Customer Reviews

The Seven Minutes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many years after it's initial printing, Seven Minutes is still possibly the best book about Lawyers in action ever written. Taking a stand in the face of incredible odds, the main character risks his personal and professional life to defend a book that has stirred up controversy due to it's rather titilating subject matter. It's a wonderful story, not only life affirming but exhilerating in it's twists and turns.

This is a remarkable book about a book fictional supposedly written in the 1930s, entitled "The Seven Minutes," and written by fictional writer J. J. Janeway, which details the thoughts and passions that a woman experiences during the seven minutes from the commencement of intercourse to orgasm. The book, which is read by a minor and who then is supposedly is so aroused that he rapes a woman, is accused itself of rape. The concepts are novel and the court scenes are highly realistic. (I am a trial lawyer, and I don't often say this about any book or movie).

Although the story reads quickly, this is certainly not what I'd call "great literature" or even "so-so literature." Wallace's characters and situations lack subtlety. For example, the main character's fiance, Faye, is repeatedly described as having "a face like porcelain" and when the narrator first mentions her, it is in the context of her forcing her boyfriend (our hero) to get rid of his comfortable, not-so-fancy furniture for much more expensive (but highly impractical and uncomfortable) items. So, right away we get her role in the story. Sure enough, she's the daughter of a very wealthy man who is offering our hero an opportunity to make a lot of money by turning his back on social justice and, instead, going into the business.

Hmm. Wonder what he'll decide to do...

Sure enough, our hero eventually decides to throw away his one big chance at riches to do the right thing, which is to risk his career/fiance/etc. defending a book ("The Seven Minutes") against charges that it's pornographic.

The whole thing is rather silly. The bad guys are really, really bad. The good guys are really, really good. The plot twists are really, really predictable.

All of which is not to say that it's a BAD book.. it's okay in a light-read kind of way. But it's nothing special.

A novel about a book, in this case. In the story, The Seven Minutes is a book that has the explicit sexual thoughts of a woman. The novel details the society, legal ramifications and other hoo-hah surround its publication.

Obviously a book of its time, but certainly has a couple of things to say about censorship and freedom of speech.

I loved this book. It may start out slow but keep reading, it gets alot better. I liked it so much that I have read it two times.

Built around a popular topic of pornography, Wallace tried defining the difference between artwork and pornography. Excellant writing craft by carrying the reader with the story without bringing him under the huge set of information used to build the trial. The very idea of the fictional work 'The Seven Minutes' which is the central charecter around which the whole story revolves is very attractive and artistic. The line between art and pornography is normally very thin and Michel Barret, the petty lawer who believes that this is an art work rather than hard pornography gives us excellant account of the topic in historical perspective.

I bought this book for a friend who has never read it and could not find it anywhere. But thanks to Amazon that is no longer true. The condition of the book was as it was described. I always smile when I purchase an item that costs less than the postage and handling. But this is becoming an acceptable practice.

Sorry, but this is a really bad, out-dated book. First, the issue of censorship of sexually-based material is not relevant today, given the wholesale access to pornography in many different media. Second, the premise of this book is that the DA (prosecutor) would try to make a case that a rapist was not guilty of his crime because of being influenced by pornography. This is such an offensive argument - goes back to the dark ages of blaming the woman for being raped because of the clothes she wore. Further, this is a line of defense the defense attorney would use, not a legitimate prosecutor. However, the ultimate insult comes when the rapist overdoses and is found unconscious. Attorney Michael Barrett finds him, and rather than call 911, tranports the unconscious man to the home of a doctor friend who, of course, revives him. An unconscious man with a serious overdose would need the facilities of an emergency room, not a private doctor's house.

Wallace is a good writer in terms of his style, but the story is too weak and pushes the limits of credibility too far to be worth seven minutes of your time.

Forget the topic of this novel: "What's pornography?"

This whole novel is based on a saying attributed to Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." (May be, the hero of this novel, even approves of what he defends in the court.)

Wallace is a good story teller. However, this book is no masterpiece by any means. I agree with the fundamental premise of the book though: "Apply censorship sparingly or not at all."

This is Irving Wallace at his best. In this book his is a combination of John Grisham's dramatic court scene in "A Time to Kill", Sidney Sheldon's nail-biting suspense in "Bloodline" and his own narrative as in "The Word". Need I say more?