Not exactly Tort-uous plotting (The King of Torts - John Grisham)

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	The King of Torts - John Grisham
Date:	16/07/07 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good pacing, interesting story

Disadvantages: Can be repetitive, superficial plot and characters

Public Defender J Carter Clay becomes a multi-millionaire overnight when he sues a drugs company over a bad product.

The King of Torts is one of John Grisham's later books – released long after his legal potboilers had (in my opinion) gone off the boil. Unsuccessful forays into other areas (including semi-autobiographical novels) led to Grisham returning to the legal arena he always appears most comfortable.

It's full of Grisham's trademarks (big, arrogant lawyers fighting to make even more money). Fans will immediately be comfortable with the tone and feel, and it rips along at a cracking pace. There's no doubting the fact that Grisham has a very readable style, writing in short sections and chapters that tempt the reader in to read “just a few more pages”. OK, so he's not the greatest writer in the world, and his prose is never going to challenge for any literary awards, but he sure knows how to keep the reader interested – and isn't that the real purpose behind any book meant for mass market entertainment?

Grisham also manages to make interesting plots out of events that normally would bore the pants off most people and he does it again here. If someone had told me that a novel about the tort system in America would keep me gripped, I'd have laughed in their faces! This is Grisham's peculiar talent. He can take a really dull, complicated subject, boil it down to its basics so that it's easily understood and digested by its readers and then craft an interesting story out of it.

Because, make no mistake about it, The King of Torts is an interesting story. It starts off with a murder, which leads you to expect a traditional murder mystery/courtroom storyline, before veering off in a very unexpected direction. Within about 40 pages, the whole focus of the book has changed, and we're suddenly thrown into the arena of lawyers suing big companies, which is nowhere near as dry as it sounds. As mentioned above, Grisham lets the book rip along at a breathless pace, rushing the reader from one event to the next. The tension over the outcome of certain events does actually grip you and will have you wondering what's going to happen next.

Whilst this is a strength, though, it's also a weakness. One of the reasons the plot can zip along so much is because it's actually pretty flimsy. It's also a little repetitive. The first battle suing a big company is pretty interesting, but then we go through the whole thing again with a second company, then a third. It's as if Grisham realises that this book is pretty much a one trick pony and that he doesn't have enough material to introduce anything new. True, he does introduce different aspects to each of these plot repetitions, but really, these are just variations on a theme.

Equally, a long-standing complaint of Grisham novels is that the characters he creates are also pretty one-dimensional, and The King of Torts is no exception. Not only do most of the characters have ridiculous names, it's also difficult to find a likeable character in the book. Most of them are greedy, vain, self-obsessed and arrogant. The chief culprit here is J Carter Clay himself. We're meant to believe he's a good bloke, former committed defender of the poor, who gets lucky and has the opportunity to make lots of money. In fact, the part of the book where he is “good” is skipped over so quickly (for pacing issues) that you never once believe this. All he will do is confirm your opinion of lawyers (unless you are one, of course, in which case it will make your blood boil at its “unfair portrayal!”)

In addition to possessing mostly unlikeable traits, Grisham's treatment of his characters is also very shallow. The descriptions of almost all the characters – even the key ones – is very superficial indeed. As such, it's really difficult to care what happens to them – good or bad. Characters appear quickly and then disappear just as quickly – forgotten about or reintroduced, as the story demands it. Outside of the main characters, it's sometimes difficult to remember who is who. Since they have virtually no features to distinguish them from other characters, they all tend to merge into one. Again, this doesn't help you identify with them or care about them.

As with many of his other books, The King of Torts is best viewed as a disposable piece of entertainment – it's almost the very definition of holiday reading. Perfect for lazy days by the pool when you don't want to have to concentrate, or to take your mind off those long delays at the airport! It's the sort of book which is entertaining enough whilst you're reading it, but instantly forgotten the minute you read the last page and put it down.

Efficiently-enough written, it would have benefited from a more substantial plot and more nuanced characters. It will pass a few hours for you, but it's unlikely you'll ever come back to read it a second time.

Basic Information
----------------------
The King of Torts
John Grisham
Random House, 2003
ISBN: 0099416174 (paperback)
Cost: £6.99 (paperback, new) or around £1 (second hand)

Summary: Entertaining enough, but chances are you'll only read it the once.