The Reckoning: A Novel: 25

Product Information

Pete Banning, in his early 40s, is a man of few words. When he deliberately guns down Dexter Bell in his church office, he refuses to explain why. “I have nothing to say” is his refrain to the end. Pete’s guilt is never in doubt. This morning was not the time to discuss it. He was facing an ugly chore, a monstrous deed, one that could not be avoided or postponed any longer.

THE TUMOR follows the present day experience of the fictional patient Paul, an otherwise healthy 35-year-old father who is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Grisham takes readers through a detailed account of Paul’s treatment and his family’s experience that doesn’t end as we would hope. Grisham then explores an alternate future, where Paul is diagnosed with the same brain tumor at the same age, but in the year 2025, when a treatment called focused ultrasound is able to extend his life expectancy. No es la típica novela sobre abogados y juicios a los que nos tiene acostumbrados. Hay abogados y hay juicios, sí. Pero no son lo más importante en la narrativa. En la segunda parte (hay tres, bien diferenciadas) asistimos a la historia personal de Pete Banning, nuestro héroe, desde que conoce a su mujer y se alista en el ejército, hasta su movilización y posterior traslado a Filipinas. Tras el bombardeo de Pearl Harbour, la guerra en el Pacífico cobrará extrema importancia. Aquí nuestro protagonista será apresado por los japoneses, y asistiremos a capítulo tras capítulo de vejaciones y sufrimientos. El que avisa no es traidor, esta parte está descrita con tal detalle, que a más de uno se le puede atragantar la lectura, pues no se escatima en nada. Es como si estuviésemos leyendo una novela sobre un campo de concentración nazi, sólo que aquí los nazis son los japos (perdón por el americanismo). Y por desgracia, lo que se cuenta, por lo que yo sé, es bastante verídico. Es en esta parte donde la novela alcanza una dimensión que raya en lo soberbio, por lo que intuyo que Grisham hubiese sido un gran narrador bélico. In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete's defense attorney tries desperately to save him.

Need Help?

Me ha gustado mucho la ambientación en ese Mississippi rural de los años cuarenta del pasado siglo. Refleja a la perfección el tema de los prejuicios raciales. Clanton es una localidad en la que casi nunca se ha cometido un crimen. En palabras de sus policías, alguna pelea y el linchamiento de un chico negro, pero claro eso no cuenta, no era ilegal colgar a un chico de color en esa época. Por muy sabido que lo tengamos leerlo así de crudo te deja helada. On an unremarkable morning in October 1946, Pete Banning, decorated war veteran and one of the town of Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite sons, left his farm and drove to the Methodist church and, without fanfare, shot and killed the minister, Dexter Bell. He returned home, offering no explanation for his action. Surprised at the intrusion, Bell said, “Well, good morning, Pete.” He was about to stand when Pete whipped out a pistol with a long barrel and said, “You know why I’m here.”

Grisham can come up with a story...that isn't a problem. He can create suspicion and suspense. Great. But the problem I've had with this book and with the one I read last week, is the writing. There is so much telling. He explains everything. It feels like he sees the scene in his head, and writes exactly what he sees. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is why I'm having a problem with the characters. They feel like cardboard....like they are in a painting and I'm trying to guess, who they really are, what they are thinking and feeling, etc. Para mí, que he leído muchísimas novelas de Grisham, esta es una de las más complejas y conseguidas de toda su obra. El autor nos lleva de nuevo a su Mississippi rural de finales de los 40, concretamente a Clanton. Allí, un héroe de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y hacendado recolector de algodón asesina, sin motivo aparente, y a la vista de suficientes testigos, al pastor de la iglesia metodista de su localidad, con el que además la familia compartía una hermosa amistad. Sabe que lo van a condenar a la silla eléctrica, salvo que explique el porqué de su crimen, en cuyo caso le podrían conmutar la pena a cadena perpetua. Sabe que le está buscando la ruina a su familia, que depende del negocio algodonero para seguir con sus prósperas vidas. Sabe que el respeto que todos sus vecinos le profesan se va a convertir en odio. Sabe que va a dejar huérfanos a la esposa del pastor y a sus tres hijos, con pocas posibilidades de supervivencia. Sabe que tan solo tiene que decir por qué lo ha hecho, y a pesar de ello, elige el silencio y la silla eléctrica.I've read many Grisham novels and have enjoyed the first several. And I've have even read one recently....last week to be more accurate. In that review, I couldn't quite name the thing that kept me from liking it like I've liked his older stuff. But now after reading this one, I think I know what that "thing" is. John Grisham says THE TUMOR is the most important book he has ever written. In this short book, he provides readers with a fictional account of how a real, new medical technology could revolutionize the future of medicine by curing with sound.

He dressed slowly, as always, his war‑wounded legs stiff and painful from the night, and made his way through the dark house to the kitchen, where he turned on a dim light and brewed his coffee. As it percolated, he stood ramrod straight beside the breakfast table, clasped his hands behind his head, and gently bent both knees. He grimaced as pain radiated from his hips to his ankles, but he held the squat for ten seconds. He relaxed, did it again and again, each time sinking lower. There were metal rods in his left leg and shrapnel in his right.Pete woke one morning and decided he could live no longer without killing Dexter. After having breakfast with his sister, Florry, Pete drove to the Methodist Church where he shot Dexter twice in the chest and once in the head. He went home where he calmly waited for the sheriff to come and arrest him. Pete offered no motive for having killed Dexter and would not allow his lawyer to use an insanity plea. At his trial, Pete was found guilty of murder and sentenced to die in the electric chair. Quincy was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. But no one was listening. He had no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister. Las partes primera y tercera, sin estar a la misma altura, no desmerecen para nada a la segunda, que conforman en su totalidad una lectura APASIONANTE. Y no diré más, que ya es mucho. In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him.