The Reckoning: A Novel: 25

Product Information

Llevaba unos cinco o seis años sin leer nada de John Grisham. Fui lectora suya durante mucho tiempo, pero llegó un momento en el que me resultaba repetitivo y dejé de leerlo. Este libro me llamó la atención y lo anoté como posible. Tras leer una reseña de un amigo por aquí me decidí a leerlo. Digamos que me he reconciliado con el autor.

The mystery of why Pete shot Dexter Bell is the central focus of this story as every aspect of his life is examined. He had only returned the year before after having served in the Philippines and been captured by the Japanese and spent time as a POW and was missing, presumed dead before his miraculous rescue. The story gets the dynamics and tone of the era right, especially this Southern community and its residents. There’s family drama, courtroom action and small town politics that mix to make this a familiar Grisham brew. But the real heart of the book is the chronicling of Pete’s action in the Philippines, the part of World War II that rarely gets the level of attention given to the European and Japanese counterparts. It was brutally honest, graphic and enlightening.John Grisham says THE TUMOR is the most important book he has ever written. In this short book, he provides readers with a fictional account of how a real, new medical technology could revolutionize the future of medicine by curing with sound.

Grisham can come up with a story...that isn't a problem. He can create suspicion and suspense. Great. But the problem I've had with this book and with the one I read last week, is the writing. There is so much telling. He explains everything. It feels like he sees the scene in his head, and writes exactly what he sees. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is why I'm having a problem with the characters. They feel like cardboard....like they are in a painting and I'm trying to guess, who they really are, what they are thinking and feeling, etc. This morning was not the time to discuss it. He was facing an ugly chore, a monstrous deed, one that could not be avoided or postponed any longer. In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him.

Need Help?

Hop Purdue had been cleaning the church for twenty years. He was in the annex when he heard the shots that seemed to shake the building. He was standing in the hallway outside the pastor’s study when the door opened and Pete walked out, still holding the pistol. He raised it, aimed it at Hop’s face, and seemed ready to fire. Hop fell to his knees and pleaded, “Please, Mista Banning. I ain’t done nothin’. I got kids, Mista Banning.”

In the summer of his seventeenth year, Sam­uel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basket­ball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true. Pete Banning comes from a family that has farmed cotton for generations. He is owner of a 640-acre parcel in northern Mississippi. In Part One, "The Killing," Pete's wife Liza has recently been placed in a mental institution; his children Joel and Stella are college students; and his sister Florry is a would-be writer who lives on an adjacent parcel. One morning, Pete rises and decides that today is the day for an act of killing. He goes about his normal activities before heading into town, where he walks in on Dexter Bell, the pastor of the local Methodist church, and draws a gun. The pastor exclaims, "If it's about Liza, I can explain." Pete shoots Bell three times, killing him. Pete Banning was Clanton Mississippi‘s favorite son. He had recently returned from the Philippines as an decorated war hero. He was the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Whew! This was like 3 separate stories rolled into one. It was the story of Pete shooting Dexter and then his murder trial. The second section was in hindsight - Pete's stint in WWII and his time in the Philippines as a guerilla. Then thirdly the last section which was mainly about Pete's kids - Joel and Stella - and the heartache and confusion after Pete's trial.He finished his coffee, placed the cup on a porch rail, and lit a cigarette. He thought of his children. Joel was a senior at Vanderbilt and Stella was in her second year at Hollins, and he was thankful they were away. He could almost feel their fear and shame at their father being in jail, but he was confident they would survive, like the field hands. They were intelligent and well‑adjusted, and they would always have the land. They would finish their education, marry well, and prosper. Grisham offers one tantalizing clue asPreacher Bell begs for his life: “If it’s about Liza, I can explain. No, Pete!” The story takes place in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, in Grisham's Ford County. It is the sixth Grisham novel to take place here, following A Time to Kill, The Summons, The Chamber, The Last Juror and Sycamore Row.