By reading The New York Times Book Review each Sunday morning, I attempt to persuade myself that I am keeping up with the intellectual life of the nation. To some degree, I am sure it helps, but I end up reading a lot more reviews than actual books, and this realization can undermine my sense of genuine accomplishment.
I was quite pleased to see that Scott Turow, one of my favorite lawyer-authors, reviewed a book called The Final Case, by David Guterson. Guterson is not a lawyer; he's all author, and The Final Case is not an autobiography, but a novel!
Turow's review was published in the Sunday, January 23, 2022, edition of The New York Times Book Review. That's a couple of months ago, but I am still thinking about the final lines of Turow's treatment of Guterson's novel. Here's a link to the Turow review, titled "Like Father, Like Son" in the hard copy version that I read - and here are those lines I keep worrying about:
Ultimately, the mystery at the center of “The Final Case” is not about innocence or guilt, but about how one family’s profound attachments can stand alongside breathtaking cruelty in another. Part of the answer, Guterson seems to suggest, is the degree to which some Americans feel at liberty today to live in a relentless state of rage and grievance, rather than with the shared sense of quiet decency that once knitted our communities together (emphasis added).
Really, I am worrying; is that truly where we're at?
Image Credit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/books/review/the-final-case-david-guterson.html
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