I watched the movie first. While I was already deeply moved by the movie, I found the book is even more breathtaking. The book addresses social issues such as abortion, prostitute, racial discrimination, etc., but for me, more importantly, it reveals from a very special yet broad-angle some essential aspects of life itself, such as the limitation of social norms, such as love, kindness, and overcoming hardship.
The story is a masterfully woven labyrinth. It starts from the birth of the main character Homer Wells. He was born in an orphan house located in St. Cloud’s, Maine. Though the orphan house is always the center stage of his life, Homer Wells’ extraordinary fate brings us into a much broader landscape, involving many characters with different life scenarios. I was usually not so attached to the stories with many characters, as I tend to believe that it was quite impossible to get into the depth of each character, but this book is not the case - most of the characters have their irreplaceable places in the story. I am simply amazed by how the author crafted all this out.
Though Homer Wells' character is sculpted in profound depth, I found the most striking characters of the story are Dr. Larch and Melony. Watching Hommer growing up at St Cloud's, Dr. Larch is pretty much Homer's life mentor, and he loves Homer like a father loves his own son. His intelligence, life experience, and cynic attitude along with his kind heart embody the center philosophy of the book - he is the “soul” of the book. Melony - another orphan from St. Clouds, apathetically poignant figure, though not always at the center stage, plays like a powerful drummer - every single strike demands readers' full attention.
If I have to put these three characters in order, I would put Melony right on the top. This is because I am convinced that though both passion and intelligence are important in our life, passion is still the “king”, plays a more powerful role - it determines the directions of our life path. That’s why at the end, when Dr. Larch’s prolonged reason fails to pursue Homer, Melony’s sudden blow of instinct wakes him up. It might not be exaggerated to say that it is Melony, this seemingly unimportant and uneducated (all her education is one single book - Jane Eyre) character, who singlehandedly pushed the story to its climax.
Oh yes, as the title implies, the book is also about breaking rules. If one finds the story convincing, he/she would realize that human nature is infinitely complex and can’t always comply with the very limited man-made rules. John Irving’s story digs into the most profound problem of human society - how do we deal with social norms? Of course, he doesn’t give answers. He is a storyteller, not a philosopher. He only displays reality, and it's up to each one of us to find the answer by ourselves.
The book is hefty - even with the author’s lighthearted sense of humor, it will make you cry much more than laugh. This is the type of book that I had not read for a long time (since Jane Eyre, Hugo’s, and some Thomas Hardy’s, etc.). It’s nothing short of a masterpiece.
