“I didn’t realize until I was already pretty far into the book that it wasn’t going to resemble the movie very much. The book and the movie are distant cousins with the same theme and some of the same characters. I think to even call the movie an “adaptation” of the book would overstate the similarities.
The book follows Homer Wells, a Maine orphan trained in obstetrics by the saintly Doctor Larch, as he makes mistakes, lives with the consequences, and eventually finds out where he belongs in life. Another orphan, Melony, plays prominently in the story. To me, Melony was much more compelling than Homer.
Even though I loved the character of Melony, The Cider House Rules actually rambled too much for me. It isn’t a tight storyline going from point A to point B (in fact, some of the most interesting stories are digressions from the Homer storyline, such as Wally’s storyline), but more of a scenic character-driven ride through the Maine seacoast.
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Peach wrote this review Friday, January 13, 2012.
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