Having grown up in a small rural farming community, I found John Grisham’s, A Painted House, a nostalgic look back to a time when honesty, trust, hard work, and neighbor caring for neighbor was the norm. The year is 1952, harvest season, and the tenant Chandler family hires migrant workers from Mexico and the Spruel family from the hills of Arkansas to live on the farm and help with the backbreaking work of picking 80 acres of cotton. As the season progresses, the lives of these 3 culturally different groups become entwined and tension grown and eventually explodes. However, the underlying theme of utter poverty is the common thread understood by all. The story is observed through the eyes of 7 year old Luke Chandler..though 10 or 00 would have been a more appropriate age for him..as he tries to understand the complicated circumstances of all that is going on around him. Grisham’s compelling imagery in his descriptions of the setting, characters, and dialog was so well done I felt like I was there witnessing the unfolding of events through Luke’s eyes. I was there picking rows and rows of cotton in the blistering sun. I looked forward to the highlights of the week which was a trip into the small town of Black Oak, where everybody know everybody (not unlike Spring Bay). I saw the unpainted house in the bottom lands with the garden on the east and cotton to the west. I played baseball in the dirt with the hired workers and smelled the tortillas cooking near the barn. I heard the sounds of the river and the thunder in the distance. I smelled the rain and experienced the fear and devastation as the swollen, increasingly rising river threatened to destroy all hope of harvesting the unpicked cotton..all hope of even breaking even with this year’s crop. This is a book for reflection. Many of the descriptive images Grisham brings to live will remain with the reader long after reading A PAINTED HOUSE. It was a good story and well told. Therefore, one our scale of 1-5, I rate this book a 5
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A Painted House by John Grisham
Having grown up in a small rural farming community, I found John Grisham’s, A Painted House, a nostalgic look back to a time when honesty, trust, hard work, and neighbor caring for neighbor was the norm.
The year is 1952, harvest season, and the tenant Chandler family hires migrant workers from Mexico and the Spruel family from the hills of Arkansas to live on the farm and help with the backbreaking work of picking 80 acres of cotton. As the season progresses, the lives of these 3 culturally different groups become entwined and tension grown and eventually explodes. However, the underlying theme of utter poverty is the common thread understood by all.
The story is observed through the eyes of 7 year old Luke Chandler..though 10 or 00 would have been a more appropriate age for him..as he tries to understand the complicated circumstances of all that is going on around him. Grisham’s compelling imagery in his descriptions of the setting, characters, and dialog was so well done I felt like I was there witnessing the unfolding of events through Luke’s eyes.
I was there picking rows and rows of cotton in the blistering sun. I looked forward to the highlights of the week which was a trip into the small town of Black Oak, where everybody know everybody (not unlike Spring Bay). I saw the unpainted house in the bottom lands with the garden on the east and cotton to the west. I played baseball in the dirt with the hired workers and smelled the tortillas cooking near the barn. I heard the sounds of the river and the thunder in the distance. I smelled the rain and experienced the fear and devastation as the swollen, increasingly rising river threatened to destroy all hope of harvesting the unpicked cotton..all hope of even breaking even with this year’s crop.
This is a book for reflection. Many of the descriptive images Grisham brings to live will remain with the reader long after reading A PAINTED HOUSE. It was a good story and well told. Therefore, one our scale of 1-5, I rate this book a 5
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