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Revision as of 16:23, 9 May 2010 by 71.61.197.9 (talk) (→Plot)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the film adapted from the novel, see The Cider House Rules (film). First edition cover | |
| Author | John Irving |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
| Publication date | 1985 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 068803036X Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| OCLC | 11533062 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 19 |
| LC Class | PS3559.R8 C5 1985 |
| Preceded by | The Hotel New Hampshire |
| Followed by | A Prayer for Owen Meany |
The Cider House Rules is a 1985 novel by John Irving. It has been adapted into a film of the same name and a stage play by Peter Parnell.
Plot
Homer Wells grows up in an orphanage where he spends his childhood "being of use" as a medical assistant to the director, Dr. Wilbur Larch, whose history is told in flashbacks: After a traumatic misadventure with a prostitute as a young man, Wilbur turns his back on sex and love, choosing instead to help women with unwanted pregnancies give birth and then keeping the babies in an orphanage. He makes a point of maintaining an emotional distance from the orphans, so that they can more easily make the transition into an adoptive family, but when it becomes clear that Homer is going to spend his entire childhood at the orphanage, Wilbur trains the orphan as an obstetrician and then comes to love him.
Wilbur's and Homer's lives are complicated by Wilbur also secretly being an abortionist. Wilbur came to this work reluctantly, but he is driven by having seen the horrors of back-alley operations. Homer, upon learning Wilber's secret, is okay with it, but is against doing it himself for now.
A young couple, Candy Kendall and Wally Worthington, who work in an apple orchard, happen to have an accident and come to the orphanage to have an abortion. This predicament brings up an opportunity for Homer to leave with them, and he takes that deal. Over the years they all become great friends at the orchard, and Homer will live there for over 15 years before going back to the orphanage. But when the war comes around, Wally becomes a pilot and is lost, thought dead. This brings Candy and Homer together, who accidentally have a baby together. A few months later Wally is found and is brought back home, but Homer and Candy cover and say that they have adopted the baby. Many years pass but then the truth is finally revealed. Homer returns to the orphanage to take over Dr.Larch's job. A new nurse is welcomed at the orphanage, around Homer's age, and Homer and Nurse Caroline become a couple.
Background
The story about Wally being shot down over Burma was based in part on that of Irving's biological father (whom he never met), who had been shot down over Burma and survived.
References
- Mel Gussow (1998-04-28). "A Novelist Builds Out From Fact To Reach The Truth; John Irving Begins With His Memories". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-07.