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Reversible
Errors by Scott Turow Rating: •••• (Highly Recommended) |
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Paradise Lost and Regained Scott Turow has been spending a lot of
time on death penalty issues in his day job as an attorney. It comes as no surprise
that he’s taken that preoccupation and brought it and his fiction to new
levels. Turow’s latest novel, Reversible
Errors, may be his best book yet. He brings together somewhat seamlessly,
his legal acumen, his ability to tell a good story, wise insights into human
nature, and enough plot twists to keep demanding readers pleased. One love
story wasn’t enough, so he weaves two related stories together with one
deepening while the other drifts. Just when the reader thinks Turow will slip
into typecasting a character, the character behaves in a way that’s
consistent with the exposition of the story, and reveals a dimension that
shows just how complicated each of us can be. The parallels to real
characters are strong, especially for those observers of the legal, judicial,
criminal and police professions in Illinois. Here’s an excerpt (p.14-15): "I'll tell you one thing I
can't see him as," said Arthur: "your husband." "Wasn't that
something?" Pamela asked, laughing. She was pretty enough to be
untouched at some level. Men, Arthur recognized, were often silly around her. They passed a couple of jokes,
and still bantering, Pamela said, "I can't seem to meet anyone decent
lately, but this"—she threw a hand in the direction of the highway, far
off—"is a pretty long trip to make every Saturday night." She was at the passenger door.
The wind frothed her blondish hair, as she laughed lightly again, and Arthur felt
his heart knock. Even at thirty-eight, he still believed that somewhere
within him was a shadow Arthur, who was taller, leaner, better-looking, a
person with a suave voice and a carefree manner who could have parlayed
Pamela's remark about her present dry spell with men into a backhanded
invitation to lunch or even a more meaningful social occasion. But brought to
that petrifying brink where his fantasies adjoined the actual world, Arthur
realized that, as usual, he would not step forward. He feared humiliation, of
course, but if he were nonchalant enough she could decline, as she was nearly
certain to do, in an equally innocuous fashion. What halted him, instead, was
the cold thought that any overture would be, in a word, unfair. Pamela was a
subordinate, inevitably anxious about her prospects, and he was a partner.
There was no changing the unequal footing or his leverage, no way Arthur
Raven could depart from the realm of settled decency where he felt his only
comfort with himself. And yet even as he accepted his reasoning, he knew that
with women some obstacle of one kind or another always emerged, leaving him
confined with the pangs of fruitless longing. He used the gizmo in his pocket
to unlatch Pamela's door. While she sank into the sedan, he stood in the
bitter dust that had been raised in the parking lot. The death of his hopes,
no matter how implausible, was always wrenching. But the prairie wind gusted
again, this time clearing the air and carrying the smell of freshly turned
earth from the fields outside town, an aroma of spring. Love—the sweet
amazing possibility of it— struck in his chest like a note of perfect music.
Love! He was somehow exhilarated by the chance he had lost. Love! And at
that moment he wondered for the first time about Rommy Gandolph. What if he was
innocent? That too was an inspiration almost as sweet as love. What if Rommy
was innocentl And then he realized again that
Rommy wasn't. The weight of Arthur's life fell over him, and the few
categories that described him came back to mind. He was a partner. And
without love. His father was dead. And Susan was still here. He considered
the list, felt again that it added up to far less than he had long hoped for,
or, even, was entitled to, then opened the car door to head back to it all. Turow’s the best of the fiction-writing
attorneys publishing today, and Reversible
Errors is his best book since Presumed Innocent. Almost every
character in the novel changed as a result of the murders that took place at
the Paradise Restaurant. For each of them, something of paradise is lost and
regained on the pages of Reversible
Errors. Enjoy every page of this highly recommended novel as you find out
what was lost and what was regained for each of them. Steve Hopkins, December 23, 2002 |
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ã 2003 Hopkins and Company, LLC The
recommendation rating for this book appeared in the January 2003
issue of Executive
Times For
Reprint Permission, Contact: Hopkins
& Company, LLC • 723 North Kenilworth Avenue • Oak Park, IL 60302 E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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