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Swap the books you've read, for some you haven't!
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Bleachers by John Grisham
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  | Doubleday, 2003 Hardcover, 176 pages edition: 1ST isbn: 0385511612value: 19 creditscondition: good | owner: Tequila_Cub     
High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.
Now, as Coach Rake’s “boys” sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake – or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his coach – and himself – before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high. |
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Bleachers by John Grisham
Review: This book is a shocker! Firstly, at only 229 pages and 52000 words, it is half the length of most current bestsellers - but still at the premium price. Secondly - there is no storyline, no action whatsoever!! This book is all reminiscenses of ex-American College footballers who return to their college campus on hearing thet their long-time coach is fatally ill. That's it: Reminiscenses about game X in year Y against college Z, followed by game A against college B in year C, followed by .... What is Grisham doing? This book is a con, a travesty of a proper novel, a rip-off! Grisham is treating his loyal readers with total disrespect by allowing this bokk to be published. For me, this is the last Grisham I will ever buy - David
Review: I've quite liked the other books by John Grisham that I've read, but I couldn't really get on with this short story. The characters are only brief sketches: nothing wrong with that in itself, but it can make it difficult to care what happens to them, particularly when the central figure (the Coach) is out of focus. Grisham wants to raise questions about whether he was loved or hated by the members of his team (often going over the same ground repeatedly in the case of the feelings of Neely, the returning ex-star), but in the end, he appeared to be so evanescent that I didn't care what everyone else thought.
Others have commented on the lack of sympathy or understanding that non-US readers will have for a story about American Football, and I'd have to agree: I'm sure it's viewed as an elegant, exciting, engaging game, but you wouldn't really guess that from reading this story. Instead, there are episodes of violence and aggression which are first glorified in the name of winning a game at all costs, and then fondly remembered by an unappealing collection of middle-aged men harking back to their childhoods. Hard to admire, really.
Review: This book made me cry. It made me reflect upon my own life. Looking back on missed opportunities and moments of greatness. Reminiscing. Approaching middle age and realising that those times now belong to the next generation. American Football was the medium in which this book is set, but that's not what it's about. It's about friendships lost and enduring, twists of fate that lead us away from our spiritual homes. It definitely struck a chord with me, and made me pick up the phone.....
Review: I bought "Bleachers" as easy holiday reading. After all you can rely upon John Grisham to provide a fun, action packed thriller just for this purpose. Don't believe it. I was bored stiff with a story that went nowhere. I kept turning the pages assuming that surely any minute now I was going to be spun a clever twist that would keep me from swimming with the children! Eventually I gave up having read over half of it and decided instead to warn other unsuspecting punters to choose something else.
Review: If it was not Grisham I would not have read a novel about American Football but I do not believe he deserves the negative reviews he has received. I put them down to dislike of the subject and the change of style. One may not understand the football and yet still appreciate this book. It is about commitment, making choices, leadership, the transitory nature of fame, self-control and the difficulty males have in expressing love for one another. A short but interesting read. But I still think American Football is a cross between grevious bodily harm and chess.
Review: Bleachers is enjoyable. By now you know the basic story - Neely Crenshaw, ex-star quarterback for Messina High School, returns home to Messina as his vitriolic coach is about to die, and struggles to come to terms with his love/hate relationship with the coach, and shattered NFL dreams.
I liked Bleachers because it made me remember the joys and pains of high school, boyhood dreams and friendships. It made me meditate on how our youth can define us so strongly, and in the case of Neely Crenshaw, how it can represent a level of achievement so high only an incredibly few people could ever by fortunate enough to maintain it into adulthood. Bleachers is about how the past can shape but sometimes cripple our personal growth, but ultimately must be faced head-on if we're to look afresh at life each day.
I listened to Bleachers unabridged on audiotape, narrated by the author, John Grisham. Grisham does a good job. He has a narrower breadth of emotion than the professional actors who usually read his books, but his reading is nonetheless solid and enjoyable.
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