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matt2thefuture 's review for:
The Litigators
by John Grisham
I wish I could say I was surprised at the content of The Litigators, but I'm afraid the signs for a unengaging read have been there in recent stories with Grisham.
Grisham has a long history of big-time bestsellers and rightfully so. Some of his early work was so riveting I still remember the stories over a decade later. It's not up to me to say how Grisham's writing has changed since then, but for this reader, one this is very clear--The Litigators falls far short of its potential.
The last several Grisham reads I've encountered felt very similar and very specific in one disappointing detail. The stories felt like they were being dictated to me. I felt as if someone were telling me these over an after-work beer, doing what you do when you tell stories that can't go on at novel-length--making broad generalizations and flying over action and character points to move on to the next thing. Only this story isn't short in the least. Even in its length, Grisham didn't seem to really want me to get to know his characters, he didn't want me investing in the story, because it was as if he wasn't really all that enthralled with it himself. I think it's quite a testament to Grisham's natural storytelling ability that the novel can read this way as a rule throughout and can still compel someone to wait for the punchline, especially when that punchline is telegraphed quite obviously much earlier in the book.
The LItigators seems to be, at its heart, about ideas. Grisham has a lot of worthwile things to say about the themes of this story, no doubt from his experience as a lawyer and a human being. But, I'm afraid to say, these aren't compelling characters. The shame of it is that they could've been with more investment in them instead of ideas.
I've yet to rate any a book a single star if I completed it. This is as close as I've come to doing that. I'll continue that because of how engaging the first ten and the last ten percent of this novel were. It's a shame the middle eighty wasn't given the same attention.
Only recommended for Grisham's biggest fans and, even then, with severe reservations.
Grisham has a long history of big-time bestsellers and rightfully so. Some of his early work was so riveting I still remember the stories over a decade later. It's not up to me to say how Grisham's writing has changed since then, but for this reader, one this is very clear--The Litigators falls far short of its potential.
The last several Grisham reads I've encountered felt very similar and very specific in one disappointing detail. The stories felt like they were being dictated to me. I felt as if someone were telling me these over an after-work beer, doing what you do when you tell stories that can't go on at novel-length--making broad generalizations and flying over action and character points to move on to the next thing. Only this story isn't short in the least. Even in its length, Grisham didn't seem to really want me to get to know his characters, he didn't want me investing in the story, because it was as if he wasn't really all that enthralled with it himself. I think it's quite a testament to Grisham's natural storytelling ability that the novel can read this way as a rule throughout and can still compel someone to wait for the punchline, especially when that punchline is telegraphed quite obviously much earlier in the book.
The LItigators seems to be, at its heart, about ideas. Grisham has a lot of worthwile things to say about the themes of this story, no doubt from his experience as a lawyer and a human being. But, I'm afraid to say, these aren't compelling characters. The shame of it is that they could've been with more investment in them instead of ideas.
I've yet to rate any a book a single star if I completed it. This is as close as I've come to doing that. I'll continue that because of how engaging the first ten and the last ten percent of this novel were. It's a shame the middle eighty wasn't given the same attention.
Only recommended for Grisham's biggest fans and, even then, with severe reservations.