Un gran bel libro, soprattutto per via dell'argomento di cui si parla, la pena di morte.
Il condannato non è totalmente innocente in questo caso, anzi un criminale che si è macchiato di diversi reati.
Eppure non si può fare a meno di chiedersi se meriti davvero la pena di morte (il metodo di uccisione previsto, la camera a gas, è davvero atroce): un dibattito che ogni tanto torna alla ribalta.
La cosa che mi lascia basita è che un Paese come gli Stati Uniti possa ancora averla in vigore... una delle innumerevoli contraddizioni made in USA.

Comunque il libro merita davvero e non sarà l'unico che leggerò di questo autore.

I have polished several John Grisham novels (mostly when I should have been doing something useful like working on the house or yard, but what the heck, life’s too short). I suppose we have a tendency to denigrate his books; too popular with the masses, but he really does know how to write a good plot that keeps the pages turning. He also must really hate lawyers, because in each of these novels the way the lawyers operate would make a barracuda blush with shame. In addition to turning out god stories, when I look at his most recent work, he is clearly emphasizing community values in the South during the fifties and sixties as well as the dynamics families under pressure of those relationships between blacks and whites.
The Chamber is a good example. If anyone deserves to die it’s Sam Cayhall. He’s on death row in a Mississippi prison following the delayed conviction for the deaths of two children at the 1967 bombing of a Jewish lawyer’s office. The children were not supposed to be there when the bomb went off, but because the timing mechanism on the bomb had been misset. Iut took three trials to convict him, and he’s now a seventy-year-old frail old man, but still unrepentent. Adam Hall, his grandson, whose parents had changed their name in a rejection of their parent’s values and moved away. Adam had attended law school where he became obsessed with his grandfather’s case and the death penalty. He joins the law firm that had been working on Sam’s case and persuades them to send him down to fight the death penalty with only thirty days left before he goes to the gas chamber. Adam learns about the destructive relationship of his father, the intense and unrepentant racism of his grandfather, and the hugely destructive impact all of this had on the family. It’s a race against time as he discovers a sub-plot that could exonerate his grandfather. Grisham is clearly against the death penalty and the details he provides are gruesome in the extreme. A very interesting page-turner, very different from his earlier work.

The characters are as memorable as those produced by Twain, Faulkner, and Lee. The themes in this novel are timeless and with the way modern America has become it may soon be censored and censured by the Progressive left.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te...

https://law.justia.com/codes/mississi...

An excellent fast moving story that sets the pace for all other Grisham stories.

Makes you think deeply about the death penalty which I've really never done. I was fascinated by the story. Was worried the ending would be unsatisfactory, but it wasn't!

This book goes in-depth to describe the details of a lawyer’s last-ditch efforts to save a man on death row from being executed. The story is told in the course of almost 500 pages. It’s not a fast-moving book, by any means, but it’s riveting, nonetheless. Does Sam Cayhall deserve to die? That’s the question hanging in the air the whole time. I still didn’t know the answer once I reached the last page. The Chamber really made me think.

This was my favorite Grisham book so far. I don't think it made a case for or against the death penalty so much as a case for justice and injustice which was not so preachy as other books. It also touched on a lot of other issues of family and the effect of a case like this on the family, secrets, and the fact that not everything in life gets wrapped up neatly, not even in a novel. maybe that was the truest note struck in this book.

Honestly, I really liked this book. I knew John Grisham's opinion on death penalty, having read The Confession before, but this book is on an entirely different level.

I am not going to discuss whether the death penalty is right or wrong. Grisham always chooses to show the flaws of the legal system, the inhumanity of death row, and the possibility that one of those Row inmates is probably innocent. It is inevitable that the reader will sympathize with the guy about to be executed.

This book could have been a five star book if it wasn't too long. Some parts of the story were unnecessary, and I actually gave up reading for a while. But I am always a fan of books with multiple viewpoints, and I think that many characters here were layered and three-dimensional. I especially liked the characters in Parchman: those people who are just doing their jobs, and who were conflicted nevertheless. How could they be apathetic after knowing the inmates for such a long time? I sympathized with them, too.

So, after reading so many John Grisham books, I still want to read more. I liked his older books better, but there were a couple of good recent ones. I am still hoping for a sequel to The Litigators <3

Adam Hall grew up moving from place to place, his family never speaking of any family history. As far as Adam knew he had no other family than his parents and his younger sister. That all changed at Adam's father's funeral when Adam was seventeen. His father's sister attended the funeral and shared some of the family histories with young Adam. Adam was the grandson of Sam Cayhill, a murderer residing on death row. As Adam completed college and law school he was obsessed with learning all he could about his family history. Adam accepts his first job with the Jewish law firm that had until just recently represented his grandfather. With an execution date four weeks away Adam was able to convince the head of the pro bono section of his law firm to allow him to try and convince his grandfather to rehire the firm with Adam as his attorney. Sam had been convicted of a KKK at bombing killing two children and maiming one. The story revolves around the racial sentiments at the time of the bombing and the last-ditch efforts made for Sam as he awaits execution. Adam does not believe in the death penalty and fights to prove it is cruel and inhumane. Along the way, Adam learns much about his extended family and although he begins this journey despising his grandfather, in the end, he finds himself caring for him. As you travel this journey with Adam and Sam you find not only that they change, but find yourself changing. Having lived in the South during segregation and the accompanying racial tensions it brought back dark memories of that time of our countries history. This was an excellent read.

This is a nearly 700 page rant against the death penalty. Almost all of the action takes place at the start of the book, then goes on and on for another 500 pages where nothing really happens. I kept waiting and hoping that there would be some twist that would make it more interesting, but it never happened. Like the featured character on death row, by the end I just wanted it to end so I'd be out of the totally repetitive hopeless monotony.

Gee, this book just went on and on and on! I reckon it could’ve covered everything in half the number of pages. At page 350, I wondered what they were going to fill another 300 pages with. For me, it was too long, too technical and too drawn out, but an interesting subject. It made me think a lot and question my own beliefs. It’s not a thriller!

Not quite a four star rating but certainly a very good read. Usual mix of twists and turns that keep you wanting to read more and more. There are many strong characters that add other dimensions to this read.This book really gets you thinking on so many levels and makes you think about your own thoughts and beliefs.