Customer Reviews

Personal Injuries

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(56)

 

 

Scott Turow does not write John Grisham novels. Many of us who read Turow read him because he doesn't churn out the the lowbrow, predictable pablum of other popular genre writers. Personal Injuries is magnificent - filled with complex, multi-faceted characters who are never entirely good or evil but, like most of us, somewhere in-between. The character of Robbie Feaver kept surprising me and challenging my initial perceptions (kinda like some of the people in my own life, how 'bout that!). I found the plot involving corrupt judges to be absolutely compelling and helped immeasurably by Turow's obvious experience with similar circumstances. I finished the novel last night and couldn't help but weep while reading the final 20 pages. Not only did I find the conclusion moving but the novel and the challenges of its characters left me with questions about my own life to think about. Now, what more could I ask of a piece of fiction?

It is amazing how many people missed the boat on this one. The very first review says it all. "Personal Injuries" isn't about plot or story line or fast pace or excitement or courtroom drama.

As I read the book I kept waiting for something to happen until I realized that something was happening. I was watching an author create a cast of characters who peopled any room I read this book in. Exquisitely drawn and beautifully built as seen through the eyes of not the first person narrator but the main character Robbie Feaver (pronounced "favor" as he tells us).

Further, Turow's portrayal of ALS and its effect on family members as well as the victim is heartbreaking. Such sadness!

Turow also leads us into the dark world of witness protection, the FBI and the battle of jurisdiction, political ambition and political medelling, etc.

Well done, Mr. Turow. Some of us understood where you were going and what you were doing.

Do you like legal thrillers, but are you somehow haunted by the belief that John Grisham doesn't really know what it's like to be a lawyer? Are you a patient reader? If the answer is yes to both questions, then this book is for you. The book, which involves a federal investigation into a corrupt judiciary scheme takes place in Turow's fictional Kindle County. We meet Robbie Feaver as he is coerced into cooperating with the investigation. The book takes off slowly and at the beginning, I confess I really did not like the book all that much. It was a little dry and sometimes had the look and feel of a legal memo (which are not that exciting, and if you've never read one, trust me on this). There was something that kept me reading and I am glad I did. I think it may have simply been the fact that the characters and what they do are truly realistic. As the book continues, Turow throws in some interesting, and yet still believable plot twists. His characters, at least the main ones are fairly multidimensional and the world they live in not all black and white, good and evil, but shades of grey. Robbie is not the most likable character, but is ultimately sympathetic. His choices, like those of the other characters, were not always good ones, but he is human. All in all this is an enjoyable novel if you have the patience to stick throught the first 100 pages or so.

I agree with other reviewers who said this is slow going. Don't expect a thriller that takes 2 hours to read. I've been slogging away for days, although overall I enjoyed it. Not since Shuuuuhman McCoy (Bonfire of the Vanities) have I read such a memorable portrait of a flawed main character. My favorite part of the book was Turow's incredible creation of Robbie Feaver. At times you'll hate him, at times you'll sympathize with him. His absolute egoism combined with his sensivity and personal values make him fascinating as a character study.

Turow provides such a detailed legal background that it almost overwhelms the reader. I can't help but think this book would have been stronger if it were a tad less overburdened by realistic details. Still, Turow does all his research and gives many readers a feel for the cruelest disease, ALS. The other villains and heroes are all interesting creations and well described. If you like intricate legal books, you won't be able to put this one down. You'll need to carry it around for awhile though to finish it.

"Personal Injuries" is actually the first Scott Turow novel I've read and I'm thoroughly impressed. From reading some of the other customer reviews, I've gathered that it doesn't follow the same format as the other books that made Turow famous. These reviewers are actually faulting the author for this. I would advise these morons to start on the John Grisham catalogue. Why do they think Scott Turow takes his time writing his novels? BECAUSE HE'S TRYING TO ACHIEVE A HIGHER STANDARD. And he succeeds immeasurably with "Personal Injuries". No, it's not a book filled with twists and turns, nor is it a legal "thriller" chock full of courtroom drama. It's a study of the legal profession itself with layers upon layers of brilliant characterization to keep the intelligent reader riveted until the end. In Robbie Feaver, Scott Turow has created one of the most memorable, intriguing characters I've ever read. He's an arrogant, enigmatic, law-breaking, rationalizing liar of a lawyer, but you just gotta love him. And that's exactly what this book is about -- understanding and forgiving the inherent flaws of humanity. It sounds like a lofty theme for a "lawyer's story" as Turow's narrator calls it, but Turow strikes the heart of it beautifully. At the finish, the reader is left pondering the imponderable hierarchy of values of the law. If you enjoy a thinking man's story (or if you just plain have a genuine admiration for great writing), don't miss this amazing, utterly believable, immensely enjoyable book.

Turow's latest is a superb character study that hooked me a lot more than his last book (Laws of Our Fathers). The characters of Feaver, Evon and Stan Sennett were fascinating to follow in their twists, turns and moral and legal dilemmas. Turow suffers with some critics because his books are perceived as "genre" fiction rather than the serious, mainstream novels of contemporary life they're clearly intended to be. Similarly, some readers seem to expect John Grisham-style thrillers. Best advice: read Turow if you enjoy serious contemporary fiction. This new one is an outstanding read and consideration of law and private moral codes.

If you're a typical Grisham-loving reader who prefers shallow movie-treatments being passed off as novels, then you will be disappointed by this book (and with most of Turow's work). However, if you enjoy characters possessing more than two dimensions and storylines which might actually make you think about something other than turning the next page, you'll find this book interesting, falling somewhere in between Pleading Guilty and Presumed Innocent.

Turow seems to alternate his very dense, probing novels (Burden of Proof, Laws of our Fathers) with the more commercial attempts such as those mentioned above. Personal Injuries, apparently, attempts to get back to the Presumed Innocent model. As interesting as it is, the main difference is that the narrative trick employed here (giving George Mason pseudo-omniscient storytelling capabilities) weakens the story in comparison to the strong first-person voice of Presumed Innocent.

But if you're willing to grant Turow this liberty, the ride is worth it. Still, I wonder whether it might have worked better told entirely first person from Feaver's POV, or even Evon's.

Don't compare Turow with Grisham! Turow is, to me, an excellent character writer. If you like John Le Carre more than Ian Fleming, or Len Deighton more than Tom Clancy, or John Irving more than Harold Robbins then you will like Scott Turow much more than John Grisham. This is a wonderful story with truly interesting characters.

I wish I had read these review before I attempted to read the book. I struggled to get involved, but after 300 dull boring pages of nothing happending but a lot of "wearing a wire to listen to corrupt people who know how not to incriminate themselves", I read the ending and called it quits. I've read and enjoyed all Turow's books; but not this one.

Hey, folks, if you are looking for a simple read with a formula plot, two-dimensional characters, and a writing style that can be cut-and-pasted into a first grade primer, don't waste your money on Personal Injuries. However, if you are tired of the typical best-seller pap that is probably costing you a quarter of a hundred dollars for a hard-bound novel, make a good investment and buy this book. This is a novel to be savored word-by-word, like a good Chardonnay.

Turow's characters are, despite their human frailties, real honest-to-gosh human beings. As you read, you can feel the life forces of these people's blood pulsating through their bodies. Robbie Feaver is the Willie Loman of the Millennium. Just about everything about him is false. His whole life has been so full of lies, he has convinced even himself that they are true. Despite Robbie's weaknesses, however, we get a chance, thanks to Mr. Turow, to step inside Feaver's body and see the soul of the man. Another character, Evon (DeDe), who is tied up in knots in her own identity crisis, is easy to dislike. But we learn why we dislike her and it is through this understanding of her character that we see a human being under the layers of camouflage.

Personal Injuries is not an easy book to read. It is advisable not to read certain sections of it at bedtime, or (as I did) you will awaken in the middle of the night with the bed light still on and the book still opened to the page at which you fell asleep. To those who found it boring, I give this bit of advice: read it again-this time as an intelligent piece of literature rather than a mindless bedtime story. Look for the richness of the plot, the texture of the characters, the craftsmanship of the way Turow puts his words on paper. This is the first time I have read any of Scott Turow's books. If, according to some readers, this latest book is an indication of his "downhill spiral," then gangway, everyone-I'm headin' out to buy everything he's written!