Not 100% sure why I liked this, maybe it is because I love football and can relate. Maybe it is because it was a lot like Friday Night Lights and I really miss that show. To be honest, Neely was kind of stuck in the past and it was sad. A lot of those guys were like that and it is sad to know that they lived in the past that much. Neely couldn't get over high school and his failed goals. It hampered him his whole life. He needed the death of his coach to get past that. Although heart warming, that is also really sad. A lot of the boys who were very successful in life weren't great ball players. I think that is a lesson to learn for athletes. Its not about what you do while playing, but rather what you do with the lessons you learn from the game. I had to learn that as an athlete as well and I think I am better because of it. Overall I liked the book, but wish there was some more interesting story lines and some better characters to latch on to.

I like the metaphor of the coach being the field and how that is his legacy. I liked how all the players have a common bond because of the coach they played for and I loved that that bond lasted a lifetime. It had no bound or thing that could hamper it. I loved that they realized after the fact the impact that the coach has. That is such a strong and important bond. Lots of good messages in this one.

Para los que quieran conocer a John Grisham, El Último Partido no es un buen libro. Escapa completamente de su línea principal. Narra la biografía de un entrenador de fútbol americano y de como influye en la historia de un pueblo completo, todo desde la perspectiva de los habitantes del pueblo, de sus pupilos y de una joven promesa que vió frustada su carrera por una lesión inesperada.
Es una buena novela, corta, simpática. A veces conmueve con su nostalgia, pero nada que cambie la vida. Es una historia muy gringa, difícil de entender y de empatizar para los que no conocemos el fanatismo por el fútbol americano.

Bleachers may not have a perfect plot, but no piece of writing reminds me more of my hometown than this book. John Grisham captures well what it is like to reminisce on playing under Friday night lights with old teammates, no matter how long it has been since you last suited up to take the field. Again, I am not recommending this so much in terms of the quality of the character development or the story itself. I love this book because it speaks to my soul as a kid who grew up in a small town in the south whose coaches and teammates mean the world to him.

Too depressing; melancholy story that epitomizes Texas high school football players, small towns, and coaches. Pathetically predictable; lower your expectations.

John Grisham is a master storyteller regardless of genre. Even though "Bleachers" is very different from his other works of fiction, it is just as hard to put down as any.

As both a former athlete and a longtime basketball coach, there is much in this story I can relate to. The tale about the controversial football coach, Eddie Rake, shares both the good of what athletics can give, but also the bad of what it can take from everyone involved.

The question I sometimes ask myself after decades of playing and coaching basketball is this. "Was it really worth it?" John Grisham challenges the reader to think about this through the examples of multiple characters who wrestled with this same question. I have my own answer, and reading this novel didn't change it. Maybe it will change your viewpoint, maybe not, but the book will most certainly make you think.

Ganz schöne Geschichte für zwischendurch.
Bisschen Plan von Football vielleicht ratsam.
Ich hasse Football.

Once in a while, you need a good trash read, a book that you get nothing out of. You read it for the sake of indulging in something simple, a story that is commonplace, a little exaggerated even. It is like listening to Britney Spears when you really want to regress into your adolescence and be without cause. This is one such that I literally picked up off the street in Berekely. It was okay while it lasted. I wouldn't recommend this, not because it is bad, no it is something even worse, it is commonplace, like all the Superhero movies that have become the staple of the last few years. Passable art that only addles your mind.

To be frank - I read this book because it is short and is a Grisham. It was an okay read, but I never had too much interest in the story.

High school football is always a decent topic, especially when it engulfs an entire town as it does in many parts of the south.

Hopefully I will read every Grisham there is!

#roadtobeatingthebears

ೃ⁀➷ this is about a man that peaked in high school and came to terms with it 30 years later.



ೃ⁀➷

Drāma par tēmu, kā skarbais tēls patiesībā liek jums ciest tāpēc, ka vēl jums labu. Rittīg stingrs piecinieks par meistarīgu spiešanu uz jūtām.

It would have been interesting to see this story in a full length novel, but it was a perfect short story novella.

This is a human interest story about some fictitious humans I never got really interested in. It’s a deviation from the typical Grisham novels I have read and enjoyed in the past. Bleachers is the story of a small town that tied its identity around an incredible 30-year high school football dynasty. Over his 30-year stint, coach Rake impacted the town and hundreds of players he coached. Now he is in the last days of terminal cancer and many of the players have returned for a vigil to honor him. He dies and there is a funeral and everyone goes back to their various lives. The story is told through the eyes of Neely, the quarterback of the last team to win a state title. That was also the last year Rake coached. Fifteen years have passed.

The players gather in small groups around the town for two days talking about old times and lessons they learned. Then Rake dies. There is a touching funeral two days later. The things that happen during the week help Neely overcome some of the disappointment he has experienced and give him an improved outlook on life.