A Time to Kill: A Jake Brigance Novel Mass Market Paperback – June 23, 2009

An oldie but a goodie. Great reading should be one of the classics. Perfect ending and very unexpected but so so true.?

I liked the book overall. I think Grisham did an amazing job of portraying the racial tone in the South, and in particular in Mississippi. I spent as much of my free time as possible reading the book because it was interesting and suspenseful. However, after I finished the book I was left with a few "That's it?????" questions in my head and would have liked Grisham to fill in the blanks more, if you will.1. When Carl Lee ask Brigance why he chose the line of questioning towards the mothers of Cobb and Willard. Brigance says, "I'll tell you later..." yet we never get to hear the conversation. I understand the reasoning behind the questions he asked, but still would liked to have read in more detail.2. I would have thought Carl Lee's testimony would have been in the book. As much as was devoted to the psychiatrists' testimony, I would have that just as much, if not more would have been written about the defendant, but there wasn't. Pretty disappointing...3. After Ellen is in the hospital and Brigance talks to her dad, that's the last we heard of her. I would have thought there would have been some sort of conversation Brigance had with her after the verdict was given. She was given such a strong role in the book I would have thought there would have been some sort of closure.4. No mention at all of the conversation between Jake and Carla about the verdict, the destruction of their house, nothing...As much build up as there was to the verdict, the last few pages seemed like a let down. I was looking for more closure than what was given. All of that being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book.

‘A Time to Kill’ is Grisham’s first novel and in it his remarkable talents are displayed. His characters are unique and quirky, their dialogue spot on. This novel takes place in northern Mississippi in 1984. Jake is the flawed protagonist. He is likeable, smart and sassy, but his flaws sometimes grated on me. He basks in the media sunshine in the beginning but criticizes his nemesis, Buckley, for doing the same thing. Later in the book Jake avoids and even hates the media interest. He refers to them as vultures. At least Buckley is consistent in wanting their attention. Jake’s drunken mentor, unlikeable but intellectual Lucien, states that “Our legal system does not permit vigilante justice.” He also advises Jake that his client, Carl Lee is guilty of the murder charges. “Guilty as hell.” He wants Jake to plea to save him from the death penalty. But Jake insists on presenting an insanity defense even though he admits he doesn’t believe his client was insane. The quest for justice is lost in the bigger quest to win and become rich and famous. So much for lawyers’ righteousness.The other giant social obstacle that Grisham tackles (to some degree) is racism in the deep south. The intolerance is shocking at times, that these attitudes remain prevalent into this time period. It would be more believable in the 1950’s. Throughout the book and the characters within Grisham’s writing displays the indifferent insolence in some characters, extending to outright bigotry in others. In today’s world all of this is unacceptable, of course, but in this world of rural Mississippi even the good guys profess racial detriments while the antagonists are downright haters.POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEADIn the end Grisham offers no positives to this social enigma. The ending of the book, although expected, seems rushed, even contrived. Better to trim some of the fluff from the middle and lengthen the uncertainty at the end. At any rate, I would not have expected the jurors to be so easily persuaded. So, I think this is a really good book, but it isn’t perfect by a country mile.

Great novel would highly recommend it

John Grisham wrote another book that you can not put down. He not only gives you an interesting story. He provides a lot of insight into the conflict between black and white people.

I truly have enjoyed many of Grisham's books over the years. I red "A Time to Kill" many years ago but purchased it again so I could read it and the second and third books in the series all in order.

As always, John Grisham didn't dissapoint me. Great reading. Absolut recommendation.He is a master writting novels which involves trials and lawyers, but also everythin I have read from him.

Excelente. Bem escrito e fascinante

A very good and worthy read. Definitely worth reading once. I’m going to read the next book in the series now.

Fantastic discussion about justice in a moral and juridical context. (Fantastische Diskussion über Gerechtigkeit im moralischen und rechtlichen Sinn).I am aware that both film and book have been criticized for glorifying vigilantism. This might be the case but in my personal opinion this is only a tool to discuss the real issue: how the death penalty is blocking fair punishments. When death penalty is already known to be the punishment, the jury might find someone not guilty, simply because their crime is not worty of the death penalty. The conservative standpoint of the main characters is only supposed to illustrate this further.(Vorweg ist mir bekannt, dass Roman und Film in die Kritik geraten waren, weil sie Selbstjustiz verherrlichen würden. Der knackende Punkt ist meiner Meinung nach, dass es hier um die Diskussion der Todesstrafe geht. Wenn die Todesstrafe als einziges Strafmaß in Frage kommt, kann es, wie in diesem Roman, dazu kommen, dass jemand zu Unrecht freigesprochen wird, weil sein/ihr Verbrechen nicht schlimm genug war, um dafür zu sterben. Zwar sind die Hauptcharaktere sehr konservativ/pro-Todesstrafe, aber ich bin der Überzeugung, dass dies nur dazu dient, die bereits angeführte Problematik besser zu illustrieren)The setting, the characters, the case: it all felt so real, so alive. Brigance is no hero and he was not artifically made into one. I really enjoyed how he was not the one who turned the jury's opinion around. At no point was I rolling my eyes at the obvious disregard for logic and reason that is present in many crime books (Das Setting, die Figuren, der Fall: es fühlte sich alles so echt und lebendig an. Brigance ist kein Held und er wurde auch nicht künstlich zu einem gemacht. Interessant war besonders, dass es nicht er war, der die Jury überzeugt hat. Ich habe nie die Augen verdreht, weil die Handlung unlogisch war, wie es so oft in Krimis der Fall ist)The book is written like a film is cut: scene after scene, all connected to the larger issue. Multiple perspectives and settings but not too many, to become confusing. I really enjoyed this approach. (Das Buch ist geschrieben, wie ein Film zusammengeschnitten wird. Eine Szene nach der anderen, alle sind mit der Haupthandlung verbunden. Viele Perspektiven und Settings, aber nicht zu viele. Diese Herangehensweise schätze ich sehr)At first I thought it would take me ages to get through 500 pages because my life is so busy. However, the story is written with such elegance that it only took me a few days. That's how I like it. (Erst dachte ich,d ass ich aufgrund meines wuseligen Lebens sehr lange für die 500 Seiten brauchen würde. Allerdings war ich schon nach wenigen Tagen fertig, da das Buch so elegant geschrieben ist).Hoffentlich schafft es dieses Buch in den nächsten Jahren mal wieder auf die Liste der abiturrelevanten Themen. Ich würde es gerne mit einem Englischkurs durcharbeiten.