| Author: | John Irving | Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers | Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers | Genre: | fiction, historical | Year of publication: | 1999 | Complex, heavily plotted, John Irving disquisition on how official rules/laws and unwritten norms are unequally enforced based on gender, social status, and other factors. In other words, it's about the politics and the realities of Making Hard Choices. | Unlike Jane Eyre and David Copperfield, orphans in The Cider House Rules are routinely well cared for and frequently give in to temptation (for good causes, of course). Irving bravely compares himself to these two, and to Dickens, and bravely proclaims the utility and necessity of lying (aka creation of fiction) in the face of unfair rules.
Once you finish reading The Cider House Rules, you will feel compelled to (re)read David Copperfield and Jane Eyre.
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