Bleachers

Rating:
Summary: Healing Old Wounds
Review: I haven't read a Grisham book since The Firm and A Time to Kill. They're just not my cup of tea and I find legal thrillers boring. But since I have played many sports and am of an age when reflection becomes more important, I decided to read this book based upon personal recommendations and the limited time requirement.

Scanning the reviews here, most seem to not like the book. And much of their criticism seems warranted. Yes, Neely is a stiff character who speaks in halting sentences and really doesn't say much. And with the exception of his old girlfriend, most characters are typical small-town Southern stereotypes. But, even with all these facts, I really enjoyed this short, crisp read. Maybe it's just my age that I could identify with Neely's reflection back at the many things he would like to do differently. Maybe it was the finely woven story of how football was the obsessive glue that gave this town it's pride and identity that I have seen so many times in real life. Maybe it was the subplot of Jesse Trapp, the hometown hero gone bad that at the last minute forsakes himself to once again be part of the team and the town. I don't exactly know why I connected with this book and quickly read through the last part to finish the story. All I know is the time commitment was slight and the characters were familiar but emotionally attaching which made the book enjoyable to me.

In this story of unfinished business maybe the most touching is the meeting with his old girlfriend where for once Neely wants to pore out his heart but is rebutted. The emotional anger was a great read as he tried to fight through it. I leave it to you to see how this is resolved but it was as powerful as the Rake funeral at the end.

Neely went home even though we're told you can never go home. And as much as he tried to act like it was not significant to him, it was the most emotionally cleansing act he had done in the last ten years. And, for me, that was enough to fill an enjoyable afternoon in the middle of this book. I believe this book will appeal to many females who like to read romance novels, and men with a retrospective nature. And, yes, it may be of interest to former athletes as they see themselves in different stages of their life. But it's not really a sports book. It's a small town character book that is very touching.

Rating:
Summary: Please Grow Up, Neely Crenshaw
Review: This is an unusual 'coming-of-age' book, in that our former football hero is in his mid-thirties when his old high school coach dies and he finally grows up. It is a short book, with easy sentences and paragraphs, but somewhere in there the author forgot to include a real reason for us to keep reading. Several times, I thought about just pitching it aside and taking a long walk in the sunshine. We care about Neely and his teammates, but not very much. We are interested in Coach Rake, but not overly much either. Definitely not one of John G.'s better works.

Rating:
Summary: Dear Mr. Grisham, don't write about sports...please...
Review: Bleachers wasted my time. Not that my time is precious, but I could have been doing something far more awesome with the few hours I spent reading this book.

I will not summarize the plot, you probably already know it. My beef with Bleachers is that it tries to be a deep, emotional, and moving book that leaves you with a peaceful impression when closing painful chapters on your life. Needless to say, it did no such thing. I have already forgotten many of the characters, their names, and why they were significant. I even forget the main, central, universal message. To make a long story short, there is no lasting impression included.

It doesn't help that the dialogue between the chummy football players reads like a bad commercial. No one talks like that, except in commercials and bad novels.

If I can say one good thing about Bleachers, it's that it reminds us that all glory is fleeting. Nostalgia can be a painful thing, especially when you have to sit through people enjoying their own and trying to share it with you. It doesn't matter how great you were in high school at this, that, or the other. What matters is now.

Too bad that couldn't have been the central message. What could have been a decent book gets lots in its own details and nothing is accomplished in the end.

Rating:
Summary: Everything he touches
Review: Everything Mr. Grisham touches seems to turn to gold. He was successful with his legal thrillers, then his more literary attempts, his down-home feel of PAINTED HOUSE and SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, and now this, his latest work: BLEACHERS.

No, this book doesn't fall neatly into a genre and yes, Mr. Grisham has changed his style (slightly) once again, but the underlying structure and form of a great Grisham work is still there. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it.

Also recommended: THE FIRM, BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, and THE LAST JUROR

Rating:
Summary: will it ever end?
Review: I listened to this on CD while on a road trip and I wouldn't recommend trying this alone. It made the trip seem longer and almost put me asleep at the wheel. It started out slow and never even hinted at picking up. I couldn't have been happier when I was done with this book.

Rating:
Summary: A truly enjoyable book
Review: This book was a quite good look about one man can affect hundreds upon hundreds of people. I really enjoy John Grisham's legal and non-legal books (this one is non-legal, like Skipping Christmas.)
This book's main character is Neely Crenshaw, a man in his twenties who is haunted by past demons. Among these demons is his old football coach. When he hears the news that coach is dying, he goes back to his hometown of Messina, FLA. He finds, not to his surprise, that just about everybody who ever played for Coach Eddie Rake is there, waiting for the old man's passing.
Eddie Rake is a man not differing too far from General George S. Patton. He loves the game of football like nothing else, and sometimes he makes critical and frightening errors when getting caught in the mood. He is also a great coach, and an inspiring man.
I rarely found myself bored with this book, as it is a short read and is quality. Thank you, John Grisham.

Rating:
Summary: A Look back at the Glory Days
Review: Neely Crenshaw is back home for the death of his old coach Rake. He was the All_American, State Championship quarterback whose career ended in college with a knee injury. Now all the former Rake players are back in the bleachers talking about the days of past. Neely has a beef with coach Rake that took place 15 years ago during halftime of the state chapionship game in which fists were thrown. Now as Coach Rake is on his deathbed, Neely decided whether he loves or hates his old Coach.

This is a great read or any football fan remembering the old days. Very quick, a couple of dissapointing things in the book especially with the sidetrack of the old high school flame, seemed out of left field. But overall the story is well written. Kinda of strange for John Grisham but nonetheless a great football book

Rating:
Summary: At least it was kinda about football
Review: I suppose alot of men, like me, really wanted to read this book. It's Grisham. It's football. How could it be bad? Well it is. It's actually rather boring. A story simply doesn't work unless the reader feels some kind of emotion for the main character. Whatever that emotion may be. In this case, I simply didn't care what became of Neely Crenshaw. His story never moved me to sympathy and, as he grew more pathetic throughout the book, by the end I was just glad it was over. Short of one chapter in the middle where a group of former players sit around remembering the big championship game, this book is very dry.

Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite Book
Review: I loved A Painted House!! However, this book did not live up to my expectations. I was glad this book was short, otherwise I wouldn't have finished it. It had a feeling of its going to get better, however it never really did. Something is just missing! I do not recommend this book at all!

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: Definitely not Grisham's best effort. I kept waiting for the point. I found the story boring; it went on and on with the same tendency to overstate without saying much of anything. I enjoyed Painted House but would recommend passing on this one.