Backstory: Coincidentally enough, John Grisham is another author I started reading at my grandmother’s house (different grandmother, though). Also, he’s another author that my mother took away from me when I was young; she let me read everything but A Time to Kill. I remember really enjoying his books when I was younger, but I’ve read the past few out of habit more than anything else. I was more excited about this one, however, because I have several friends who are associates in big law firms, and I’ve heard plenty of stories.
One-Sentence Plot Summary:Third year Yale law student Kyle McAvoy is forced to take a job and then engage in corporate espionage at one of the world’s biggest law firms to prevent a secret from his past from being exposed.
Review: I don’t judge all books by the same standard. I’d never expect a quick read to compare to a classic or a Pulitzer Prize winner. In evaluating a Grisham novel, I’m primarily looking at how it compares to his previous works and similarly situated novels. Even by these fairly lax standards, however, The Associate falls short.
Grisham’s novels (at least his legal thrillers) are intended to be plot-driven page-turners. The Associateis no exception, which makes the lack of a significant conflict a real problem. The plot depends on Kyle feeling like he has no choice other than to obey the wishes of his blackmailers. But when he finally decides to take action, the problem is solved with a couple easy maneuvers. Unfortunately, these options are evident from the beginning, and the explanation for why Kyle waited is unconvincing. Furthermore, the acts that Kyle has to commit while being blackmailed aren’t that atrocious. He rakes in $200,000 a year at a job he was considering taking in the first place while occasionally providing his blackmailers with information. Grisham tries to make this seem very dramatic by having Kyle constantly worry about his “ethical obligations,” but it’s hard to work up much concern.
A related problem is that the main character is never truly threatened. As Kyle himself points out, his blackmailers’ plan will fail without his continued existence. To increase the tension, Grisham puts a secondary character at risk instead. In an attempt to make us care about this secondary character, Grisham invests a significant portion of the novel to this character’s backstory–which has absolutely no bearing on the main plot.
Finally, the book’s depiction of life in a large law firm (one of my primary reasons for reading it) is shallow and stereotypical. As previously mentioned, Kyle was considering taking the job before he was forced to do so. Presumably, he had reasons for considering this, and presumably, there are reasons why many people stay at the firm. In The Associate, however, everyone at the law firm is immoral or obnoxious, and the only decent people are planning to leave. Additionally, the horror stories of life at the firm are recycled, familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of law firm life.
Conclusion: The Associate doesn’t satisfy a craving for Grisham. Re-read one of his older novels instead; I particularly like The Client and The Pelican Brief.
Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s. Also available in audiobook format.
2 Comments
February 11, 2009 at 11:34 am
I haven’t read any of John Grisham’s books since middle school, but “The Client” was a favorite of mine. I wasn’t allowed to see the movie until I read the book, and so I started reading it immediately as I wanted to see the movie. I, of course, ended up loving the book way more than the movie and went through my whole John Grisham phase reading “A Time to Kill,” “The Firm,” and “The Pelican Brief.” I’m glad to know I haven’t missed out on much since then
February 11, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Not so much.
Someone told me the other day, though, that Grisham’s novel, A Painted House, about growing up in rural Arkansas was really good. I might have to check that out.