ferrisscottr's review against another edition
4.0
Not the usual legal thriller from Grisham.
This book deals with the death of Coach Rake. A mean, tough, old school high school football coach in that part of the country where high school football is everything (you know the places - 10,000 seat stadiums for high school football etc.). His old players come back to town for the death/funeral. They talk about old times and it's through those conversations that we relive their lives and Rake's life. It's touching and heartbreaking and a really good tale.
I say that I really like it but I'll also toss out that I don't like football, I'm not a fan, I never played and I don't watch. In fact all my energy in high school was directed towards girls so I have never experienced all that high school sports crap. I say that to make sure you know that I am not the target audience here, yet, I really liked this book. Grisham just is that good of a writer.
This book deals with the death of Coach Rake. A mean, tough, old school high school football coach in that part of the country where high school football is everything (you know the places - 10,000 seat stadiums for high school football etc.). His old players come back to town for the death/funeral. They talk about old times and it's through those conversations that we relive their lives and Rake's life. It's touching and heartbreaking and a really good tale.
I say that I really like it but I'll also toss out that I don't like football, I'm not a fan, I never played and I don't watch. In fact all my energy in high school was directed towards girls so I have never experienced all that high school sports crap. I say that to make sure you know that I am not the target audience here, yet, I really liked this book. Grisham just is that good of a writer.
tomaind's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book very much. Even though I have all of his books, I have only read Grisham's non-legal drama books so far. I liked this story about football better than his Playing For Pizza (which I recently read). This was a quick & easy read.
merlin_reads's review against another edition
2.5
It wasn't that this was a bad book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I am normally a John Grisham fan. His books based in the legal profession always entertain, bit Bleachers was a step out of the norm. There was no legal jargon, no court rooms...just a football hero dying and the players who played for him reliving the golden days.
The writing was all over the place from stuck in flashbacks to present day that at times you didn't know where you were or who was who. No characters were really memorable and I found myself forgetting who the main character was quite a few times. It didn't help that I'm not that big of a football fan so the constant descriptions of plays had me skimming quite a few times.
Stick to law, John.
The writing was all over the place from stuck in flashbacks to present day that at times you didn't know where you were or who was who. No characters were really memorable and I found myself forgetting who the main character was quite a few times. It didn't help that I'm not that big of a football fan so the constant descriptions of plays had me skimming quite a few times.
Stick to law, John.
rbz39's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Spoiler
Football🏈kairosdreaming's review against another edition
2.0
About the only thing my boring than watching a football game would have to be reading about one. But in all seriousness, I actually kind of like those football movies where teams overcome odds. I thought maybe this book would be like that, and since my grandpa lent it to me I figured being related our tastes would be similar. I was wrong.
Bleachers explores the hometown of Messina, a college town where one coach "ruled" for a long time. That would be Eddie Rake, who was known for winning championships and being hard on players. Neely Crenshaw, a quarterback who played for a few years has arrived back in town for the first time in years when the news of the Coach's impending death reaches him. He isn't the only one, many players flock back to reminisce and wait for his death. They all have their own stories and memories of the coach too.
Neely Crenshaw, the main narrator is not very likable at all. In fact, I thought he was selfish and completely unrelatable. I didn't care about his sad little life and his regrets at all, which made this book even harder to read. The other players were a little better, but really, it was just a bunch of guys swapping football stories that probably only they would care about. The Coach too was a hard character to like, but at least he was supposed to be that way.
Ok, so I don't like football, but as said before I like heartwarming underdog stories. This one just didn't do it for me. The pace was very slow, the characters unlikable, and the stories they told really didn't hold any interest. And in a way it was kind of morbid the way they were waiting for someone to die. As my first experience with Grisham I have to say that it kind of makes me hesitate to read anything else by him, which is a shame because he has written a lot of books that sounded interesting. About the only thing I did like this book was that it was short, and I guess I can see why football fans would like it, so I rated it higher than one star as a result.
Not my type of read at all. I won't be touching Grisham for awhile as a result.
Bleachers
Copyright 2003
229 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2012
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Bleachers explores the hometown of Messina, a college town where one coach "ruled" for a long time. That would be Eddie Rake, who was known for winning championships and being hard on players. Neely Crenshaw, a quarterback who played for a few years has arrived back in town for the first time in years when the news of the Coach's impending death reaches him. He isn't the only one, many players flock back to reminisce and wait for his death. They all have their own stories and memories of the coach too.
Neely Crenshaw, the main narrator is not very likable at all. In fact, I thought he was selfish and completely unrelatable. I didn't care about his sad little life and his regrets at all, which made this book even harder to read. The other players were a little better, but really, it was just a bunch of guys swapping football stories that probably only they would care about. The Coach too was a hard character to like, but at least he was supposed to be that way.
Ok, so I don't like football, but as said before I like heartwarming underdog stories. This one just didn't do it for me. The pace was very slow, the characters unlikable, and the stories they told really didn't hold any interest. And in a way it was kind of morbid the way they were waiting for someone to die. As my first experience with Grisham I have to say that it kind of makes me hesitate to read anything else by him, which is a shame because he has written a lot of books that sounded interesting. About the only thing I did like this book was that it was short, and I guess I can see why football fans would like it, so I rated it higher than one star as a result.
Not my type of read at all. I won't be touching Grisham for awhile as a result.
Bleachers
Copyright 2003
229 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2012
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
bonniekitts's review against another edition
4.0
Coming from a football town, this book reminded me of home. The book is a quick read. Grisham is able to take a simple story and put you right in the setting. I liked it!
sinimini's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
dmwhipp's review against another edition
4.0
I generally don't read legal thrillers, much less sport-themed books written by authors who usually write legal thrillers, but Bleachers was wonderful. John Grisham knows how to create interesting characters and how to tell a story.... this is exactly the kind of book that makes me appreciate talented authors.