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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
I'd rate this book 3.5 stars. I liked the plot overall, but I thought it was lacking in some places (character development) and too much in other places (all the information/education about the coal mining industry). Also, the ending left me feeling unresolved.
I cannot believe I just gave 2 stars to Grisham's book, but it deserved the rating. I am not sure about the main plot of this book, not even sure whether I should put it in legal thrillers shelve or drama-but-not-really. It's too bad because it started out well, I kind of like Samantha at the beginning. As the story progresses, I grew so bored I had to stop reading every few pages. It's predictable, slow and somewhat unsatisfying. I'll still be reading the next JG's novel though.
I haven't read Grisham since I read The Chamber in the late 90s, but falling in with him again was easy. I wasn't bananas for the heroine like I was Jake Brigance (A Time to Kill) or Reggie Love (The Client) but instead she seemed suitably flawed to the time period (nobody writes real heroes anymore only antiheroes). This was interesting and good enough to give Grisham another shot.
Plot Summary
This story revolves around Samantha, a young lawyer who has been let go from her associate position at an NYC Big Law firm in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The caveat is that the firm is offering what they call a "furlough," which enables her to continue health insurance for a year and suggests a possible return to the firm after economic conditions stabilize. In return, Samantha has to work pro bono at a legal aid nonprofit.
She finds herself at a legal aid clinic in Appalachia in a tiny, dilapidated coal town. The story explores various cases handled by her clinic and by a passionate environmental lawyer, Donovan, who doesn't play by the rules. The main plot is regarding one of Donovan's cases in which he has stolen incriminating documents from a coal company, which he thinks will ultimately take them down. The company suspects that he has the documents and takes extreme measures to ensure the case doesn't go to trial including sending men with guns after Donovan and his brother, sending the FBI to raid the clinic and Donovan's firm, and potentially tampering with Donovan's plane, resulting in his death. Ultimately, the documents are sent to a safe place with another attorney who is taking over the case. Samantha decides to stay at the legal clinic despite lucrative job offers in NYC because she is touched by the direct impact she is having on her poor clients at the legal clinic.
Reaction
This was not a good book. I have been thinking a bit about expectations when it comes to reading a book. I remember back to when I was 15 or 16 and read the first Hunger Games book and thought it was nothing revolutionary given other dystopias and was a senseless and poorly written novel where the most challenging word was "Cornucopia." In reflection, I was frankly too old to be reading that book. And if I decided to read it anyways, I should adjust my expectations and focus on what the author is doing for the intended audience instead of just dismissing the book as poorly written and devoid of a point. Some books don't have much of a point besides to provide an escape for the reader and that is okay. It is simply not what I want. I want works that challenge how I view the human condition.
The only discernible grand messages in this book were that coal companies are bad and strip mining ruins communities. Okay. True. Frankly, this is not news to me. Since this book doesn't give me any insight into the human condition, I discerned that I was reading a simple type of escapist, pleasure book. With this in mind, I attempted to draw pleasure from the book. But, in the end the book falls flat as a pleasure book, as well. This sort of book should have a compelling plot. The plot in Gray Mountain was hazy. Details regarding the elusive "documents" were never revealed, so it was difficult to establish a sense of urgency. Additionally, the dialog was odd and the characters were flat and, at times, quite unbelievable. For example, why was Samantha, a Columbia Law grad who was smart enough to get into a Big Law firm, always lamenting that she was "just an intern" and not up for the challenges posed. It was repetitive, unbelievable, and frankly odd.
One positive is that it was interesting learning of some of the client stories. Overall, I will take this as a learning experience. As Thoreau said, "read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all." In the future, if I read genre fiction, I will scout it out better and in my own writing, I will strive to avoid the pitfalls of this book.
This story revolves around Samantha, a young lawyer who has been let go from her associate position at an NYC Big Law firm in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The caveat is that the firm is offering what they call a "furlough," which enables her to continue health insurance for a year and suggests a possible return to the firm after economic conditions stabilize. In return, Samantha has to work pro bono at a legal aid nonprofit.
She finds herself at a legal aid clinic in Appalachia in a tiny, dilapidated coal town. The story explores various cases handled by her clinic and by a passionate environmental lawyer, Donovan, who doesn't play by the rules. The main plot is regarding one of Donovan's cases in which he has stolen incriminating documents from a coal company, which he thinks will ultimately take them down. The company suspects that he has the documents and takes extreme measures to ensure the case doesn't go to trial including sending men with guns after Donovan and his brother, sending the FBI to raid the clinic and Donovan's firm, and potentially tampering with Donovan's plane, resulting in his death. Ultimately, the documents are sent to a safe place with another attorney who is taking over the case. Samantha decides to stay at the legal clinic despite lucrative job offers in NYC because she is touched by the direct impact she is having on her poor clients at the legal clinic.
Reaction
This was not a good book. I have been thinking a bit about expectations when it comes to reading a book. I remember back to when I was 15 or 16 and read the first Hunger Games book and thought it was nothing revolutionary given other dystopias and was a senseless and poorly written novel where the most challenging word was "Cornucopia." In reflection, I was frankly too old to be reading that book. And if I decided to read it anyways, I should adjust my expectations and focus on what the author is doing for the intended audience instead of just dismissing the book as poorly written and devoid of a point. Some books don't have much of a point besides to provide an escape for the reader and that is okay. It is simply not what I want. I want works that challenge how I view the human condition.
The only discernible grand messages in this book were that coal companies are bad and strip mining ruins communities. Okay. True. Frankly, this is not news to me. Since this book doesn't give me any insight into the human condition, I discerned that I was reading a simple type of escapist, pleasure book. With this in mind, I attempted to draw pleasure from the book. But, in the end the book falls flat as a pleasure book, as well. This sort of book should have a compelling plot. The plot in Gray Mountain was hazy. Details regarding the elusive "documents" were never revealed, so it was difficult to establish a sense of urgency. Additionally, the dialog was odd and the characters were flat and, at times, quite unbelievable. For example, why was Samantha, a Columbia Law grad who was smart enough to get into a Big Law firm, always lamenting that she was "just an intern" and not up for the challenges posed. It was repetitive, unbelievable, and frankly odd.
One positive is that it was interesting learning of some of the client stories. Overall, I will take this as a learning experience. As Thoreau said, "read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all." In the future, if I read genre fiction, I will scout it out better and in my own writing, I will strive to avoid the pitfalls of this book.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Grisham is sort of hit or miss for me. I'm not really into legal thrillers, but as far as legal thrillers go, this was a good one. Grisham really hammers home the horrific details of how Big Coal conducts business, and the rock and a hard place that the poverty-stricken miners and people in Appalachia have are put in daily between testing their love for the land that surrounds their little towns and the desperate need for the jobs offered by the mining industry--and all the ramifications that come with them.
Grisham is no slouch when it comes to prose, but after so many books, he has a definite beat-sheet, and you can feel him writing to it. When the "big twist" happens about 65% of the way through the book, you might be a little surprised, but the second it happens, you know EXACTLY how the rest of the book will proceed. And it does.
I liked this book, but found myself raging at the world during parts of it because we, as people, should not treat our fellow human beings the way some folks in this book get treated. Unfortunately, that's not a writer stretching the truth. It was born out of a writer stating plain, hard truths that we don't care to always acknowledge.
Grisham is no slouch when it comes to prose, but after so many books, he has a definite beat-sheet, and you can feel him writing to it. When the "big twist" happens about 65% of the way through the book, you might be a little surprised, but the second it happens, you know EXACTLY how the rest of the book will proceed. And it does.
I liked this book, but found myself raging at the world during parts of it because we, as people, should not treat our fellow human beings the way some folks in this book get treated. Unfortunately, that's not a writer stretching the truth. It was born out of a writer stating plain, hard truths that we don't care to always acknowledge.