Book Review: The Appeal
By: John Grisham
Note: I have attempted to leave out any significant spoilers.
John Grisham is renown for his ability to deeply develop his characters without having to use many words. And in that respect he does not disappoint in The Appeal. Readers will quickly connect with the lawyers, judges, and “regular” folk created by Grisham. Within the first thirty-two pages the reader will sympathize with the hard-working lawyers committed to justice, resent the billionaire and his trophy wife, and suffer with the widow who lost her family to cancer.
Yet if one looks past the brilliant prose used by Grisham one might realize the traits of the main characters are mostly clichéd stereotypes of the liberal viewpoint of the players in America’s justice system. The central judge portrayed in The Appeal, a Democrat, is a made out to be a level-headed thinker, while the forces behind the candidacy of the Republican are ruthless ideologues who have the narrow agenda of gods, guns, and gays. In Grisham’s world, the Republican candidate is backed by a right-wing machine that stretches the truth and conducts dirty campaigns, while the judge is just a good-natured, normal person who is blindsided by attacks from the right. Given the tone of the novel, it seems Grisham would find it laughable to consider the fact that perhaps reality is, at least sometimes if not most times, the other way around.
The plaintiff’s lawyers portrayed as the heroes in the book have given their careers to the case, worked without compensation, and live lower-middle class lives. Grisham clearly wants his audience to fall in love with the sympathetic trail lawyers. In reality however, trial attorneys have created major problems for America. The plaintiffs attorneys in America are one of the richest class of citizens and have raked in billions of dollars for themselves through tobacco and pharmaceutical litigation. These lawyers do not create any products or wealth. They simply sue large corporations on behalf of consumers and take a lion’s share of the judgments as payment for their services. Because of the large judgments against the defendant corporations, the cost of doing business rises and those cost increases make it harder for business to expand, create jobs, and offer low-cost products.
Such an argument is long-winded and hard to explain but the story of down and out lawyers fighting for the poor makes for a more interesting and emotional tale. And in that sense, it is difficult to blame Grisham for the story he weaves. One of the key differences between liberalism and conservatism is the emphasis put on emotion. Liberals think with their heart, but conservatives think with their head. So it is no wonder that psychologists, teachers, and novelists are overwhelmingly liberal. They place a great emphasis on emotion, while conservatives do not. So one can understand why Grisham the liberal frames The Appeal the way he does: emotion sells books.
Another vivid character created by Grisham is the billionaire CEO. Like every liberal stereotype of the American businessman, he is loud, obnoxious, a womanizer, and became rich at the expense of others, specifically by operating a pesticide plant that dumped chemicals into the nearby drinking water. Surely some businessmen have gotten rich by doing bad things, but overall the American businessman is an enormous boon to the country. He creates jobs and opportunity not previously available and provides goods and services to the population. Such enormous benefits are largely ignored by Grisham. But again, it is easy to understand why The Appeal is written from such a point of view. Every novel needs a villain and the greedy businessman is an easy target.
Grisham’s novel clearly reveals his liberalism and, while he does not completely ignore the point-of-view of the other side, he dismisses it, as most liberals do, as short-sited, stupid or mean. If you want a great story The Appeal does not disappoint, but the political propaganda is a big turnoff.
Note: I have attempted to leave out any significant spoilers.
John Grisham is renown for his ability to deeply develop his characters without having to use many words. And in that respect he does not disappoint in The Appeal. Readers will quickly connect with the lawyers, judges, and “regular” folk created by Grisham. Within the first thirty-two pages the reader will sympathize with the hard-working lawyers committed to justice, resent the billionaire and his trophy wife, and suffer with the widow who lost her family to cancer.
Yet if one looks past the brilliant prose used by Grisham one might realize the traits of the main characters are mostly clichéd stereotypes of the liberal viewpoint of the players in America’s justice system. The central judge portrayed in The Appeal, a Democrat, is a made out to be a level-headed thinker, while the forces behind the candidacy of the Republican are ruthless ideologues who have the narrow agenda of gods, guns, and gays. In Grisham’s world, the Republican candidate is backed by a right-wing machine that stretches the truth and conducts dirty campaigns, while the judge is just a good-natured, normal person who is blindsided by attacks from the right. Given the tone of the novel, it seems Grisham would find it laughable to consider the fact that perhaps reality is, at least sometimes if not most times, the other way around.
The plaintiff’s lawyers portrayed as the heroes in the book have given their careers to the case, worked without compensation, and live lower-middle class lives. Grisham clearly wants his audience to fall in love with the sympathetic trail lawyers. In reality however, trial attorneys have created major problems for America. The plaintiffs attorneys in America are one of the richest class of citizens and have raked in billions of dollars for themselves through tobacco and pharmaceutical litigation. These lawyers do not create any products or wealth. They simply sue large corporations on behalf of consumers and take a lion’s share of the judgments as payment for their services. Because of the large judgments against the defendant corporations, the cost of doing business rises and those cost increases make it harder for business to expand, create jobs, and offer low-cost products.
Such an argument is long-winded and hard to explain but the story of down and out lawyers fighting for the poor makes for a more interesting and emotional tale. And in that sense, it is difficult to blame Grisham for the story he weaves. One of the key differences between liberalism and conservatism is the emphasis put on emotion. Liberals think with their heart, but conservatives think with their head. So it is no wonder that psychologists, teachers, and novelists are overwhelmingly liberal. They place a great emphasis on emotion, while conservatives do not. So one can understand why Grisham the liberal frames The Appeal the way he does: emotion sells books.
Another vivid character created by Grisham is the billionaire CEO. Like every liberal stereotype of the American businessman, he is loud, obnoxious, a womanizer, and became rich at the expense of others, specifically by operating a pesticide plant that dumped chemicals into the nearby drinking water. Surely some businessmen have gotten rich by doing bad things, but overall the American businessman is an enormous boon to the country. He creates jobs and opportunity not previously available and provides goods and services to the population. Such enormous benefits are largely ignored by Grisham. But again, it is easy to understand why The Appeal is written from such a point of view. Every novel needs a villain and the greedy businessman is an easy target.
Grisham’s novel clearly reveals his liberalism and, while he does not completely ignore the point-of-view of the other side, he dismisses it, as most liberals do, as short-sited, stupid or mean. If you want a great story The Appeal does not disappoint, but the political propaganda is a big turnoff.
Any comments or questions can be received at whyyouareaconservative@gmail.com
~ The Conservative Guy
posted by The Conservative Guy at
2:23 PM
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