This got me thinking about novels about trials, and I thought I'd do a quick post of "Five Great Novels About Trials" or something. However, all I could come up with was Crime and Punishment (which isn't really about the trial), The Stranger (ditto), Milan Kundera's The Joke (kind of a stretch), In Cold Blood (not really a novel, not really about the trial) and of course To Kill a Mockingbird.*
So in lieu of that, I'll just quote this excellent passage from Ms. Lee's excellent novel and ask for suggestions of trial novels. Thoughts?
"The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is."------------------------------------------
* John Grisham novels do not count. I said "Great" novels, and the Grish's books have always struck me as lawyer-porn for guys who took the bar instead of getting their P.I. license or becoming a biker or a shrimp boat captain or some such. Guys who spend a lot of time sitting on their back deck, drink in hand, wondering if and when they got soft, and where it all went wrong.**
** Lest my lawyer friends and relations take this amiss, I should point out the same midlife-crisis fantasy subgenre exists for academics: instead of getting involved with shadowy conspiracies and seedy Lower Alabama underworlds, the protagonists get involved with a grad student or a local pottery artist, or maybe the Dean's wife. Being the people in charge of such things, these books get to count as "literature" while Grish & Co. do not. It's what we get to make up for not making the big bucks.
10 comments:
The only time I ever got called for jury duty was the month after I moved full time to Madison.
Of course, it was for the Cuyahoga County Court System in Ohio, so I didn't have to go.
"The Caine Mutiny" comes to mind, as does "Inherit the Wind," though that was a play that was eventually published and doesn't qualify as a novel. I recall it being a pretty good read, however.
"Witness for the Prosecution" is another one.
Excellent. I have nothing to read right now that isn't work related.
Although maybe I've read WftP. Heck, I should start making a list.
And Dave, your lack of civic vigor has been noted.
"The Crucible."
Does a witch trial count? I guess if they ever did, today would be the day.
Hey, not saying I wouldn't have gone had I been called in Madison. It's just that Madison to Cleveland everyday would be a hell of a commute.
When I taught 11th grade, I made my kids read The Crucible in lieu of The Scarlet Letter.
Because nobody should have to read The Scarlet Letter.
And dang it, I wish it was a heat wave in August because I didn't watch 12 Angry Men this year, and I can only watch it during heat waves.
Trollope wrote several excellent novels with trials as the central theme.
What about all 96 Perry Mason novels?
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