The Chamber: Amazon.ca: John Grisham: Books

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"The decision to bomb the office of the radical Jew lawyer was reached with relative ease." So begins Grisham's legal leviathan The Chamber, a 676-page tome that scrutinizes the death penalty and all of its nuances--from racially motivated murder to the cruel and unusual effects of a malfunctioning gas chamber.

Adam Hall is a 26-year-old attorney, fresh out of law school and working at the best firm in Chicago. He might have been humming Timbuk 3's big hit, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," if it wasn't for his psychotic Southern grandfather, Sam Cayhall. Cayhall, a card-carrying member of the KKK, is on death row for killing two men. Knowing his uncle will surely die without his legal expertise, Hall comes to the rescue and puts his dazzling career at stake, while digging up a barnyard of skeletons from his family's past. Grisham fans expecting the typical action-packed plot should ready themselves for a slower pace, well-fleshed-out characters, and heavy doses of sentimentalism. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Tie-in edition with the forthcoming movie starring Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

260 Reviews

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(42)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (260 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars An Extended Look at Guilt, Remorse, Punishment, and Redemption, Jun 19 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Chamber (Mass Market Paperback)

If your idea of a good book is one where there is lots of action and fascinating twists and turns of plot complications pop up on every page, you shouldn't go anywhere near The Chamber. If, however, you would like to gain a visceral sense of the issues around capital punishment, The Chamber is a well-constructed fictional treatment. It won't be a pretty or a pleasant experience, but neither is capital punishment.

I remember as a youngster carefully following the case of Caryl Chessman, a convicted robber and rapist who was executed in California's gas chamber. Reading The Chamber brought back those visceral memories of thinking through my reactions to the death penalty. I became an opponent. Most people who read this book will too.

John Grisham does a good job of making the book about the death penalty, rather than the general flaws in the legal system. He also explains the reasons why gas chambers were an awful way to execute criminals.

The condemned man in the story is clearly guilty, by his own admission, in the book; but Grisham makes him somewhat appealing: Grisham wants us to think about what should happen to this old white man, Sam Cayhall, a KKK member who participated in terror bombings in the South during the Civil Rights era. Grisham's clever idea for this book is to have Sam's grandson Adam Hall, who doesn't know his grandfather, handle the last few weeks of desperate appeals. Hall becomes a surrogate for a neutral observer in a situation where there can be no neutral observers.

I was impressed by the plotting and character development in the story. Murder creates more victims than most people realize, even among the killer's family. Grisham adds those dimensions in persuasive fashion.

The book's main weakness is that he pushes our noses a bit too much into nitty gritty of defending Death Row cases. Unless you are a lawyer (which I am), you won't find a lot of this very interesting. But if you are lawyer who hasn't been near a capital case, you'll find this book to be quite startling in terms of describing a situation for defense lawyers where they have little hope to win . . . but lots of chances to experience a broken heart.

If you want a shorter look at Grisham's views on the subject, you might enjoy the non-fiction The Innocent Man more than The Chamber.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and moving, Jul 8 2004

By	D. Spidet (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chamber (Mass Market Paperback)

A friend of mine lent this to me saying it's the best book he's ever read. I can see why some people would think this.
After just finishing The Chamber my first thoughts are that it was compulsive read but also that the ending left me feeling a little flat. It was fast paced, and at times moving (re the lynching photo and Halls thoughts about it). You're left feeling how awful it is to spend years on death row but...the alternatives are never gone into in depth-there is only so much one can do with this I suppose, especially if the authors trying to entertain as well as enlighten. It reminded me of Dead Man Walking where it took the murderers pending death, moments away, for him to be truly repentant. Like that movie The Chamber inspires sympathy and forgiveness for the main characters and shows that people can change. I got a little disinterested in all the legal procedures and ended up trying to flip through these paragraphs to concentrate on the plot and emotion. There were some loose ends but you can't often squeeze life into a perfect little package.
I was very happy with the lack of romantic interest to slow the pace down (Grisham uses an alcoholic Aunt for this) at key moments. And happy that I didn't feel preached to by the author. Even now I'm not sure how strongly, if at all, Grisham is anti execution. He certainly didn't hold back on Cayhalls crimes.
All in all a very good book. Very different to my normal fare and one I would strongly recommend.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad book on death penalty, Jul 2 2004

By	Avid Reader (Seoul, Republic of Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chamber (ESL Penguin Readers) (Paperback)

I think this book has portrayed fairly well on the position against the death penalty. It made more powerful argument than, I'd say, Life of David Gail. It has a more realistic ending as opposed to an happy ending of the most novels. The issue is between forgiveness as justice. Are we supposed to forgive even the worst of the mankind? Is death penalty justified for a cruel bloodthirst racist? The author is toward forgiveness in the novel. Anyways it was a book that makes you look at the other side of the coin if you're for the death penalty, and I strongly advise you to read it and give a second thought on death penalty if you support it. (That would probably include most of our politicians.)

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars My Review on the Chamber
The Chamber by John Grishman was an okay book. The good points of the book were the details, the legal "terms", and the realistic quality. Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by sell0uts0ciety

1.0 out of 5 stars Depth
Clumsy. A pathetic attempt to convey emotion. Ending was a total disappointment. Plots lines went nowhere. The characters are impossible to relate to and feel for. Read more

Published on April 5 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent read
The Chamber is the story of young Adam Hall who stands poised at the brink of a highly promising legal career. Read more

Published on April 4 2004 by A. Bayhan

3.0 out of 5 stars Whaaa?
eh, the book was okay...it took forever to get to the climax, but it was alright.

Published on Mar 11 2004 by svturtlechick

2.0 out of 5 stars OK but not a realistic portrayal of a racist murderer
The Chamber is well-written and has a decent storyline. As such, it is a typical John Grisham legal thriller, although, as it happens, it is not one of my favorites. Read more

Published on Mar 11 2004 by Roger J. Buffington

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Eductional? Grusome? Great Book!
The Chamber is a book that can't be put down and left unread! It gives you a true look into the racial issues from the 1960's. Read more

Published on Mar 7 2004 by Jill Jenkins

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS READER IS ALWAYS A HIT
John Grisham's books are never hit or miss, they're always hits and so is this audio version of The Chamber, which centers on young lawyer Adam Hall. Read more

Published on Feb 25 2004 by Gail Cooke

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Boring
I like all of J.G.'s books except this one. I couldn't even finish it!I thought the plot of the story was slow and it put me to sleep.

Published on Jan 14 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars A long and enjoyable ride!
This book is incredible, it actually makes you feel sorry for a man who is a disgusting and deplorable specimen of an individual. Read more

Published on Dec 28 2003 by Kasey Hamner M.S., Adoption Au...

1.0 out of 5 stars zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
It's a whole lotta book that goes a whole lotta no place.

Published on Nov 20 2003

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