Customer Reviews

The Cider House Rules: A Screenplay

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I have been reading some of the reviews of both the movie and this book, and the people who have read the novel all seem to feel that the heart is no longer in the movie. I read the novel, and it is one of my favourite books of all time, and I can safely say that what needed to be kept to keep the story beautiful was kept. True, many of the plotlines and characters are lost, notably Melony... I really missed her... but I think the biggest mistake that a person writing an adapted screenplay can make is to try to keep too much of the story in there. Books are meant to be read over long periods of time, so there are always many storylines happening at once, and many characters. But in a movie, there are two hours, three hours tops. The storyline has to be relatively simple, and the amount of characters has to be very few, or it becomes episodic and jumpy. What cutting out so much of the book allowed John Irving to do was spend more time on what he left in. He could go much more into depth with the storylines and characters that were kept. Imagine trying to jam everything that was in the novel into a two hour movie. You would end up with endless flat characters, and a bunch of even flatter storylines. Which would be a disgrace to the novel. This is not a disgrace. It takes the most important parts, the most important characters, and squeezes them into a much shorter period of time, and makes for a good movie. A great film and and a great novel do not consist of the same things.

"Entertaining and affecting" is how the San Diego Union- Tribune describes The Cider House Rules. "Irving is among the very best story tellers at work today"as described by the Philadelphia Inquirer and that is correct. A native of New Hampshire Irving depicts the scenery of Maine as if he has lived there forever. The story of a young boy falling in love over and over again will have you reading till the very end.
Homer Well, an orphan of St. Cloud's , has a irregular childhood. Since he is the child of St. Cloud's he is forced to be the "older brother". When he leaves he is forced to make a heart breaking decision between the woman he loves and his best friend. Along the way, he encounters people and place he has never see before.
Dr. Larch the "father" of Homer and physician of the orphanage, falls in love with Homer. He loves him like a son and encourages him to take over the orphanage after Larch has passed. Larch has to convince Homer and The Board to allow his to be the primary physician.
The Cider House Rules is a book for everyone. It has romance, action, and end of your seat excitement. It's a true masterpiece.

Oh, how to review this screenplay? While I am thrilled that Irving has finally adapted his own work, and seems very pleased with the result himself, I simply CANNOT bear to let my beloved Cider House Rules go! Where is Melody? Angel? It's impossible for Irving's script to have either the impressive scope or the attention to detail of his novel, and so much has to fall by the wayside in order to suit movie audiences. Sadly, some of what had to go was what kept this story from being sappy and muddled-- we're left now with a somewhat ambiguous discussion on abortion (a subject painted in clear black and white in the novel) and a LOT of exposition omitted or given half their due (as in Homer's continued returns to the orphanage). The characters are forced to be one-dimensional (Candy especially) and consolidated (Homer and Angel, various orphans).

I really do applaud Irving's effort, but I hoped for more from a man who seems so particular about his work. Stupid Hollywood.

John Irving's 'The Cider House Rules: A Screenplay', is not only very enjoying to read, but masterfully written. It opens the heart of an old doctor, and a young boy and shows what life does to those hearts. The characters are equally enjoyable, amusing, and touching as well. It's hard to explain such a delight of a book with mere words. Read it for yourself. I highly recommend it! "Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England."

I enjoyed reading this book and enjoyed it every bit as much as the movie. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested, even if you haven't seen the movie.

I didn't read this book but I was enchanted by the movie. However I am going to buy the screenplay and devour this poverful story again. I would recommend it to everybody who is trying to relax and find another beautiful thing to do.