Customer Reviews

A Time to Kill (Penguin Readers, Level 5)

5 star:		(265)
4 star:		(87)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Finally, A Time to Kill, John Grisham's first novel, is a feature length movie. I just read this book, but I knew it was realeased in 1989. I'm only thirteen, and this was my first Grisham book. In this story, Grisham hits us with a subject that most might not like to discuss: child rape. Ten-year old Tonya Hailey is brutally raped and almost killed by two drunken rednecks; perhaps the saddest and hardest part to get through with the addition of little Tonya's dream of her father running to get her. After this horrid crime is committed, Tonya's father, Carl Lee exacts vengeance on the two rednecks, and kills them. He is put on trial, and lawyer Jake Brigance is introduced to us. He takes Carl Lee's case and must face his hated enemy, Rufus Buckley, in court. The days leading to the trial are filled with KKK threats, riots between blacks and the KKK, and several other chills and spills. Finally, the trial comes and the small town of Clanton, where the trial is held, is occupated by journalists, soldiers, KKK members, and thousands of blacks, as they all wait for the verdict on the edge of their seats..

Gwen Hailey calls her husband Carl Lee at work, tells him their daughter, ten-year-old Tonya is missing. Carl Lee isn't all that worried though, because his wife tends to be, well a little protective. However when he gets home he's met with the news that Tonya has been raped by a pair of redneck types named Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard. Tonya had been left for dead and Carl Lee is seeing red. He's African American and does not believe the rapists are going to get what they deserve. Though they're arrested, Carl Lee knows how it goes in the South, so he goes to the courthouse and blows away those young good old boys, then he gets himself a lawyer.

Attorney Jake Brigance takes the case, which gets plenty of media attention right from the get go. It also draws the attention of the Clan, who do their best to intimidate both Jake (they burn a cross on his yard) and the jurors. Carl Lee is looking at the gas chamber if he's convicted and many want it so, however, there are many who believe Carl Lee had been justified. Tension is running high in the Mississippi town of Clanton. Jake's wife is afraid for their daughter Hannah. His secretary is afraid, too. The town doesn't need this, but it's got it.

And you may not need the tension in this book, nor the graphic scene detailing what happened to Tonya, but you should read this book. This is John Grisham's best work, it's his first novel, too. Everything John Grisham writes tops the bestseller lists and they should, but this book, well they need a whole new list for this book. John Grisham puts you in the South at a tense time and paints a picture so true it'll make your eyes bleed as you pour through the pages. He's written a book about a time in the South that the South would love to forget about. We were a different people then, thank the Lord we're changing. We're not their yet, but we're getting there.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Jake Brigance is a small-town lawyer with a small-town law practice, taking nickel & dime cases to make ends meet. A young attorney in Clanton, Mississippi, Jake's future as a big-time criminal defense lawyer is incredibly turned down a frightening path in which he encounters the desperate and grim face of racism at its worst. Because of his skill in defending Lester Hailey, Jake is hired to defend Carl Lee Hailey in hopes of obtaining Carl Lee's freedom, despite Carl Lee's admittedly pre-meditated murder of two white men, Billy Ray Cobb and Ernest "Pete" Willard.

The rape of ten year old Tanya, Carl Lee's daughter, by Billy Ray and Pete, has to be one of the most torturous events in fiction that Grisham has written; to even imagine that two men could perpetrate such an act on so young a child is absolutely horrific and incredible. Throughout, Grisham plays strongly on the premise that people who have children know exactly what they would do, were they in Carl Lee's shoes - to avenge the horror of such despicable actions in the only way such men would understand - violent death.

When I first read this novel, I was angered and irritated by the depth of hatred that exists within racism. I was angered that had Carl Lee been a white man bent on avenging his daughter's suffering, he would never have had to face trial. Grisham in fact, points this out several times throughout the novel, and this becomes a rallying point for Carl Lee's supporters. Whereas vigilante justice is not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination, Grisham appeals to the emotions of parents - black or white - and succeeds in winning us over. In fact, this is exactly how the jury decides Carl Lee's fate, rejecting the pressure of the Klan, as well as the black community who thronged the courthouse chanting, "Free Carl Lee!".

A Time to Kill is a disturbing novel, aside from the raping and killing that opens the tale. It is not possible to look at our justice system the same way, especially from the viewpoint of the black community in the South - even today. It seems that although we have come far since the 1960's and Dr. King, Grisham would have us believe that not much has changed for the better.

Peace Out.

"A Time to Kill" is John Grisham's first novel, but unless you read the foreword, it's not readily apparent. His fluid, detailed storytelling is unlike the choppy first attempts of many modern authors. (At times it may seem he pays *too* much attention to details, but after all, he *is* a lawyer.)

In a small town in the Deep South, two redneck hooligans rape and maim a ten-year-old black girl. Enraged, the girl's father, Carl Lee Hailey, takes justice into his own hands, killing the two rapists in a courthouse shooting. He seeks the help of defense lawyer Jake Brigance to save him from the gas chamber. Brigance, a young but sharp lawyer, has to find a way to win an impossible case: a black man is on trial for killing two white men, and his case is being heard by an all-white jury. Adding to the mix are violence between the Ku Klux Klan and the black community, and the fact that, during the shooting, Carl Lee had injured a sheriff's deputy (who later had to have part of his leg amputated).

Throughout the book, the odds stack against Brigance and his client, and the novel will definitely keep you turning the pages. No matter what your personal opinions on the death penalty or vigilante justice are, you won't be disappointed. As Jake's mentor, disbarred lawyer Lucien Wilbanks, says, "If you win this case, justice will prevail, but if you lose it, justice will also prevail."

A Time to Kill is, in my opinion, Grisham's finest work (standing just a little higher that The Firm). It was also Grisham's first book and I read somewhere that he had it privately published because, at the time, no-one would touch it. (Shows what unknown struggling authors have to put up with, doesn't it!). Anyway, the good news is that, after Grisham hit the top-sellers lists, A Time to Kill was republished and it, too, became a bestseller.

It's a gripping tale of a young lawyer defending a black Vietnam war hero who has killed two white men (who raped his daughter). The tale is a mixture of the Grisham-style legal story and of America's tragic history of slavery and black repression. Grisham tells the story perfectly. His dialogue is spot on. There is one, superb passage where the local reverend is preaching to his flock. If you can imagine a 'Blues Brothers' type of scenario with 'I have seen the light' coming from the congretation as the preacher winds them up, you'll get the picture.

Carl Lee Hailey (the Vietnam war veteran) gets hold of an M-16, kills the rapists on the courthouse steps, then turns for help to attorney Jake Brigance. Some of the local folk want to give Carl Lee a second medal for his action, but premeditated murder is hard to ignore, and anyway, the town is divided. Blacks note that a white man shooting a black rapist would be acquitted. The KKK turns up the heat. The NAACP gets involved. Due to the publicity, a big local firm of lawyers get in on the act and try to outmaneuver Jake. Jake has a secret weapon though - his brilliant, but disbarred ex-partner.

As Amazon's own review says'Crosses burn, people die, crowds chant "Free Carl Lee!" and "Fry Carl Lee!" in the antiphony of America's classical tragedy.' A superb book. A wonderful story, brilliantly written.

I'm sure you've read the story synopsis, so I won't bore you with it.

So why did I give it 5 stars? In short, it's a legal thriller at its best. The main character, Jake Brigance - defense lawyer for Carl Lee Hailey, is hardly endearing - he's openly hateful towards his secretary, lies to his wife, submits to the temptation of alcohol when the heat comes down. However, in reality, it makes the character more real - nobody's perfect, everyone has their dark sides. Sure, he's hounding after the publicity at first, but he also comes to care about the fate of his client, and while he flirts with his law clerk (always got a chuckle out of "Row Ark") he doesn't submit to THAT temptation and stays true to his wife.

The topic is interesting - how the law should treat a vigilante killer. Yet deeper than that is the fundamental question of equality of treatment between whites and blacks in the law. Yes, the law itself holds all people as equal, but it's the eyes of the 12 jury members that really determines the guilt or innocence of a person.

The characters are well crafted - not all likeable, but at least, for the most part, believable. The pace of the story nicely snowballs - adding in essential tension with the addition of the Klu Klux Klan's involvement in the proceedings.

So it certainly deserves the 5 stars and I thoroughly recommend it it anyone (which is more than I can say for the movie adaptation, but that's another story!)

In the hands of a greater author, or perhaps if Grisham had paid as much attention to some aspects of the book as to others, this could have been a truly powerful piece of work. The subject itself is fascinating: a black man takes the lives of his little daughter's rapists in the heart of the Deep South, where justice is still tainted by color. After reading the book, however, I couldn't help but feel that Grisham missed the mark somewhere.

I was amused when I saw that this book was required reading for an introductory Afro-American history class at my college. First of all, this book is not about a black father avenging his daughter. The book is about a white lawyer who braves the dangers and hatred of his peers to defend that father. In essence, the book ends up being a far weaker, more contemporary version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Anyone who expects otherwise will be disappointed. The black characters in the novel are secondary and painted in very broad strokes: Carl Lee Hailey at times appears to be a slow-witted oaf, his wife Gwen is a subservient black woman, and the black preachers are all stereotyped. Tonya Hailey is perhaps the strongest black character, and well-so. The opening scene of her rape is vivid and heart-rending, and Grisham portrays her later suffering throughout the book in a manner that is poignantly real.

Still, the white characters end up being decidedly stronger than the black. Jake Brigance, the lawyer, is the noble white knight who risks all to save the black man from the Klan, rednecks, and the closet racists of Clanton, Mississippi. His wife is quiet, proud, and believable in her concern for her husband. Ellen Roark, the law student who aids Brigance in his defense of Hailey, is brilliant and vibrant. After the initial rape and murder of the two rednecks, the focus shifts mainly on the whites and the blacks are reduced to cameo roles.

My biggest gripe about the book is the glib manner in which Grisham handles his subject. At times the novel seems to be almost frivolous in content. Harry Rex Vonner, Lucien Wilbanks, Rufus Buckley, and even Judge Noose are all cartoonish and rarely exhibit human depth. The word 'nigger' is used constantly and, at times, unnecessarily, particularly among the more liberal white characters in the novel. There is almost too much humor for a subject of this importance, especially in some of the dialogue. Comic relief is understandably needed in a novel this intense, but Grisham overdoes it.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad book at all. Grisham's breezy writing style makes for a comfortable read, and it is admittedly a page-turner. When he takes his subject matter seriously, he shines. The reader can feel Tonya's pain and sympathize with Carl Lee's justifiable wrath. The trials that Jake Brigance undergoes to defend Carl Lee are vivid and well-told, and his closing argument is perhaps the high point of the entire story. The diverging sentiments of the residents of Clanton both for and against Carl Lee are also well-described. Still, these moments are too few and far between. This is one instance when I can definitely say I thought the movie was more powerful than the book. The black characters and white characters are presented more on an even level and it makes a stronger statement about race and justice in this country. The book, while showing a lot of promise, ends up falling short of what it could have been. Like many other contemporary novels it fails to achieve any real depth, and the characters fail to linger with you after you've put it down. Still, if you are looking for an entertaining read, don't hesitate to pick up this book. Just don't expect it to make you think overlong about real race issues facing this country.

A Time To Kill is the debut novel of the mega selling author John Grisham. Setting the basis of much of his future works, the book follows the story of a young Southern lawyer who has seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against him. Jake Brigance is the lawyer who represents Carl Lee Hailey in the small Mississippi town of Clanton. Carl's young daughter is viciously raped by a couple of rednecks. The rednecks are on trial, but Carl takes matters into his own hands and kills them. Carl is black and this incident has split the town along racial lines. Was is justifiable homicide or premeditated murder? Should he get the death penalty or be acquitted? Grisham is a lawyer so his intimate understanding of the way a lawyer approaches a case and how a trial unfolds is letter perfect. The book is a quick and easy read and highly enjoyable.

John Grisham was born in Arkansas in 1955. He grew up to be a lawyer in a small Missippi town. His writing of legal dramas began after hearing the testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim, which inspired his first novel A Time to Kill.
In A Time to Kill a southern black man is on trial facing the death penalty for the murder of the two white men who brutally raped his young daughter. Now his lawer, Jack Brigance, is faced with the challenge of freeing him along with all of the social problems that came with it.
In the novel Grisham thoroughly depicts the life and social staus of a small southern town. The reader is able to feel the racial tension and the fear spread throughout the town as problems begin to arise. The strong personalities of his characters develop with the story and give you a personal feel for their situation. To not root for their defense would be impossible.
Grisham is able to find the balance of being descriptive without being too wordy and thorough wihtout becoming boring. A Time to Kill is realistic, exciting, and suspenceful, keeping you interested the whole way. One of the greatest of his books, I would recommend it to anyone with interest in this genre.

I read this book after others by Grisham and was pleasantly surprised.
It is different from his other books, but very enjoyable still. I
see that he has a sense of humor, which I did not detect in his
other books. I would say one of my favorites by this author.