Customer Reviews

The Chamber

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

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.

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. The detail that John Grisham gives in this book would not be recommended for the "weak" stomach! As you read the book, as The Chamber goes along, the grusome details become very clear. The best book for a true education that's put into novel form to make the story "true to life"! Be prepared! The book is great!

This is one of Grisham better offerings. It drawns you into the stories of the two lead characters and paints a gruesome and heartwrenching picture. I loved how a hateful character is humanized but not excused for his heinous actions.

Grisham tackles a serious issue in this novel and does so with tact, respect and above all page turning drama. A well writen novel that most fiction readers should enjoy.

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. The only downside of the book, to me, was how long it was. I felt that the story was carried out a bit more then needed. Overall, this book is decent. This book is for anyone who is interested in law, controversy, drama, and debatable topics. I also recommend this book to anyone who can stand to read 676 pages or more of John Grishman's writing.

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.

This book is incredible, it actually makes you feel sorry for a man who is a disgusting and deplorable specimen of an individual. The ending is realistic, not fairy-tale and I respect that. As an author of non-fiction myself, I appreciate a little reality in fiction.

Kasey Hamner, M.S., author of "Whose Child?" and "Adoption Forum"

It's a whole lotta book that goes a whole lotta no place.

For a former lawyer who has never witnessed a death row case, John Grisham's ability to portray such a case was impeccable. John Grisham tells the story of an ex-KKK member who is on death row for the murder of two young boys, and his defense attorney is his estranged grandson. Grisham was able to capture all the emotion and reality of an inmate's life on death row, and the lives of the inmate's family, as though death row cases were part of his daily routine. The Chamber is a complex novel about a controversial and painful topic to which almost every person has an opinion. During Grisham's time as an attorney he represented people accused of a variety of crimes, but never a capital murder case. John Grisham used the expertise of lawyers and members of the judicial system to learn about all aspects of a death row inmate's life and their cases. The Chamber is intended for an adult audience who has an interest in the controversial topic of the death penalty that causes them to reflect upon personal views and beliefs.
The Chamber is a compelling story of a family's deep, dark secrets that have been hidden from everyone, including each other... The book captures the reader's attention during the first chapter...

Those who read alot of Grisham novels know that a typical book written by John Grisham is suspensful, fast-paced, and a quick read. Well don't expect that at all from THE CHAMBER. The book is almost 700 pages and the plot and storyline go alot slower, as the characters are more developed.

The story starts with Sam Cayhall, a racist KKK member who bombed a Jewish lawyer's office killing his two sons. Sam Cayhall is about to be sentenced to death by the gas chamber. Adam, who is a fresh and young laywer, gets involved in the case. Adam is Sam's grandson who wants to know about his turbulent past. The book is about Adam's fight to try and save his grandfather from the gas chamber.

The book is not preachy, but is a novel against the death penalty. It talks about botched executions, racial imbalances in executions, and how it is morally wrong. I am a believer in the death penalty, but this book has softened my views, though has not changed it. The book is also about Adam as he copes with his past, from his father's suicide to his aunt who wants nothing to do with Sam.

A pretty good novel, though different from Grisham's usual work. It isn't a bad novel for sure, though it could use a bit of trimming. Grisham does make it hard to sympathize with Sam, because Grisham is well aware that generally the death row inmates are not angels.

Usually Mr. Grishom's caricatures of American personalities are an amusing background to the suspence and action, but here it is the whole book. Also, it was almost embarassing for me to see him expose his own biases so close to the surface. He is not a great thinker, and he really just rehashes the same anti-capital punishment arguments over and over with little cosmetic changes. No action entertainment here, and I would have given it one star, except for some of the amusing caricatures.