| Author: |
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Jodi Picoult
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| Title: |
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House Rules: A Novel |
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No copies available |
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| Published in: |
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English |
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| Date: |
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| ISBN: |
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0743296435 |
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| Reviews: |
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Mick (Australia) (2010/05/11):
I fear that anyone reading Jodi Picoult for the first time in this book may never open a book of hers again. Which would be a shame, some of her stuff is great. The plot does not have enough substance to support anything more than a short story. It becomes painfully and frustratingly obvious that if the author were trying for anything even remotely resembling reality the whole mess, so far as Jacob's involvment is concerned would have been cleared up in less than 24 hours rather than weeks or months. We are asked to believe that a teenager who is articulate and can't lie is never asked what happened? Not by parents, doctors, lawyers or cops. Possibly one of the weakest plots outside the porn industry.
I wouldn't give this book to friends with first hand experience of Jacob's condition. I believe some may be angered by the blurring of the lines between autism and aspergers.
Once you get to the point in this book that you think you know what happened, save yourself some time and just read the last 40 pages to see if you got it right.
Marianne (Australia) (2011/03/07):
House Rules is Jodi Picoult’s seventeenth novel. The story involves Jacob Hunt, a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome and an obsession with forensic analysis, who is charged with and tried for the murder of his tutor, Jess Ogilvy. Five voices tell the tale: Jacob’s own; his brother, Theo’s; his mother, Emma’s; his lawyer, Oliver’s; and the investigating police officer, Rich’s. As always, Picoult’s research is meticulous, and she presents controversial issues even-handedly. The tension that builds throughout the novel is occasionally alleviated by the jokes and puns the characters themselves make. While the reader may conclude the truth about Jess’s death well before the denouement, this in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the journey towards the revelation. The view from within a person with Asperger’s is very well described, and Jacob’s frustration with the inability of those around him to recognise the truth is expertly portrayed. As well as educating about autism, Asperger’s and aspects of crime scene investigation, Picoult deals with motherhood and brotherhood and what truth really is. The conclusion demonstrates the pitfalls of relying solely on physical evidence, or, for that matter, on appearances and /or behaviour alone. Once again, an excellent read!
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| URL: |
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http://bookmooch.com/0743296435 |
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