John Grisham - The Last Juror (2004)
Typically, John Grisham either writes excellent books (The Chamber, The Runaway Jury) or very mediocre ones (The Client; which is possibly the most pointless thing I have read in years.)
The jacket flap of The Last Juror -- which tells of a small Southern town, a rape and murder trial, and a defendant sent away despite threatening revenge if the jurors convict him -- makes it sound a very promising thriller, and I was expecting to read what might be Grisham's best book.
That blurb, however, is misleading in its focus and its suggestion of the book's structure. Indeed, the trial doesn't even occur until about halfway through the book, and the real meat of the plot only comes in the last fifty pages.
As I realized this, my expectation changed to one of disappointment. As it turns out, though, I had no cause for fear, as, in spite of my misapprehensions, this is still probably (nay, definitely) Grisham's finest novel.
While it is partly about the trial and conviction of local boy Danny Padgitt, The Last Juror is actually about the town as a whole, and how it changes over time, through desegregation and other shifts in the social fabric.
It is about the town's eclectic residents and how they cope with the changes and crimes in the community, as seen through the eyes of the dubiously-named Willie Traynor, one of Grisham's most engaging narrators in years
Traynor is a 23 year-old journalist who has recently acquired ownership of the Ford County Times. Under his leadership, he gradually turns its fortunes around as he writes with endearing passion about the town, and anger at the corruption in its justice system.
The journey Grisham takes his readers on, over a remarkable nine years in the history of Ford County, is a wonderful, touching, and also thrilling one.
There is an inexplicable tendency, even among fans of the crime genre, to look down on Grisham and other best-selling populists, and it is a tendency which is denying many people some great reading experiences. His books aren't particularly challenging, no, but he is a gifted and instinctive storyteller.
Grisham's prose is so easy and languid, so polished, that it flows past the eyes and invites one simply to be carried along with the ease of the experience. It is remarkable prose, unlike anyone else's.
Thus, his books don't require much effort to read, but the rewards of such a captivating, entertaining story are many and potent for the fact that his books asks so little -- apart from a small emotional investment in his characters -- and give, comparatively, so much.
Grisham's books tend to be very plot driven, but this one also puts a bit more focus on the characters, and they are a quirky and warming bunch. The town's colorful inhabitants are drawn wonderfully, even if there is no real depth to some of them. They are an unthreatening, entirely innocuous group, a personification, almost, of Grisham's approach to his books.
It is sometimes remarkable to think that in the gratuitous world of crime writing, Grisham's books are never brutal, and in all his back catalog he has only ever "murdered" a half dozen people or so.
In the end, this is a great legal thriller with some nice twists, but more than that it is a compelling meditation on the life of a small American town in the 1970s.
Posted by Fiona Walker in Book Reviews | Permalink
