Customer Reviews

The Chamber

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(30)
1 star:		(45)

 

 

At first, I thought the title referred to a judge's chambers, but this is actually a book about the gas chamber. It took me a litttle while, but after the halfway point I was really connected with the characters and involved with the book. Grisham manages to make the reader just as torn as the other characters about whether Sam deserves to/should die in the gas chamber for his crimes. I got totally immersed in the book, and spent a lot of time contemplating the death penalty in general. This is a masterful story and a good book for anyone who wants to look at the grey areas of the law and what is right and wrong.

While reading The Chamber i cried many times. Sometimes this book will make you smile, other times it will make you cry, and other times it will make you cry out in anger. Sam Cayhall is on deathrow because in the sixties he was in the KKK and bombed a jewish lawyer's building. But something went wrong when he bombed the building;instead of it going off at 5 in the morning when it was vacant, it went off at 8. Unfortunately, it the lawyer's two five-year old sons were in the building and the bomb killed them. Now, his only chance is his 26-year old grandson lawyer who will try everything to help him, and to keep him from getting gassed in the Gas Chamber.

Before reading this book, I was stongly opposed to the death row, but after reading it, well, it makes you think about that. I highly recommend this book.

The Chamber, by John Grisham, is an emotional "court room" thriller that will bring you back to reality in a drastic way. Sam Cayhall has been hit with the most crushing news of his life,... the verdict of death. In 1967, Sam Cayhall, then a member of the Ku Klux Klan, bombed a Jewish lawyer's office. The owner's twin boys, Josh and John, were inside at the time that the bomb went off and were blown to bits. Nine years later, after Sam's third and final trial (last trial was in 1981) his grandson, Adam Hall, decides to represent him. This emotional smack in the face will give you a whole new outlook on life. Although this message is hidden deep in the story, it is definitely there. This novel will open your eyes and show you that everyone has two sides.

Everyone has a little bit of an angel, and a little bit of devil in their characters. Sometimes we look past that, but this novel brings you back to the true harshness of reality. It also shows that all people have secrets, and that we are all a little bit ashamed of our own identities. We may think that we know everything about our family, and ourselves, but we might not. At the age of seventeen, the main character, Adam Hall, discovered a shocking secret about his past. This secret changes Adam's point of view, and his fate. His dreams and goals change in one night of grieving and sharing with his Aunt Lee. All in all, The Chamber is a novel with an intense and moving heart, that everyone can relate to in some way or another.

At first glance, one might assume that this book's title refers to a judge's chamber and that this will be another one of Grisham's thrill-a-minute page turners like his other books. This well-researched, movingly-detailed story is difficult to put down, but not for the same reason as his other novels. Instead, it closely resembles the author's first book,"A Time to Kill", an intense courtroom novel examining the politics of Mississippi justice.

The chamber in the title is the death chamber, where Sam Cayhall, a nine-year resident of death row, is slated to be killed with cyanide gas in a few weeks. Cayhall, a frail and elderly man, was a Ku Klux Klan bomber convicted in 1981 of bombing the office of a Jewish civil-rights lawyer in Mississippi in 1967. This explosion killed the lawyer's two young sons and badly maimed their father. Cayhall was freed after mistrials in 1967 and 1968; for the next 12 years, Sam led a normal life until an aggressive new district attorney reopened the case.

The novel's main action begins a month before Cayhall's scheduled execution. Adam Hall, a first-year lawyer in a large, prestigious Chicago firm which formerly represented Cayhall on a pro-bono basis, asks to represent Sam in an effort to get a stay of execution. Adam's secret weapon in the effort to have Sam agree to his representation is that he is Cayhall's long-lost grandson. Although Adam wants to help his grandfather, he must deal with his guilt for wanting to help someone whose beliefs he detests.

When Sam agrees to Adam's representation, a race against the clock begins. Grisham presents a picture of the controlled but frantic coordination necessary during the appeals process. It is literally a legal juggling act requiring split-second timing.

This book reads like non-fiction, with details about how the gas chamber actually works and what happens when it doesn't work perfectly. While it was not Grisham's intent to have "The Chamber" alter anyone's opinion of the death penalty, it will certainly cause many readers to re-examine their position.

I feel so sad when reading some of the reviews. One of the most recent ones even commented the book is horrible. It really disheartens me to see that many of the reasons given are usually saying the story is not nteresting, no plots ....etc.I really would like to say something for the book. I agree that The Chamber is not John Grisham's best book. When you compare it to fast-paced stories like The Firm or Pelican Brief, of course, you would not find the same style. Interesting plots and page-turner for sure will attract most readers, but I actually love this book.

May be it's true that it lacks the twists of many other books, but I believe Mr.Grisham wants to show us something different in this book. It tells us not all the lawsuits or related cases are interesting and make your heart rate fastened. Some of them may not be as interesting, but they are very real cases. Instead of victory all the times (which I believe most of the readers want), we can see the desperation in this book: when you try all your best but still cannot create a miracle because life is life.

We see the main character, Adam Hall, his desperation, his struggles, his frustrations. It is a great character. My heart follows Adam's when the story goes. Despite the missing excitement, yet I find myself totally involved in the sentiments of the story. The end of the story is so sad that I find my tears running down. I respect Adam's final decision and deep down in my heart, I wish I can be his very best friend, sharing his sorrows.

One final word, I have to say that if you are too keen on the style applied in books like The Firm, this one might disappoint you, but why not try something different and use your heart to read the book instead of your mind.

(Also recommend: The Rainmaker, which resemebles the simplicity of this book)

Grisham's best books are the thrilling fights against powerful enemies not yet fully known; this theme makes The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client such exciting stories.

That his first book (A Time to Kill) did not sell at fist didn't suprise because it just goes on and on in this flimsy tale of legal chitchat of a starting lawyer defending a black man's murder of the rapist of his daughter.

The Chamber gave me the same feeling. It feels like a poor attempt to write a literary, philosophical and ethical thriller - presenting the death penalty as an issue (but not really discussing it) and missing the chances of real suspense in the story.

I gave it two stars because of the description of the last hours of Adam and his grandfather, which I found really moving.

But they didn't make me forget that I had thought I bought a thriller.

For a former lawyer who has never witnessed a death row case, John Grisham's ability to portray such a case was impeccable. John Grisham tells the story of an ex-KKK member who is on death row for the murder of two young boys, and his defense attorney is his estranged grandson. Grisham was able to capture all the emotion and reality of an inmate's life on death row, and the lives of the inmate's family, as though death row cases were part of his daily routine. The Chamber is a complex novel about a controversial and painful topic to which almost every person has an opinion. During Grisham's time as an attorney he represented people accused of a variety of crimes, but never a capital murder case. John Grisham used the expertise of lawyers and members of the judicial system to learn about all aspects of a death row inmate's life and their cases. The Chamber is intended for an adult audience who has an interest in the controversial topic of the death penalty that causes them to reflect upon personal views and beliefs.
The Chamber is a compelling story of a family's deep, dark secrets that have been hidden from everyone, including each other... The book captures the reader's attention during the first chapter...

This was the first Grisham book that I've read, and I have some mixed reviews about it. While the plot and the story line are interesting and really makes you want to find out what happens next, the way the author presents the story, I feel, is a bit lacking. His writing style is plain and strictly to the point, and I personally enjoy reading novels that tend to be more emotional, elaborate, and powerful in the usage of language. Grisham presents the story, I guess, as a lawyer would, getting right down to the meat of the matter, but I feel he could make it just a bit more enjoyable to read. Also, it feels as if the story could be condensed into a somewhat shorter book; some of the material does seem a bit superfluous. I guess overall, his books are for the story (The plot of The Chamber is actually pretty good) which make for good movies, but if you want to really enjoy a book for it's artistic and literary merit, I'd suggest trying a different author.

Grisham, in his usual fasion. has woven together a story that, although predictable, is emotionally drenching and entertaining. It is true that all of Grisham's main characters are essentially the same person ( I've read all his works ) and that his plots are somewhat similar, although I really don't see this as a negative. His subtle humor and clever cynicism make Grisham enjoyable almost regardless of the plot. In this story, there is no need to feel sorry for Sam to like the book. I like the death penalty and despise people like Sam Cayhall and believe that death is too good for them, and I don't think that Grisham necessarily defends Sam in the book either. Regardless of your feelings on the death penalty, the book is an emotional thriller, and Grisham's portrayal of Nungent and his gang as morons merely increases his ability to work humor into the book, rather than turning the book into a political forum. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, especially for people who have read Grisham and appreciate his humor.

A friend of mine lent this to me saying it's the best book he's ever read. I can see why some people would think this.
After just finishing The Chamber my first thoughts are that it was compulsive read but also that the ending left me feeling a little flat. It was fast paced, and at times moving (re the lynching photo and Halls thoughts about it). You're left feeling how awful it is to spend years on death row but...the alternatives are never gone into in depth-there is only so much one can do with this I suppose, especially if the authors trying to entertain as well as enlighten. It reminded me of Dead Man Walking where it took the murderers pending death, moments away, for him to be truly repentant. Like that movie The Chamber inspires sympathy and forgiveness for the main characters and shows that people can change. I got a little disinterested in all the legal procedures and ended up trying to flip through these paragraphs to concentrate on the plot and emotion. There were some loose ends but you can't often squeeze life into a perfect little package.
I was very happy with the lack of romantic interest to slow the pace down (Grisham uses an alcoholic Aunt for this) at key moments. And happy that I didn't feel preached to by the author. Even now I'm not sure how strongly, if at all, Grisham is anti execution. He certainly didn't hold back on Cayhalls crimes.
All in all a very good book. Very different to my normal fare and one I would strongly recommend.