"Rules of winemakers": a novel by John Irving

"Rules of winemakers" - one of the most famous works of John Winslow Irving, an American writer and screenwriter. He was born in 1942 in the state of New Hampshire, was trained at several universities: in Iowa, Vienna, Pittsburgh. Irving's literary career went uphill immediately after the publication of his first book, it was called "Freedom for the Bears." Novellist then only turned 26 years old. Despite such a young age of the author, the novel was accepted by readers more than favorably (in particular, it was highly appreciated by Kurt Vonnegut). However, Irving received true recognition after the publication in 1978 of the novel "The World through the Eyes of Harp", for which the writer was awarded the National Book Award. It was this moment that turned out to be a turning point in his life, and from a serious academic writer Irving became the creator. Some of his works (The Rules of Winemakers, Prayer for Owen Mini) were successfully screened, for which the writer received several prestigious film awards.

George Irving, "Rules of winemakers"

The book was published in 1985 and almost immediately fell into the list of bestsellers. It is written in the genre of the novel-epic and tells about the events taking place in the orphanage of Menx. It is there that the central character of the narrative is born - Homer Wells. He does not know his parents, so the father is replaced by the gynecologist Wilber Larch. The man takes care of Homer and teaches him everything he knows himself. Kindness, compassion, compassion - these are the basic covenants given to the child in childhood. When Homer grows up, he begins to dream of travel, about other cities and countries. Turning point in the story of the novel "Rules of winemakers" is the appearance of Candy Kendall, this dazzling blonde beauty is pregnant from military pilot Wally Warrington and makes abortion at the orphanage. After succumbing to Homer's entreaties, they agree to take him with them, the young man is passionately carried away by Candy, but the idyll does not last long, and in the end the girl, driven by compassion and a sense of duty, remains with Wally.

"Rules of winemakers": developments

The doctor who raised the protagonist, all this time, hopes that he will take his place, because the authorities at any time can send a person who is anti-abortion. This can not be allowed, because such a turn will inevitably lead to the fact that women will expose their lives to danger, trying to get rid of the unwanted child.

Problems

Most critics praised the rules of winemakers. The book, according to general opinion, was remarkable for its fascinating plot and deep social problems. One of the central themes of the work was the problem of abortion. Contemporary literary scholars draw a parallel to the novel with Dickens's Oliver Twist (the motives of a shelter, an abandoned child, loneliness).

Screening

In 1999, Irving personally wrote a novel for the film (after which he will receive an Oscar for it). By the way, the novelist left a role for himself, he played a stationmaster, and his son Colin became Major Winslow. The image of Homer was brilliantly embodied by Tobey Maguire.