Free Sample Essays > North American
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The analysis of "The Client" by John Grisham
“I’d love to write great literature. I’d love to be a great writer. I’d love to write really good, serious books. And I’d want them to sell”. (John Grisham)
The author of these words, the international phenomenon, that is John Grisham, was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on February 8, 1955. He took up residence in Southaven, Mississippi, in 1967 and received an undergraduate degree in accounting from Mississippi State University in 1977. Then he attended law school at the University of Mississippi, where he earned a law degree in 1981. John Grisham established a law practice in Southaven, where he practised both criminal and civil law. In 1983, he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, and in 1989 he published his first novel - “A Time to Kill”. The book received some good reviews but was sold only moderately well. His next book, however, would be a different story. Completed in 1988, “The Firm” was his break-out hit. In 1990, before the novel was published, Paramount Pictures purchased the film rights for $600,000. That same year, John Grisham left the House of Representatives and bought a farm near Oxford, Mississippi.
Since then, John Grisham has gone on to be recognised as one of the world’s best-selling novelists, the lord of legal thrillers. In addition to “A Time to Kill” and “The Firm” his titles include “The Pelican Brief”, “The Client”, “The Chamber” and “The Rainmaker”, each of which has been made into immensely successful film versions. His recent novels are “The Partner” and “The Runaway Jury” (1997), “The Street Lawyer” (1998), “The Testament” (1999) and “The Brethren” (2000).
With his legal thrillers John Grisham has won a huge following of readers and set a standard few contributions the genre can match. Because of the success of his novels, the legal thriller is the most popular genre in American fiction today. John Grisham’s legal thriller evolved from the thriller tradition and borrowed from the heroic romance novel, gothic novel, crime novel, and detective fiction. His novels examine contemporary social and legal problems that do not have simple solutions - ecology, ethic relations, capital punishment, corporate greed, health insurance - and how he depicts both the legal system and lawyers in their best and worst lights.
“The Client” is a marvellous, absorbing, compelling, richly textured, cunningly crafted and poignant, solidly plotted and masterfully suspenseful legal thriller, the action of which is set in Memphis, then moves to New Orleans, but both backgrounds are sketchy. John Grisham uses his insider legal knowledge of the law to advantage, smoothly mixing his skills and heart-pounding cat-and-mouse chases, that make his story even more complex than most crime adventures. Everything in this book rings true, from the authentic milieu and vividly portrayed supporting cast to the behind-the-scenes view of the criminal justice system; it shows an engrossing fictional look at the American legal system at work, for better or worse.
The main hero - an eleven-year-old boy Mark Sway - is unforgettable, his character is more than incredible and enchanting. [next page]