Quote:
Originally Posted by Froide
RE: A Time to Kill
Like you, Barry, I read the book decades ago (as I stated). However, unlike you (unfortunately), I don't have the book at hand. Therefore, I qualified my attempt to describe the passage that left a long-lasting, discomfiting impression with, "or some words to that effect", and I misremembered the detail that Grisham was not describing Carl Lee but his cellmate. (Thank you for that correction.) Nonetheless, my descriptions of my discomfiture with that part of the book and the way I handled it at the time are accurate.
You - and some downstream posters in this thread - disagree with my interpretation of, and therefore my reaction to, that passage, attributing it to the fact that I might not have gone barefoot or (as another poster surmises) spent time in the South. Good guesses, but wrong on both counts.
FYI, it's worth noting: I enjoy (most of) Grisham's writing and through it, the way he tackles many issues.
|
I think books change in our memory as time passes and I'm guessing that's what happened to you. I recently re-read the first Tarzan book, which I read as a small child. I'm pretty sure it was the first complete book I ever read when I was about 4. I had very little memory of the book except for one scene that occurred before Tarzan met the white eyes. He was in a tree watching a lion devour a man and not really thinking much about it. I've always remembered that scene and talked about it when that book was being discussed. But on re-reading it, the scene just wasn't there. I might have dreamed it or maybe just invented it or something. I really don't know.
As for Grisham, I liked his first several books but not because of his writing, which I thought was fair at best, but he told interesting stories. Later in his career they became stories about how bad our world is and that just doesn't interest me much and I finally gave up on them. I'll probably read some of his earlier books again in time. In particular, I'm sure I'll read "The Last Juror" again. It's easily my favorite of his books.
Barry