I had always considered John Grisham a writer of courtroom dramas and not a writer of ‘day-to-day’ life on an Arkansas cotton farm. And neither did I think he could write with a perceptive eye for characterisation and a detail that involves the reader. He does, and he does it well in A Painted House.
I will raise one arm humbly and admit that I have never read a John Grisham novel. The simple reason being that his genre of writing has never interested me, and neither would I have done if this novel were not a freebie.
A Painted House is narrated by Luke, aged 7, whose family has toiled for years on a cotton farm. The farm is neither owned outright by the family or profitable. During the picking season, Luke’s grandfather hires hill people and Mexicans, who are due to remain on the farm until the cotton has been picked or the St. Francis river floods the fields. He in turn hires the Spruill family and a group of Mexicans. Here begins Luke’s summer that will change life on the farm forever…
The novel echoes a plot and narrative similar to the ‘coming of age’ theme in J.D.Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, with the misinterpretation that adults have of children of neither being able to experience nor understand the complications of an adult world. In Grisham’s novel however, there is a good mix of the morbid and a humour that is associated with a small closs-knit town.
Luke’s experiences could in fact be closely linked to the ‘adventure’ found Huckleberry Finn stories. Through his young eyes he sees murders and overhears the adults talking. In turn he has many secrets to keep, but as he finds out, many of the adult characters within the novel, divulge secrets to him. Eventually, as a child Luke has to think like an adult in order to lighten the load of his own burden, but the choice is, which secrets to tell and to whom, and which to withhold. Grisham does this with the suspense that I gather he has gained in his ’courtroom’ novels.
But this isn’t just a serious story of a child growing up in a hard world. The humour within A Painted House counteracts the morbidity of the plot. Black Oak, the town in which the family live nearby has the usual idiosyncrasies that are usually associated with small towns. Pearl, the grocery storeowner has a “calling in life to monitor the movements of the town’s population” and Stick the town’s Deputy, is rumoured to live the life of Riley in an uneventful, Baptist town.
Grisham presents an array of characters that are stereotypes of their ilk, which is probably the only criticism I have of the novel. Grisham’s characterisation does seem to rely heavily on each having to act to type, although this does help with the number of characters that are presented in the novel. In this way Grisham allows for an easy understanding and enjoyment of the plot rather than getting bogged down with the finer details of characterisation. It woks successfully.
As I said earlier, this doesn’t seem to be the usual Grisham novel in plot, but is a delightful and easygoing read, which has probably gained him a larger readership.
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I love this author and I like reading his books ;) bye, dani ;)
james.bridgeman 24.09.2001 17:08
Another cracking op, Nicky, thanks. Welcome to the JB C of T... 80)
free4susan 16.09.2001 13:25
Hi, a friend of mine read this book and was really disappointed that it wasn't a 'typical' John Grisham book. All in all, she didn't think much of it, but perhaps it was her disappointment that influenced her opinion. Susan.
InA Painted House, John Grisham is less concerned with tight plotting and legal ... more
shenanigans than with the roots of that country life which taught him much of what he knows about being human. In the early autumn of 1952, seven-year-old Luke Chandler is ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In A Painted House, John Grisham is less concerned with tight plotting and legal ... more
shenanigans than with the roots of that country life which taught him much of what he knows about being human. In the early autumn of 1952, seven-year-old Luke Chandler is...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In A Painted House, John Grisham is less concerned with tight plotting and legal ... more
shenanigans than with the roots of that country life which taught him much of what he knows about being human. In the early autumn of 1952, seven-year-old Luke Chandler is...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: A story of rural life in Arkansaw in 1950s as through the eyes of a 7 year old Disadvantages: Do not be expecting John Grisham's usual style of writing
Sep 15th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
