The Laws of Our Fathers

Rating:
Summary: So disappointing
Review: I have loved all the author's other books and looked forward to reading this one; but what a disapointment. After reading these other reviews, I find I'm not alone. I'll look forward to his next release and hope he gets back on track.

Rating:
Summary: Yes and No
Review: I loved Presumed Innnocent. I like The Laws Of Our Fathers. I believe that most of these critiques are too harsh, and I want to adderess that. I think that Scott Turow is a great writer. Emphasis on writer. The story itself I had a problem with. Some of the people complaining about the book seemed to confuse the two. I do agree with the person who said that he was confused about the genre. But the writing is still superb, as are the insights and the way they are expressed. It may be the style that people object to. I do understand that it is a story told from one point of view, but I was in Vietnam, and I did sympathyze with those who objected to the war. I was there for my own personal reasons. The only view presented was one sided, and that is Ok. It is the story, and I'm not offended in any way. Only a little dissapointed. The WRITING is still great. Please keep it up.

Rating:
Summary: Less than his best
Review: This is one of my very favorite authors (much better thanGrisham), so Iwas disappointed in this book. I went to college in the 60s in California, so I know the environment. For some reason the characters in this book just didn't interest me. The characters in his previous books were absolutely compelling - who could ever forget Brushy? Don't let this one book turn you off from an absolutely outstanding author.

Rating:
Summary: Characters I did not care about
Review: I started this book in August and by the 4th of November when it was still on the table next to me half-read I realized that the reason I couldn't finish it was because I didn't like the characters and really didn't care what happened to them. I then did something I never can remember doing before. I threw the book away. I just didn't want to inflict it on anyone else

Rating:
Summary: Wish I had read these comments before I bought the book!
Review: Amen to those who thought this was overwritten. Was it a mystery, a social commentary on the 60's, or a love story? Turow tried to juggle all three and none of it was strong enough to keep me interested for over 800 pages. One of those books you get half way through and wonder if you should just give it up. By the final page you know you should have.

Rating:
Summary: Will this book never end?
Review: The first chapter whetted my appetite....from there it was all downhill. 200 pages too long,it seemed interminable. Turow should have spent more time on his forte, the Courtroom, rather than trying to develop characters, who, in the end, I really didn't know, appreciate nor care about. The "blacktalk", to Turow's credit,rang true.

Rating:
Summary: At least the first 1/2 of the book is boring
Review: I got to around page 260 and found I was bored by this book. I did not particularly like or dislike any of the characters, and the story line was meaningless to me. I skipped forward a couple of hundred pages, and it was still the same old same old. I quit. I have enjoyed Turow's other books, but I will not run out to buy his next one.

Rating:
Summary: worth the time time to read but not as a typical mystery
Review: The book kept my interest and remains in my thoughts. The characters bring back the 60s and are focused on the tumult of May 1970; the surprise is not so much in the typical mystery result but rather in what it reveals of the characters--that stayed with me. Parts of it --particularly the final segment were, I thought, his best writing and quite arresting. It is as much social commentary as anything else and worth reading for that alone.

Rating:
Summary: Long, boring unlike previous works.
Review: One of his longest, but not one of his better novels. Long, character backgrounds of now and then characters who "then" were activists in the late 60's in the San Francisco bay area. "Now" going through typical mid-life changes and never ending series of questions of "why" or "what if" life questions. People and characteristics not particularly interesting or compelling. Written with a atypical multiple perspectives voices, based on views and knowledge of characters. Individuals perspectives change dramatically depending upon whom is recalling the events leading up to a murder. Turow's descriptions of the bay area, will probably disturb any local. Seem to be written as if taking locales off a area map with out knowing or visiting the general area.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: History buffs of the '60's might find this one interesting, but that is about all there is to recommend it. The murder mystery is not strong enough to support the rest of the story. It's an in depth study of several characters who are linked together in the '60's and their reunion in the '90's around the murder of one of their group. The characters are mildly interesting, but again, not enough to carry the story. Mr. Turow's editor should have been more free with his pen. A struggle to finish.