Utterly fantastic audiobook even though I was not thrilled with the narrator's delivery. The story got me past that quickly. The setup of the story is great and unlike anything I've seen before. The most interesting part of the story has little to do with law and takes a lawyer with lots of problems into an adventure that is in the wilds and so engrossing. Besides being in the geographical wilds, it is also into the wilds of his being. The other part of the story is law, lawyers, greedy heirs and is quite entertaining. This is one I'll read again, probably in print next time. Dynamite story!

4.5.

My first Grisham and I loved it. I was expecting a legal thriller about a family bickering over a will, and what I got was an adventure into remote parts of Brazil in search of a tribe and a missionary by a fellow who's lost in life and trying to find himself.

The Grisham reputation for trash precedes him, but he's writing with confidence here and it works. There's a moment (no spoilers!) when one character realizes he's wasted the better part of his adult life for things that don't matter to him anymore and there's nothing he can do to get it back. It's handled subtly and it moved me immensely.

Half off because once we do get to the will stuff, it's pretty clumsy.

Oggi vorrei proporre quello che secondo me è uno dei libri più belli e forse meno conosciuti di John Grisham : Il Testamento. L’ autore ha raggiunto la popolarità con Il Socio, Il Rapporto Pellican, Il cliente, da cui sono state tratte delle pellicole hollywoodiane di grande successo. L’ opera in questione si discosta un po’ dal legal thriller tipico di Grisham per sfociare in un genere più avventuroso, certamente molto intrigante.



Mr Troy Phelan, un anziano miliardario, si getta dal quattordicesimo piano di uno dei suoi palazzi dopo aver lasciato un ultimo e decisivo testamento: nel pieno possesso delle sue facoltà mentali, egli revoca tutti i testamenti da lui sottoscritti in precedenza e lascia il suo ingente patrimonio alla figlia illegittima Rachel, di cui nessuno sospettava l’esistenza. Gli altri figli, avvoltoi con artigli appuntiti, becchi affilati e occhi avidi che gli svolazzano intorno pregustando inebriati, la montagna di soldi in cui si tufferanno, rimangono praticamente a bocca asciutta. Tocca dunque a Josh Stafford, nominato suo esecutore testamentario, trovare la donna. Josh scopre che Rachel è una missionaria che si trova al confine tra Brasile e Bolivia e presta la sua opera presso una remota tribù india, in una regione chiamata Pantanal. Dunque incarica un membro del suo studio, Nate, di trovare la donna e notificarle il testamento. Comincia così un’avventura pericolosa e coinvolgente nel cuore della più grande palude del mondo, che riserverà ai lettori grandissimi colpi di scena.



Il Testamento è un bellissimo quadro letterario, dipinto dall’autore con maestria. Una tela di pagine in cui vengono rappresentati con pennellate a volte vigorose e talvolta delicate gli splendidi paesaggi del Pantanal. Evocati nella loro grande bellezza naturale, essi rappresentano una gemma ecologica in cui vivono caimani, anaconda e ogni genere di fauna selvatica. Le sponde della laguna fanno da cornice al viaggio di Nate alla ricerca dell’ereditiera. Nate è un avvocato di successo caduto nel vizio dell’alcool, schiacciato dalla città e dai suoi ingranaggi stritolanti. La vita di tutti i giorni gli squassa i nervi. Questo viaggio rappresenta per lui il simbolo di una redenzione. La laguna e le sue insidie mettono a dura prova l’uomo, il quale solo nel momento in cui sfiora la morte, rinasce più forte. L’incontro con Rachel rappresenta la chiave di volta del romanzo. Due anime sole che si confrontano e si scontrano. Nate si libera dalle proprie debolezze che gli gravano sull’anima come pesanti zavorre, si rende conto dei suoi difetti e vizi e grazie ad un rinnovato slancio verso la fede che Rachel gli ha infuso, in un momento liberatorio, si scarica la coscienza da pesi che avrebbero schiacciato uomini molto più forti di lui e finalmente sente il fardello della colpa abbandonare la sua anima.



In questo romanzo Grisham ha saputo mescolare con abilità, avventura, suspence, un pò di psicologia e soprattutto le sue conoscenze in ambito legale. E’ un libro completo. Le sue quasi cinquecento pagine scorrono avvincenti e avviluppano il lettore gratificandolo con un’ avventura per nulla scontata. Un libro per tutti i gusti e sempre attuale che lascia anche parecchi spunti di riflessione a causa delle innumerevoli tematiche in esso presenti. Ciascuno lo potrà leggere e vivere a modo suo, in ogni caso, superlativo!

Buona lettura

Lettrice Assorta

The Testament, John Grisham

The Testament is an adventure story by American author John Grisham. It was published on February 2, 1999.

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire, one of the richest men in the U.S. He is also eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking for a way to die. His heirs, to no one's surprise (especially Troy's) are circling like vultures. Nate O' Reilly is a high-octane Washington litigator who's lived too hard, too fast, for too long.

His second marriage is in a shambles, he is emerging from his fourth stay in rehab armed with little more than his fragile sobriety, good intentions, and resilient sense of humor. Returning to the real world is always difficult, but this time it's going to be murder. Rachel Lane is a young woman who chose to give her life to God, who walked away from the modern world with all its strivings and trappings and encumbrances, and went to live and work with a primitive tribe of Indians in the deepest jungles of Brazil. In a story that mixes legal suspense with a remarkable adventure, their lives are forever altered by the startling secret of The Testament.

I am the owner of this glass-paneled building, where I am sitting right now, ninety seven percent of the house-building company, located below, with its surrounding land, half a mile, and employees Where they are busy; everyone is in my possession. I wrote a will two years ago, and I left all my assets to the last surviving ... I wrote another will, three years ago, and gave my property to charity organizations to get rid of the vultures, But ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز دوم ماه اکتبر سال2000میلادی

عنوان: وصیتنامه؛ نویسنده: جان گریشام؛ مترجم: بهرام افراسیابی ؛ تهران، مجتمع انتشاراتی ایران، سال1378، در437ص؛ شابک9646273165؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده20م

آغاز داستان: (من مالک این بنای بلند شیشه‌ ای هستم، که اینک در آن نشسته‌ ام؛ نود و هفت درصد از شرکت خانه‌ سازی، که در زیر پایم است؛ به همراه زمین‌های پیرامون آن، به وسعت نیم مایل در نیم مایل، و کارکنانی که در آنجا مشغول کارند؛ همه در حیطه ی اختیار من هستند؛ دو سال پیش وصیت نامه‌ ای نوشتم، و همه ی دارایی خود را، به آخرین بازمانده‌ ام، واگذار کردم...؛ سه سال قبل هم وصیت نامه دیگری نوشتم، و دارایی‌ ام را، برای رهایی از کرکس‌ها، یکجا به موسسات خیریه بخشیدم؛ اما ...)؛ پایان نقل؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 23/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 24/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

I have been a big John Grisham fan for many years. But it has probably been almost a decade since I’ve picked up one of his books, so reading this one was quite a treat! I selected it from off of my mom’s book shelf in her guest room, and ended up bringing it home and reading until 2 a m! I can’t even remember the last time I binge-read until the wee hours of the morning! The premise is familiar—a rich, angry old man who is worth billions rewrites his will at the last minute, cutting out his 3 ex-wives and his 6 worthless adult children. He leaves the bulk of his fortune to an illegitimate daughter that nobody else knew existed. So his law firm sends one of their associates, fresh out of rehab, to find her and give her the news. The problem is, she’s a missionary, working with native Indian tribes in the jungles of Brazil. Does she even want to be found?
***Here’s what I like about Grisham’s writing. He writes about technical things—wills, courtroom procedures, etc. —with enough detail to make it interesting, but not so technical as to make it confusing (and/or boring!). His characters are flawed, both the “good guys” and “bad guys”—enough so that you can sympathize, and also have the pleasure of indulging in being a little judgmental. And as I get past the halfway point of the book, I just can’t put it down until I find out how it ends! I found this one very satisfying! The evolution of Nate, the lawyer sent on this impossible quest, was realistic and rather heartwarming. The resolution of the issue with the will was well done. Bottom line—if you like Grisham, and haven’t read this one yet, do it! And if you haven’t discovered his books, then add one to your “want to read” list today! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Um livro lido em leitura conjunta, uma experiência onde gostei muito de participar pois permitiu a troca de opiniões ao longo da leitura.
Nesta narrativa começamos com a morte do magnata Troy Phelan, que antes de se matar assina um testamento à frente dos seus herdeiros, mas será esse o verdadeiro testamento?
Ao ler este livro por vezes quando achamos que já está tudo decidido, o autor dá uma reviravolta que nos faz prender a respiração e querer saber mais do que se vai passar.
A minha personagem preferida foi o Nate, um advogado que está a sair de uma clínica de recuperação e que ao longo do livro o vemos a querer ser um ser humano melhor e afugentar com os vícios e problemas que o têm acompanhado até aí.
Gostei muito desta leitura que nos apresenta um final do qual não estava mesmo nada a contar.

Good book to read from John Grisham. Story line flowed very well and kept you interested in how the story ended. The ending was a surprise.

I was very surprised to cry over this book as I sure did not expect it. Its amazing how he writes about what wicked liars lawyers can be. Everyone knows it but some of them reach new depths of lying in this book. I could hardly put it down for a minute. It kept me up until five am!! I am rapidly becoming a John Grisham fan.

I used to be an avid reader of the likes of Grisham, Patterson etc but found myself moving away from secular fiction after I became a Christian. I remembered that a few of Grisham's novels had moral or Christian principles--The Testament is one of these.

The story centers around the suicide of billionaire Troy Phelan. He has effectively lived a careless life of self indulgence treating those around him with contempt. He married three times and was believed to have had six grandchildren whose lives he also ruined by spoiling them with million dollar payouts at intervals. No longer able to bear the weight of living he chooses instead to plunge to his death triggering an inevitable fight over his will. But what if there was a mysterious illegitimate daughter serving as a missionary in a remote country.....?

Nate is a recovering alcoholic. He is also a lawyer and assigned to the Phelan case. His task, to track down the elusive Rachel whilst resisting the allure of the bottle that has wrecked his life to date.

I enjoyed this the second time round. The biblical principle that the love of money is a route of all kinds of evil is clearly shown through this story. The author also does a good job in highlighting how an alcoholic will always struggle with the temptation to drink.

The author claims to be a Christian and as already noted I have seen these themes in his books at times. He states in his bio that a close friend of his is a Baptist missionary. In this novel he nearly explains the way of salvation in a manner understandable to all readers. However, he also states elsewhere that he believes that faith is a private matter....how can it be private when we have been given the Great Commission by Jesus Himself and when people are perishing on a daily basis? This author has a great platform for evangelism should he choose to use it. He has spent millions of dollars on football stadiums which maybe shows where his priorities are....

There are a few swear words in the book but it is not strong language. There is no graphic violence or sexual content apart from a few innuendos. I recommend this book.

Check out my John Grisham Shelf!

Wonderfully gentle story of recovery and redemption, about a down and out lawyer, once an important litigator, who is now just barely in a sober recovery...His old law firm, of which he was a partner, sends him to the Pontanal in Brazil to find an heiress of $11 Billion, who is a missionary, ministering, physically and spiritually to one of the reclusive tribes in the region...Her Christianity and unwillingness to accept the bequest leads to complications, but profoundly shapes our hero...as always, we learn a little about mission work, Brazil's Pontanal and the machinations of estate litigation...Loved it!

There was kind of a weird dichotomy in 'The Testament' which made it hard to be invested in. Either the 'spoiled brats' get the money, or the woman who has devoted her life into pushing her religion on natives gets it. It's hard to enjoy a story when you're hoping both sides will lose...

The best scenes in my opinion were with the lawyers of the Phelan heirs, or when Nate handles the discovery phase of the case. Grisham certainly gives great info on legal affairs. The scenes in the Brazilian wilderness were also really compelling up until the whole 'Nate finds religion' schtick, although Grisham (wittingly or not) has made me never want to visit Brazil!

Me fascinan las historias de John Grisham.