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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
My favorite Grisham yet. Finding myself a little emotional finishing this book. It is an incredible story that tackles some huge issues the South has dealt with over hundreds of years.
I will need to read “A Time to Kill.” It’s one of my all time favorite movies, but I haven’t read the book (the book before Sycamore Row). I’m sure it’ll be just as good.
Grisham continues to impress. 2024 has been great thus far!
I will need to read “A Time to Kill.” It’s one of my all time favorite movies, but I haven’t read the book (the book before Sycamore Row). I’m sure it’ll be just as good.
Grisham continues to impress. 2024 has been great thus far!
Sycamore Row's premise is brilliant in its simplicity - a contested will that ticks all the boxes of sexual scandal, racism and dark historic secrets.
Grisham has done surprisingly well crafting a realistic, interesting story around this, and while heavy on the details legal thriller fans should be kept entertained throughout.
Those looking for a little more high-drama, tension and characters you can sink your teeth into will be disappointed. Throughout the novel I found myself uncertain who to root for. Sure I was caught up in the questions the novel raised but I didn't care enough about the consequences for anyone that I really felt moved by the novel.
Grisham has done surprisingly well crafting a realistic, interesting story around this, and while heavy on the details legal thriller fans should be kept entertained throughout.
Those looking for a little more high-drama, tension and characters you can sink your teeth into will be disappointed. Throughout the novel I found myself uncertain who to root for. Sure I was caught up in the questions the novel raised but I didn't care enough about the consequences for anyone that I really felt moved by the novel.
Enjoyable but not Grisham's best work. Very predictable and wordy.
Like catching up with old friends
I truly enjoyed stepping back into Ford County with Jake, Lucein, and all the rest. It was like visiting with old friends you didn't realize you'd missed until you caught up with them again.
I truly enjoyed stepping back into Ford County with Jake, Lucein, and all the rest. It was like visiting with old friends you didn't realize you'd missed until you caught up with them again.
Really good. Enjoyed the story. The ending is a gut punch.
Mr. Grisham can write a story, and can create interesting characters set in a South that is full of hidden mysteries and lies and heartbreak.
I read this through over three days, taking a break to get my work done, and finished it this afternoon.
Like other Grisham books, there is a meandering quality to the narrative. And there are moments of direct foreshadowing.
He's done another good job here.
Mr. Grisham can write a story, and can create interesting characters set in a South that is full of hidden mysteries and lies and heartbreak.
I read this through over three days, taking a break to get my work done, and finished it this afternoon.
Like other Grisham books, there is a meandering quality to the narrative. And there are moments of direct foreshadowing.
He's done another good job here.
I'm not sure what to think of this book. I'm having some mixed feelings that I'm not entirely certain I can express in a coherent way. Like nearly everything else in 2020, this book has left me a bit confused, more than a bit uncomfortable, and lacking the words to describe how I feel.
I loved A Time to Kill when I read it a couple of years ago (though I think I may feel differently about it were I to re-read it), and I assumed I'd feel the same way about this book given that it's written by the same author and features essentially the same set of characters. But having spent more time than ever before learning about the endless and endlessly layered racial injustices in this country, the story struck a bit of a different chord.
Where before I may have seen our protagonist, Jake Brigance, as a well-meaning, colorblind lawyer ready to make big sacrifices for the sake of what's right, I now see blatant and unsettling white saviorism. Where I once might have viewed the characters of Booker Sistrunk and Simeon Lang as an obnoxious antagonists, I now see the perpetuation of black stereotypes and racial tropes by a white author who seems oblivious to the problematic nature of these descriptions. And, in the end, (SPOILER!) where I may have previously perceived an act of benevolent kindness in the splitting of the $24 million fortune between the Black character who won it and the white characters who were inarguably horrible human beings, I now see this as yet another instance of white people's failure to pay long overdue reparations to Black people who have been terrorized and exploited and murdered in cold blood for hundreds of years.
This story just doesn't have any real sparkle in light of what I know now about white privilege, racism in the United States, and our ongoing failure as white people to fully acknowledge, understand, and repair the injustices through which this country was born and raised. I've always considered myself a feminist, but I'm learning more and more that I have a long way to go in that regard. We all have a very long way to go.
I loved A Time to Kill when I read it a couple of years ago (though I think I may feel differently about it were I to re-read it), and I assumed I'd feel the same way about this book given that it's written by the same author and features essentially the same set of characters. But having spent more time than ever before learning about the endless and endlessly layered racial injustices in this country, the story struck a bit of a different chord.
Where before I may have seen our protagonist, Jake Brigance, as a well-meaning, colorblind lawyer ready to make big sacrifices for the sake of what's right, I now see blatant and unsettling white saviorism. Where I once might have viewed the characters of Booker Sistrunk and Simeon Lang as an obnoxious antagonists, I now see the perpetuation of black stereotypes and racial tropes by a white author who seems oblivious to the problematic nature of these descriptions. And, in the end, (SPOILER!) where I may have previously perceived an act of benevolent kindness in the splitting of the $24 million fortune between the Black character who won it and the white characters who were inarguably horrible human beings, I now see this as yet another instance of white people's failure to pay long overdue reparations to Black people who have been terrorized and exploited and murdered in cold blood for hundreds of years.
This story just doesn't have any real sparkle in light of what I know now about white privilege, racism in the United States, and our ongoing failure as white people to fully acknowledge, understand, and repair the injustices through which this country was born and raised. I've always considered myself a feminist, but I'm learning more and more that I have a long way to go in that regard. We all have a very long way to go.
It happens every time I read a John Grisham book - I forget how much I enjoyed the last one and how good he really is.
This book is about a case where the main lawyer is the same one from [b:A Time to Kill|32542|A Time to Kill (Jake Brigance, #1)|John Grisham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390195915s/32542.jpg|1804929]. While I didn't remember very much about that book (other than liking it) this one provided enough background to set the stage for the story. In this book, a black maid becomes the only heir to a rich white man's estate, and Jake Brigance (the underdog lawyer from the last book) gets assigned as the attorney for the estate. The book follows Jake as he figures out how to deal with the deceased's children, whether the maid is trustworthy, and eventually what to do about the clear racial issues that surface in the situation.
As usual, this book was eminently readable, familiar but not predictable, and filled with colorful characters, both savory and not.
This book is about a case where the main lawyer is the same one from [b:A Time to Kill|32542|A Time to Kill (Jake Brigance, #1)|John Grisham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390195915s/32542.jpg|1804929]. While I didn't remember very much about that book (other than liking it) this one provided enough background to set the stage for the story. In this book, a black maid becomes the only heir to a rich white man's estate, and Jake Brigance (the underdog lawyer from the last book) gets assigned as the attorney for the estate. The book follows Jake as he figures out how to deal with the deceased's children, whether the maid is trustworthy, and eventually what to do about the clear racial issues that surface in the situation.
As usual, this book was eminently readable, familiar but not predictable, and filled with colorful characters, both savory and not.
dark
emotional