Law and Physics

Before the dawn of Good Friday, I have devoured two books. Which is a record for me. With my hectic schedule, it usually takes me at least weeks to finish a paperback novel.

The first one is The Summons by John Grisham, which has resided on my bag for weeks now.



In The Summons, Grisham relives a small town law drama. The revered Judge Atlee is on his last breath and he has summoned his prodigal sons for the final verdict. But Ray finds his father dead and with three million in cold cash stacked in his cabinets. And so with the heavy guilt of disappointing his father came the heavier burden of finding where the money came from and what he will do with it.

Then came the cat-and-mouse chase that Grisham has perfected. Someone knew about the money and is after Ray. The reader is led to a screening of the personalities in Judge Altee’s life and their possible connection with this ill wealth. The build-up to an unexpected ending that will question our own judgement about certain things.

The book meanders lazily in places and truth to tell, this is third time I have picked it up from my reading stack. Since the story is basically a personal law-related dilemma, it lacked the satisfying tension of courtroom spectacles that we came to expect from Grisham. But Grisham absolves himself when he meticulously pulls together the story in the end. Like a slow brew that came to a rousing boil in the end.

(Spoiler Alert. Please skip the next paragraph if you plan to read the book.)

The Summons rises above other Grisham novels with its underlying argument on personal morals and ethics. As the story is narrowed to a showdown between the two brothers, the reader will be twisted in this battle for integrity and questions on what is earnest and righteous. I closed the book torn between the brothers. Who was good...who was bad? Who was the victim...who was the tormentor? Like that infamous symbol of justice, Grisham placed the stringent rules of law on one end of the scale; and on the other he placed a crude law called personal judgement. Hence, a tough balancing act.

The book explores greed in different places. Greed in the corporate law setting. Greed on a personal level. And how greed can skew our judgment and principles. Fairly human, I know. But that doesn’t give it any rhyme or reason.

***

For some Holy Week reading, I chose a book that seemed “spiritual.” I bought this book ages because of the standout reference to Nicolas Sparks, from the overdramatic plot down to the personal praise from Sparks.

The book is Falling Bodies from Andrew Mark.



The plot is typical Sparks as it presents human loss and despair and the eventual renewal and re-discovery (of oneself) after overtaking such tragedy.

Jackson is a Physics professor whose life is governed by the rigid laws of science. Yet he cannot grasp the logic of how his family was suddenly taken from him in a terrible accident. He is haunted by the memories of their absence and his guilt. In search for the rationale in his increasingly senseless world, he embarked on a journey (more of an escape). There, his path crossed with Livvy’s, a strong woman whose resolve is also tested as she sees her husband through Alzheimer’s disease. And so came the story of two souls suffering silent pains and discovering healing in each other.

This is a debut novel but it fails to give a promise for this fledging writer. First, while the plot is inspiring and sincere, it pales in comparison to the works of Nicolas Sparks in terms of poignancy. What I am saying is the narration lacks “heart.” We never cared as much for Jackson and Livvy despite of their wrenching predicament. And this lack of poignancy is connected to another flaw.

Since the hero is a Physics professor and the story explores Science vis-à-vis Real Life, Mark tries very hard to incorporate facts and comparisons to scientific elements. It was an overkill (and this is coming from a cool geek like me) so much so that I will wince every time the writer will resort to this... at every other page! For instance, he would compare the agony of waiting to “seconds , hours and light years!” Or a frozen slice of time to "a moon suspended on its orbit by gravity." It was way too much that I lost the characters in all this scientific gobbledygook that Mark is passing for literary brilliance. To borrow from Simon Cowells’s wise words, this book was indulgent in its scientific references that I don’t know if Andrew Mark is a science whiz trying to write or a writer trying to be a genius.

And with that, I compare this book to a black hole. It sucks you in with its almost powerful story. Yet you end up with nothing but the void that you started with.

(Sidebar: The editor in me also caught two typo errors in this book. On one page, the writer was describing Jackson’s dream but he referred to it as “her” dream. In another page, he wrote about “too eyes” (obviously two eyes). Tsk, tsk…bad editing!)