Book Review: Cider House Rules by John Irving

From Life According to Garp to A Prayer for Owen Meany, I've loved John Irving's twisted sense of the world. And so it was only a matter of time until I meet and fell in love with Homer Wells (the protagonist of The Cider House Rules). 

Publishing date:  December 1993
Published by:  The Ballantine Publishing Group (an imprint of Random House)

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My attempt to summarize the plot:  Boy is born in orphanage. Boy tries to be adopted -- fails three times. Boy finally leaves orphanage. Boy returns to orphanage.

Homer Wells, twenty-one, breathing in the steam from the hot tea; was waiting for his life to begin (p. 303)

My attempt to summarize what this book is about:  In one word -- waiting. The orphans are waiting to be adopted. Homer is waiting to begin his life. Wally is waiting for the war to start. Dr. Larch is waiting to see what the new board will do to the orphanage. The fruit pickers are waiting to pick apples. Candy is waiting to see if she will become Wally's bride or...

Yet it's so much more. It's a 'big idea' book...

Dr. Larch about Nurse Caroline...

He had heard her say, so many times, that a society that approved of making abortion illegal was a society that approved of violence against women... He had heard her say so many times, that abortions were not only a personal freedom of choice but also a responsibility of the state--to provide them. (p. 473)

Dr. Larch...

Always, in the background of his mind, there was a newborn baby crying... And they were not crying to be born, he knew; the were crying because they were born.

Why The Cider House Rules? What does this book have to say about rules?...

Homer:    "Some rules are good rules... But some rules are just rules. You just got to break them carefully." (p. 467)

Dr. Larch:  "I have no quarrel with anyone at prayer... It's when you start making rules." (p. 472)

Nurse Caroline:  "It's because even a good man can't always be right that we need a society, that we need certain rules -- call them priorities." (p. 473) 

Bottom line:  The Cider House Rules is a feel good book. And in my books, that makes it a perfect December read.

More...

On Tuesday evening December 1st, I, like all the other members of the audience, rested comfortably in palm of Mr. Irving's hand. He charmed us; he enlightened us; he made us laugh; he made us think. What was of most interest to me was what he said about how he writes. Here's what I heard...
-his books are ending driven. He doesn't begin a project until he has written the ending and several sentences leading up to it.
-he writes with his audience in mind; he believes in characters; he believes in plot.
-momentum for the story comes from his interest in creating challenges for his characters
-he wants to create characters that his readers will fall in like/love with and worry about.
-his writing is influenced by very old sources -- Shakespeare and 19th century novels
-he always writes about what he fears will happen
-he didn't become a full-time author until his fourth novel.
He asked us, "What type of practice does a doctor or lawyer have if they only practice two hours a day?"
By the time he wrote Cider House Rules (his 6th novel), he had learnt how to write 8 hours a day/seven days a week. He said that the key to writing a well-crafted book is to write slowly.

Next post:  Christa got an education when she submitted her story to a publisher. Now she has some advice for you.

Sharing my author journey...

Me:  Last week, I was thrilled to receive a rejection letter.
You:  You were what? Thrilled? Why?
Me:  I'll explain...

Book review: Annabel by Kathleen Winter

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Back cover blurb:  In 1968, into the beautiful, spare, environment of remote coastal Labrador, a mysterious child is born:  a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once.

I jotted down notes as I read. They read as a traveler's journey through the book--Annabel.

Kathleen Winter knows Labrador. Her words paint a vibrant picture not only of the land but also of the people who live there. 
'Anyone from Labrador called vegetables by their name. Cabbage. Turnip. Carrot. No matter how many individual specimens, you spoke of them as one entity. He realized Treadway thought about people in the same way. Men, to him, were all one man.' (p. 121-122)

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' "We will love this baby of yours and Treadway's exactly as it was born."
"Will other people love it?"
"That baby is all right the way it is. There's enough room in this world."
This was how Thomasina saw it, and it was what Jacinta needed to hear.' (p. 26)

'It never once occurred to Treadway to do the thing that lay in the hearts of Jacinta and Thomasina:  to let his baby live the way it had been born. That, in his mind, would not have been a decision. It would have been indecision, and it would have caused harm.' (p. 27)

And between what Thomasina said and in what Treadway thought, there lies the story's conflict. Need one conform to society or can one be uniquely themselves?

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Kathleen Winter has a lot of talent but I think the most striking are her vivid descriptions.

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Kathleen Winter has a lot to say about how males and females differ in eastern, rural Canada--their roles and their underlying believes. 

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In acting to protect his son, Treadway may have lost him preeminently. But he did discover that his biggest fear is a reality--Wayne does dream of being a girl.

***

I'm reminded of something I heard many years ago: to grow to be a man, a son must grow away from his mother.

***

Male--female. It's a toss of a coin, a 50/50 choice. Had the doctor guessed wrong, those many years ago? And if, he had, what now? I've studied group dynamics--formally and informally.  I know that if the group identifies a person as a member, it can overlook variations that wouldn't be tolerated if seen in an outsider. Could this happen to Wayne? Will his community accept him?

***

Thomasina to Wayne
' "I wouldn't call what you have a disorder. I'd call it a different order. A different order means a whole new way of being. It could be fantastic. It could be overwhelmingly beautiful, if people weren't scared." ' (p.208 - 209)

***

Treadway
'If only the world could live in here, deep in the forest, where there were no stores, roads, windows, and doors, no straight lines. The straight lines were the problem. Rules and measurements and lines and no one to help you if you crossed them.' (p. 216)

***

(Page 238 to 242) This is such a heartwarming scene between Wayne and his mother. Wayne seems so understanding about his body--so philosophically together. I hope this continues. 

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Did Wayne graduate from High School? Is he going to live at home for the rest of his life? If he doesn't marry Gracie, who will he marry? Will he marry? Will he marry Wally? Will he ever see Wally again? Will he tell Gracie or Wally his secret? And what about what Thomasina has just told him... Will his parents ever straighten out their differences? Will they get the help they so desperately need?  

***

I'm of two minds over Wayne's decision to leave.  I want him to stay were others can protect him. Yet, in order to grown, Wayne must leave. And I know he is ready. But is the world?

***

The courage and strength Wayne shows in advocating for himself on page 370 is admirable.

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Chapter 27 was a very difficult chapter for me to read. I wanted so badly for Wayne to be protected from this type of treatment but if he had been the authenticity of the story would have been lost.

***

Chapter 29
All it took for Treadway and Jacinta to get back together was Jacinta to be practical and Treadway to remember. They got back together over a pair of men's gardening gloves.

***

Chapter 30 seems like a high wire act. Wayne is up there, high in the sky, on his way from male to female. Will he make it without falling? The wire is so very long and the other end too far away for him to see. How will he know when he has arrived? Will he know? He won't arrive because he will always be drawn to two realities--male, female. Is he stuck or free?

Why is Annabel my Canada Reads choice?

Well, I believe that when we learn to embrace our similarities while respecting each other's differences, Canada will be a much better place.

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Sharing my author journey...

Guest Post Author Alix Ohlin

Alix Ohlin's novel Inside (Knopf) and her story collection Signs and Wonders (Vintage) were both published on June 5, 2012.  She is also the author of The Missing Person, a novel, and Babylon and Other Stories. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Stories, Best New American Voices, and on public radio’s Selected Shorts. Born and raised in Montreal, she currently lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, and teaches at Lafayette College and in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.

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How/why did you start to write?

I started writing as a child.  I grew up in a house full of books, and reading was how I understood the world.  My Grade Two teacher, Grace Tugwell—I used her name in INSIDE, as a tribute—encouraged me to write special assignments outside of class.  I still have some of the things I wrote for her, like an illustrated fable that I stitched into a little book bound with construction paper.

How did you become an author?

After I graduated from university I began writing seriously, and secretly.  I thought I would cultivate my genius in private until I could spring it full-blown on the world with a series of brilliant stories in The New Yorker or something.  Eventually I realized it probably wasn’t going to happen this way, and I went to graduate school in creative writing instead.  There I began to publish my stories in literary magazines, and eventually got a book contract.

What was your first published piece? Where was it published? How long ago?

It was a short story published in Western Humanities Review, a journal in Utah, in 1998.  It was actually part of a whole book-length story cycle, but I only published one story from it.  I still have the acceptance letter framed.

What did you do before embarking on your writing career? Was it an asset to your writing? How?

I worked a variety of jobs, like editorial assistant at a publishing company, temp, freelance writer, bookstore clerk.  I learned early on to make time for my writing around a work schedule, which was helpful discipline.  And working in book publishing and bookstores taught me a lot about the business that helped me as a writer—mainly by making me grateful for the people who devote their lives to those fields.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by art museums, eavesdropping, gossip, family history, strong coffee, and the work of other writers both contemporary and classic.

Please share one of your successful author platform building technique

I don’t think much about platform building, but I do think about participating in communities of writers—both online and in person.  I believe in sharing ideas and offering support.  Maybe the best platform is to be a good literary citizen: be a reader, support independent bookstores and literary journals, be part of the conversation.

Parting words

Just because I’m excited about them, here are some recent books I’ve read and loved: Middlemarch, The Gate by Natsume Soseki, and The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner.

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Leanne Dyck discusses Inside