The Laws of our Fathers

Rating:
Summary: Watch 'Thirty-something" reruns instead
Review: My wife warned me. She said not to waste my time but having loved all of Turow's previous novels I sallied forth anyway. Being a child of the 60's, I was intrigued by the book's premise.How do children of that time cope with adult life? All I got was a bunch of whining similar to the recent series Thirtysomething except not as interesting. This book is too long, there is not enough story, and has unsympathetic characters. Unless your literary forte is characterization only, don't waste your time with this book.How can someone who wrote something as fresh as Presumed Innocent produce this drivel? If you want to gove Turow a try, try any of his earlier works! This one will scare you away from him permanently!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: 1970's drama
Review: This book spends more time flashing back to the 60's and 70's than about the current subject of the book. It's apparent that Turow decided he needed to create more history for the characters in his books, and made up some time in this The Laws of our Fathers. I struggled with this one and I hope it's his worst. The character development was way too deep and I found myself skimming pages.

Rating:
Summary: Superb! A fascinating character study clothed as a mystery
Review: Turow's sentences draw pictures for the reader to savor;his characters are richly and fully drawn; the story--really two stories melded into one--is compelling. While Turowuses the genre of a murder mystery to tell his story,Turow's story is more about strength and weakness,morality and immorality, perception and reality--and howthose things change over time. Once again Turow has written a popular novel with big words. It is a story told in the present and the past and told fromthe perspective of two likeable (a new feature in a Turownovel) characters who share(d) those time periods. Told,where appropriate, in the vernacular of the mean streetsof Kindle County, the criminal justice system of the '90's,and the anti-establishment radical fringe of the '60's, thisbook is not an easy read. It is, however, and unlike mostof its genre, a worthwhile read. While I wouldnot recommend a novel this interesting or this complexto a casual reader looking for simple-minded page turner,I strongly recommend this novel to any thoughtful readerwilling to invest the intellectual capital to work throughgood literature