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| April 2012 |
I have always enjoyed John Grisham's books and have probably read all of them, some more than others!
The Story
This is a baseball story, baseball being the oldest organized American sport. The story takes place in current day with chapters dating back to 1973 when the "incident" took place. Joe Castle, a 21 year old playing in the AA League was brought up to the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita when that team's injuries began to eat away at the number of players on the team. Joe Castle was "hot!", quickly becoming the best player in the league in that season. The "I" of the story is Paul Tracey, son of Mets pitcher Warren Tracy who was an aggressive, abusive partier for which his family paid the price. The 11 year old son Paul was in the stands when the Cubs played the Mets....and his dad, the pitcher deliberately threw a ball at Joe's head which resulted in a significant head injury. That was the end of Joe Castle's career....as well as Warren Tracey's.
In current day, Warren - estranged from his family - is dying. His fifth wife advises his ex-wife and children, who really don't care. But for Paul there is unfinished business - he works with his dad to meet with Joe Castle face-to-face to give an apology before he dies.
Opinion
The story carries far too many details for me and I found myself skimming over the "baseball" stuff. However, I was intrigued by the effort the son put in to reconciling the father with someone who he had wronged. He was a man on a mission. However, the son did not work to come to terms or peace with his father, or so it seems. This book is somewhat predictable in its outcome, however since I finished the book I have found myself continuing to go back and think about the "unstated" story ie did the son forgive the father? or was he primarily wanting to have his father apologize in order to right a wrong to someone he greatly admired, thus taking away his own family shame? did the son find peace?
Rating
I would give this book 3.5 stars as a basic read, however I really must give it 4.5 stars because of the "after-think!" It takes an outstanding writer to tell the story, give opportunity for continued debate and inquiry, and in that have a moral lesson.
