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Summary: Literary Devices in The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Review: In The Street Lawyer by John Grisham, two literary devices are employed, foil characters and symbolism. Foil characters are characters that possess opposite characteristics and through their differences we come to a better understanding of what each character represents individually. The two foil characters found in this novel are Mordecai Green and Michael Brock. Also, symbolism is successfully employed in the story. An individual named Mister leads Michael Brock into the never ending fight for the homeless. This review explains the use of these devices more deeply.
First of all, Grisham brings his two foil characters together into the battle against homelessness. Michael Brock is a very affluent lawyer that works for a large firm in Washington D.C. On the other hand Mordecai Green is an advocate for the homeless who works in a legal clinic in the heart of downtown D.C. Now for the physical characteristics of the two individuals: Michael Brock is a Caucasian individual who lives in the suburbs of D.C. In contrast, Mordecai Green is an African American that cares less for money and more for the plight of the homeless. Grisham brings these foil characters into the fight for those less fortunate. Brock leaves his high position at Drake & Sweeney for a low paying job at the 14th Street Legal Clinic. Michael's eyes have been opened. He now realizes that fighting for the homeless is a greater cause than working his way up the corporate ladder. Together Green and Brock combine their powers to help the homeless.
Next, Grisham uses a man named Mister as a powerful symbol directed toward Michael. To explain, Mister's daring hostage takeover at Drake & Sweeney changed Michael's life forever. Had Michael not pursued information on Mister, he would have never met Mordecai. So the death of Mister changed Michael's whole outlook on the world of law. From a seemingly tragic situation spurred a law comradery that cannot be stopped. Truly, through the death of Mister, Grisham thrusts Michael into a new profession, poverty lawyer.
Finally, through these literary devices Grisham is attempting to draw attention to a larger issue, homelessness. The homeless suffer from many issues that cannot always be solved. However, poverty lawyers such as Michael Brock and Mordecai Green provide as much assistance as they can. Sometimes it is not enough. We, as a community, need to pull together to assist in the plight of the homeless.
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Summary: Great Story
Review: This book was published in 1998,so there have been many reviews written. I cannot add anything to what others have said that loved the book. I throughly enjoyed reading it.
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Summary: The Street Lawyer Review
Review: I have just finished reading The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. It was a very interesting book that made me feel as if I was right there in the book. The Street Lawyer had a lot of suspense in the beginning yet the ending was weak. Also, the plot was a little skim. The Runaway Jury is another book by John Grisham that I have also recently read. I preferred it to The Street Lawyer. It had much more suspense & had a surprise ending that I enjoyed.
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Summary: a real surprise
Review: I am not a Grisham fan, though I've read a number of his books. His writing has seemed weak to me and his storylines improbable and often socially offensive. But Street Lawyer was actually really good. Clean writing, seamless plot - I loved it. Someone said "predictable" and I guess that's true, but it satisfied me profoundly anyhow, maybe because it deals with social issues in a reasonably sensitive way. In bad economic times, it's easy to worry about becoming homeless so it seems very Now. If you like the genre, I recommend it.
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Summary: Anticlimactic and predictable...don't waste your time
Review: I have read several Grisham books, and each one less exciting than the last. I loved The Partner, but this one is simply uneventful. I kept reading awaiting some sort of climax which never materialized. The book seemed like more of an avenue for Grisham to convey his newly found liberal views about how the whole world should pay more attention to and support the homeless. While that's all good in reality, it didn't serve to entertain readers looking forward to a Grisham thriller.If John wants to advocate social issues, he should do it at a venue where people are interested. Not in a novel.
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Summary: Not his best, but good nevertheless
Review: I think some of the reviewers have been much too harsh on this one - I think this book needs to be read for what it is, not for what it isn't. It isn't a 'thriller' like the Firm, but it isn't a bad read either. I found the characters quite convincing, actually, and the dialogue was spot on. This is one of his less-ambitious works, and one needs to read it for what it aims to do, not for what it doesn't. It's a light and easy read and deals with an important issue - it could have been better, but it's not a bad book at all. I probably won't read it again, but it was enjoyable nevertheless.
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Summary: Action packed, thought provoking, but highly politicized.
Review: The Street Lawyer was my first Grisham book, and honestly, I can say that it's the reason I became a fan of the author. While not fairly long, the story has it going, lots of legal implications, but then again, its possbile that the book itself just reflects Grisham's views on the subject of homelessness and poverty in the streets. The principal characters like Michael and Mordecai are nicely molded upon, but it seems the other characters like Michael's wife were just added to have more color over him. It's a good weekend read, just like the average Grisham book, but not recommended as a first Grisham book.
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Summary: Worst John Grisham Book Ever
Review: I am a John Grisham fan. From what I've read, I like all of his books. I did not like the Street Lawyer. This was, by far, the worst book John Grisham has ever written. From the description on the back of the book, I figured I would really enjoy this book. But I was wrong. All this book talks about is how much everyone who has some money should pay the homeless. It almost tries to make you feel guilty about not giving a beggar on the street a quarter. That is not why I wanted to read this book. I wanted to read a good John Grisham thriller. This book, however, did not even begin to be kind of a thriller. I was very surprised. Most of Grisham's books are good, page-turning thrillers. This was a book I just wanted to keep reading to see if it got better. But it didn't. It got worse as it went on. It started out pretty good, but just kept getting worse. The Street Lawyer starts out with the main character, Michael Brock, happy and wealthy. Then he and his fellow lawyers at the big Drake & Sweeney law firm get hold hostage by a homeless man. They get out of it after about 8 hours, and everyone gets over it. But Michael Brock just can't get over it. He quits his job, where he makes huge amounts of money, to be a street lawyer, where he makes barely anything. During the whole book, all I could think about was why he would leave a big law firm that he loved, and was on his way to be partner, to be a boring street lawywer. This book just really didn't make much sense, because who would want to do that. He went from a grand apartment, to sleeping on rock hard floor in a small little room every single night. It didn't make it very interesting as Grisham talked about how bad Michael Brock's life is, and how good it was before. I would definitely not recommend this John Grisham book, but would encourage you to read any one of his others.
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Summary: Good Social Commentary, But That's About It
Review: Do not read this book if you are looking for an exciting legal thriller like Grisham's other novels. The primary focus of the novel is the plight of the homeless. The story line is dull, and the ending is predictable. As to the social commentary, you may or may not agree with it. The more conservative will think Grisham's universal portrayal of the homeless as helpless victims is misguided. The more liberal will say he's right on.
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Summary: terrible
Review: I rarely throw away books but I made an exception for "The Street Lawyer." I picked it up after I read and really enjoyed "The Pelican Brief." After a promising start, the book becomes preachy, didactic, slow, and plain old boring. There are no plot twists and no interesting characters. The writing style is amateurish at best. Grisham can definitely write page turners, "The Pelican Brief" and "The Firm" come to mind, but this is not one of them. Skip the book. It's a waste of time.
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