has lead to the death of 9 doctors, dozens of other people, nearly one hundred bombings with as many non-fatal injuries, thousands of acts of vandalism...I call the perpetrators tampon terrorists, they are much like the KKK, instead of wearing white hoods, they wear surgical gowns...if patients or their companions are African American, these evil people of "faith" shout: "abortion is black genocide" and of course insanely compare one inch embryonic things to millions of stacked up dead Jewish bodies in their signs & photos ....never do this papists & baptists admit that over one half million women die each year without life saving abortions, millions more die of disease without disease & pregnancy preventing condoms, the Nazi Pimp Pope and his predecessors have prevented United Nations distribution of condoms & birth control services for decades....George Carlin said it best: "they want live embryos to grow up to be dead soldiers" as they are not pro-life, they are pro-slavery & pro-war 843-926-1750 headed off to the clinic in 2 hours on Roe v Wade weekend, in my 5th year of Volunteer Bodyguards here in Charleston, SC
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