Last week I finished Cider House Rules after having it on my shelf for a long time, and not watching the movie out of principle of not spoiling a book.
This book was not what I expected at all....and I think I loved it? It's one of those books where I was left thinking WTF because I absolutely hated some parts, but other parts I was blown away by.
The first thing I loved was the relevancy of abortion rights. Actually it sucks that those rights are still up to debate, but I felt that Irving created a timeless argument for protecting those rights. I was particularly struck by a male character being so defendant of abortion access. I adored Dr. Larch as a character. So flawed, but a man who truly lived in his principles.
The second thing I thought was interesting was this hyper focus on penises. I think "penis" was mentioned 3-4 times in the first few pages, and continues throughout the book. Yes of course, a book about sexual freedom is going to mention penises, but they were almost always mentioned in a non sexual context. I just felt like it was a funny thing to have stick with you in a book.
The third thing that was insane was the picture that Melony gave Homer Welles. I DID NOT EXPECT THAT! What's even crazier is that that picture is so relevant to the plot....and I found out the Melony is not a part of the movie at all. Now I'm super curious how John Irving wrote the screenplay with omitting her?
I also loved the references to Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. Love a good meta plot.
The one plot line I didn't think aged well was the rape/incest of the black migrant workers. I got a very "white savior" energy from it, and also felt some racist undertones from that part.
Curious about thoughts on this book!
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Do your worst!
They were cooked in Greece.
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
Don't you know a good pun is its own reword?
Two muffins are in an oven, one muffin looks at the other and says "is it just me, or is it hot in here?"
Then the other muffin says "AHH, TALKING MUFFIN!!!"
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
We should all be worried about the blacklisting of literature
It may not be true censorship to blacklist books in a Western country with free and open internet access. But it's still deeply concerning.
By Megan Nolan 3 December 2021
My mother gently let me know from an early age that she didn’t believe in what I was being taught in my Catholic school and in Mass. I managed to hang on to my self-important, girlish faith for a good long time. But when I was in my mid-teens I became very righteous indeed – only, it was the opposite of the righteousness usually encouraged by nuns. I was filled with moral indignation having learned about the Church’s atrocities – including those that occurred in my own neighbourhood, even to my own family.
I was especially upset about what they told us about abortion, and the way they did so: showing a 1980s American conservative horror film named The Silent Scream (which purports, among other things, to show a foetus at 12 weeks thrashing around in pain, an effect created by speeding up the footage). I walked out of class when they had us watch that, and fell out with a friend by doing so. She held the opposite view from mine, and we could not find a way to talk about our beliefs without shouting.
Not long after that episode I read the John Irving novel The Cider House Rules. In it, the two characters we care most about – Dr Wilbur Larch, an obstetrician who runs an orphanage, and one of his orphans, Homer – have divergent perspectives on abortion. Dr Larch, having seen first-hand how back-street butchery caused women to die, considers providing safe abortion to be the moral choice. Homer, his protégé, can see that this is a valid perspective – but as an orphan who would not exist had his mother been able to terminate her pregnancy, he does not feel able to endorse their provision.
Reading The Cider House Rules did for me what much of the best fiction does, which is to serve up some “issue” that feels absolute and intractable, and to present it in such a way that the complexity of life is rendered vivid and obvious. I didn’t change my mind about abortion when I read it, but I did understand how people were able to see it their way rather than mine, which is one of the more valuable things one can learn to do.
The Cider House Rules is one of 850 books on a list drawn up by the Texas Republican state representative Matt Krause. The list mostly contains books that refer in some way
... keep reading on reddit ➡Because she wanted to see the task manager.
But that’s comparing apples to oranges
Heard they've been doing some shady business.
And boy are my arms legs.
but then I remembered it was ground this morning.
Edit: Thank you guys for the awards, they're much nicer than the cardboard sleeve I've been using and reassures me that my jokes aren't stale
Edit 2: I have already been made aware that Men In Black 3 has told a version of this joke before. If the joke is not new to you, please enjoy any of the single origin puns in the comments
They’re on standbi
A play on words.
My daughter, Chewbecca, not so much.
Pilot on me!!
Nothing, he was gladiator.
Or would that be too forward thinking?
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
And now I’m cannelloni
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
When I got home, they were still there.
Hindus, on the other hand, never had any beef.
I won't be doing that today!
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
[Removed]
There hasn't been a post all year!
Where ever you left it 🤷♀️🤭
And then shook his arm really fast.
(True story, please groan with me.)
