"The Grisham"

My literary diet has taken a junk food twist. After several months of exhausting classical literature, I was ready for a snack - a modern novel.

It is always with some trepidation that I embark upon a novel. I have rather high standards when it comes to the arts and entertainment, so the marriage of the 2 in fiction novels provides a marked potential for disappointment. I've left a scattering of unfinished novels in my wake over the last few years. Gratuitous anything, typically qualifies a book for a quick return trip to the library.

In the same way I coaxed the family out for a long walk on a cold and rainy Thursday evening, by promising I would "treat" them to a snack while we were out, so I was coaxed through to the end of some rather weighty tomes by the promise of some refreshment I had borrowed from the Walnut Creek Library.

The high calorie, high carbohydrate, high sodium sidetrack I just finished was one of John Grisham's books in his "The _______" series. Or maybe all of his novels start with "The"? I won't disclose the actual book, since I don't necessarily recommend it. Yes, I just said that I don't recommend a book that I just finished and enjoyed. Think about that one and come back when you're ready.

Similarly, I frankly don't recommend any of his novels to be digested as pure and mindless entertainment. One should always read with eyes wide open and pen in hand, if necessary. Even those authors I respect most, I find fault with upon occasion. Those I respect most are lauded to fellow readers, while those with works less compatible with my world view are held closer to vest. If it requires much sifting and skipping, then I will likely let you find it on your own lest you hold me responsible for your inability to sift and skip.

Grisham, though brilliant in his own genre, is by no means the same caliber writer as John Bunyan, John Milton, or Leo Tolstoy, and maintains a paradigm wherein the morals, ethics, and basic principles whereby his character's lives are lived often differ diametrically from that of those who are intentionally writing from a Biblical world view.
That is not to say that Grisham is a foreigner to Christianity, as is evident from his portrayal of all variations of practice and pretext that fall under that label. It could even be said that he possibly bears a deeper understanding as an informed outsider than do many of those I interact with inside what is considered Fundamental Christianity. However, that doesn't mean that he communicates his plots, creates his characters, or controls the outcomes of his real to life situations with the objective of glorifying his Creator. We forgo that expectation when consuming secular works, leaving such high standards for the judgment of works created by those claiming the privileges of a Christian faith. And rightly so.

This particular story had a rapidly moving plot, colorful characters, and a perspective on morality that was compatible with my own. Not all of his novels meet these criteria. It was for those misgivings that I tentatively opened the cover, but I was soon drawn in, and thus found myself anxiously anticipating the ending.

As is typical of Grisham, the ending was not as expected. Though disappointed, I recognized the didacticism that saturated the plot and was contentedly relieved to disassociate with fictitious characters and their contrived dilemmas. In his "Afterward", he artfully exposed his agenda for the unobservant without offending the astute.

In short, Grisham is a skillful secular author with insight and creativity that can be enjoyed and appreciated by a reader armed with an adequate store of good judgment.