the only 3 grishams i've read have been this month, i've had a lot of free time, and i think i've spotted a trend. ethical protagonist with law background gets involved with rich, powerful corporation. is witness to lots of corporate greed. somehow uses his wit and intellect to strike back or escape, though with little success. unsatisfying, open ending. i've still enjoyed the reads despite the predictability, but was wondering if there's a grisham which doesn't follow suit, cos i'd like to read that next, or perhaps move on to someone else.
The only book of his I really liked was "A Time to Kill". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Time_to_Kill But yeah he does get plebian and repetitive. The Chamber is another one on a similar theme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chamber_(novel)
Hey, a winning formula is a winning formula! Try Douglas Reeman's WWII naval novels. New commander of a warship arrives at the dock in awful weather to take over as CO of his ship/ flotilla. Finds out that his 2 i/c is an old personal adversary. Has supply/ logistics problems. Loses close companions in action. Everything turns out okay. Only the names/ sizes of ship change. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Never read his books, but the movies made from them suck big donkey dick. This is not always indicative of a bad book (as the production may be at fault), but EVERY single one of his movies have sucked. So, I'm inclined to think that the books must have something in common. ~String
You can't judge a book by its movie. The only thing you can depend on to be the same (usually) is the title. I make a point of never seeing a movie made from a book I've read, and never reading the book that a movie I've seen was made from. Only two exceptions in the last twenty years: Lord of the Rings: I had faith in Peter Jackson and it was rewarded. They did it right and it took nine hours. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Philosopher's Stone everywhere but the USA, where they don't think children will read a book about philosophers): I couldn't help myself, I had to see how it would make the transition. The visuals were splendid and I'm sure the kids enjoyed seeing a quidditch match and all the other fantastic stuff. But the story was butchered hopelessly. This is a long book and it needed to be nine hours too. I wonder whether I would have liked it better if I hadn't read the book.
I mostly agree with you Fraggle, but usually ONE of the movies will turn out good. Yes, I allow for the "Hollywood churns out crap" factor, but I can't imagine that the books would end up being THAT much better. (note: I totally agree about LOTR; I hated the books and actually liked the movies) ~String
i found them to be pretty good page turners, but that's all there is to them, some mindless entertainment.
It is safe to say that String's taste =/= public's taste, since most of his movies made a shitload of money... I actually enjoy them... The Firm 158 mill The Pelican Brief 100 mill The Client 92 mill A time to kill 108 mill The Chamber 14 mill (exception) The Rainmaker 46 mill Runaway Jury 49 mill Now the OP asked if Grisham has different type of books. A Painted House is not a lawyer story... The Gingerbread Man is also not the typical Grisham lawyer story...
mars, so he can chill with dr manhattan? did ne1 else continually mistake the younger silk spectre chick for lucy lawless?
Just found this thread by searching on Grisham. Real reason for searching was that I wondered if his NON-FICTION book, The Innocent Man, had ever come up for discussion. I believe the villains (city of Ada, Oklahoma law enforcers) claim it is a work of fiction and are planning to sue Grisham. Anyone read it? There's a lot about the telling that rings true. I would love to know the opinion of Americans on its description of "justice" in small town bible belt US. Anyway, the answer to your original question, codanblad, is: "Yes there is. Read The Innocent Man."
Bastard. Bastard bastard bastard bastard bastard bastard bastard. Also, I believe his parents were unwed.
I've read several of his best sellers and enjoyed his story-telling style a lot. Everyone knows the movie version of a book is inferior! (usually, not always) I listened to, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town on CD. I didn't know until I saw it that John Grisham wrote nonfiction. What a sad tale....:bawl:
He went after Oliver Stone for gratuitous violence. But Stone was trying to say that souls are all dying from media saturation. He should be looking in the mirror instead.
