Mitchell McDeere graduates from Harvard Law and is about to begin his career as a lawyer. Blessed with superhuman capabilities handed down generously by Mr.Grisham himself, Mitch finds no trouble in getting nailing three top job offers: two from from Wall Street, one from Memphis. Among other things, Mitch graduates with top honors, is among the top five in his class, was a quarterback at school, is an athlete (but his diet is mainly alcohol and cheeseburgers for the remainder of the novel), works for 20 hours a day, and, of course, requires hardly any sleep. Yet, unwittingly (oh, how I love the innocence), lured by money and associated perks, our man finds himself as a tax lawyer in the Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke, where more sinister dealings happen under the cover of a legitimate law firm business.The story-line never launches itself into the epic thriller that the plot threatens to become, the pace is completely off, and I can safely say that there is no single point of real suspense in this novel thanks to the some early giveaways with which you can construct most of what's about to happen (mhmm, no twists either). The novel starts somewhat promising but crumples into a muted, unimaginative ending with nothing much left to say.A horrendous lack of detail regarding the crucial money laundering activities, non-existent lawyer talk, no legalese, and, worst of all, no gun descriptions or explanations for what the hell Mitch does 20 hours a day, seven days a week with the obscenely large files handed to him. He works on them! See? (Some brilliant explanation that involved checking client deposits and interest details (lol!) were scattered in the beginning, but Grisham gives up on the pathetic explanations eventually)The book is so full of repetitions it makes you want to kill yourself for reading it. Every single bar in the Cayman Islands that finds mention in the book involves the three same things. Always! Islanders are playing either darts or dominoes. There is always a band that is tuning up. Mitchel orders the same kind of beer and cheeseburgers.Our guy Mitch barks orders to an FBI Special Agent in the early parts, and the relationship deteriorates later when Mitch can't help calling Tarrance an idiot every time he is required to say something. Not joking. Tarrance is a sock puppet character who does not come up with any good ideas during these conversations. Why converse at all?!!! Sadly, Tarrance is made to alternate between: "Will do", "I'll ask my boss", or make some feeble attempt at bargaining in a deal or ask a stupid question. The last three options don't bode well for poor Tarrance, and all such replies are followed up by Mitch calling him an idiot.When the FBI and the Mafia are hot on his tail, Mitch also finds, serendipitously, the assistance of an ex-con while being holed up in a room at a seedy Motel along Pacific Beach. The Mafia also give false leads to the FBI to throw them off his trail. Who needs the FBI, right?The absolute worst--and this no writer should engage in--is an extended recital of the events occurring up to a certain point in time in the form a nervous realization by one of the characters, completely ruining the pace and putting the reader to sleep.Eventually you will be tempted to assume that Grisham doesn't have a brain.The book fails to entertain just as much as it fails to inform. The uninspired title should've been a giveaway, but I read the book only because I heard that this was Grisham's big break that made him famous in the 90s. I most certainly can't see how. I don't advise you to try either. Yuck!
I recently realized 1) I've never read any of John Grisham's novels and 2) that's a shame. So I picked this up at the library a couple trips ago, when I found myself browsing in the G's. Why The Firm rather than The Client or The Associate? My grandfather, a former lawyer, happened to mention it in a conversation a couple months ago, so the title was on my mind.My main impression is that this is the kind of pulp that no one will read 100 years from now (thank goodness). It reminded me very strongly of some bad late Victorian short stories I read for a class in fin de siecle fiction. My, how far we've come since the early '90s (the 1990s, just to be clear, not the 1890s). I mean, really, if you're ever in doubt, just pick up this book. It's definitely a product of its time. Sexism, classism, ageism, consumerism--it's all here, unvarnished and unexamined. I don't think John Grisham is or was especially unenlightened...I think he just faithfully represented the cultural norms and popular attitudes.(This might be a tangent, but if I really wanted to understand what life was like in a previous era, I would look first at its advertising and its advice columns. I would look at what was ephemeral, not intended to survive. Not just at that, but I certainly wouldn't neglect it. I think there's treasure to be gleaned from scrutinizing what was created purely for the present and not for the eyes of history.)Aside from what now seems crass and/or naive (the sexism especially so, for me), this is a pretty good story. Gripping. At times seemingly very realistic. At others, less believable. (For example, I find it hard, very hard to believe that Abby would say what she does on the last page, given the limitations she and Mitch must find a way to live within. I'm told the movie ending is more realistic. I haven't seen it yet.) I can understand why this book might have put a whole year's worth of law school graduates off their interviewing. I'm sure someone out there decided at the last second to switch their focus to fashion design or sales.My favorite bits by far were the scenes that show Mitch's interaction with his secretary. As far as I'm concerned, there weren't enough of them. Maybe because his secretary seems like the kind of woman who would resent being underestimated or labeled.
What do You think about The Firm (2000)?
This was my first John Grisham novel and it won’t be my last. I really enjoyed The Firm! I didn’t know what I expected from this book when I first started it but I knew that something was fishy about the Bendini, Lambert and Locke firm. I mean, seriously they were just so creepy asking all those questions about family and stuff. For such an intelligent man, Mitch can be dumb and ignorant sometimes. I understand the need to be the best and to make loads of money but wow; he took the meaning of workaholic to a whole new level. I respect the fact that he didn’t want to trust the FBI at first but come on! Give them a chance to help out, look at what you, your wife and your brother’s lives ended up without their help. I wish we had more character development for Abby though. She just seemed like Mitch’s sidekick most of the time. I adore Ray, I really wanted more scenes with him. Tammy was also an interesting character. I loved how she does all that spy stuff to help Mitch and his family. The plot kept me on the edge of my seat almost all the time. I couldn’t put it down because I really wanted to know what would happen next. I love all the twists and turns especially in the last few chapters. The ending was a bit of a letdown though but it didn’t spoil the rest of the book for me. I would definitely be reading more of John Grisham’s work!
—Maythavee
Pretty clumsy writing for a lawyer. More importantly, I couldn't stand the main character, Mitch McDeere. Critics gushed about how he's a likable everyman, but to me he was a major asshole. He's excessively competent, has many of those characteristics we associate with TV geniuses (like a photographic memory), stays ice cold under pressure, and proves time and again that he's smarter than a whole firm of experienced lawyers, plus the Mafia and the FBI. We never get a hint of uncertainty from him, perhaps because the narration switches awkwardly to other characters at key times in order to obscure Mitch's machinations.Also, Grisham does that trick of making Mitch come from desperate circumstances and do a whole lot of bootstrap-pulling, in order to get us to sympathize. But the improbability only serves to make him less human: who can come from poverty, barely make it into college, somehow make the jump to Harvard Law, get a Big Law Job with a Big Law Firm, and do it all without ever breaking a sweat or revealing a chink in the psychological armor?It's almost like the Count of Monte Cristo, except at least in that book, Edmond's misfortunes are dramatized. Plus, those misfortunes have serious effects on his psyche that play out over the rest of the book. In The Firm, all we get are repeated asides about Mitch's past and glimpses of his mother serving waffles at a crappy Panama City restaurant. And none of that past does anything to Mitch except make him more determined to get rich or die trying. So that's a little too transparent for me.That said, it's a legal thriller, and increasingly, I have a soft spot for those. So I liked it okay.
—Drew
I'm quite surprised reading this because I thought this book will be like The Litigators (the first Grisham book that I've read) wherein the focus will be the courtroom and a trial. However, this book is about this rookie tax lawyer who was hand-picked to work in this law firm in Memphis. The firm gave him a high salary, a house with a low interest mortgage and a brand new car. He was offered a lot of material things and because he was not that rich he accepted the offer. Later on he found out that the firm was secretly governed by the Mafia and the law firm was only a facade. He cooperated with the FBI and he tried to gather evidence, but in the end the firm knew about what was he doing and then it became a chase in the end when he escaped the firm. Even though I am a little bit disappointed because I wanted a plot focused on courtroom dramas this book is still thrilling and has a strong message (money is not everything and will not make you happy). Also, I like John Grisham because compared to Jodi Picoult his novels are centered on lawyers not the clients. I'm looking forward to read more of his works.
—Joyzi
