Review by Robert McCool
John Grisham, again.
First off, I apologize for being gone so long. Life throws stuff at us that alters our plans without warning. But that stuff is over now and I have time to read again. And what a book to begin with.
John Grisham's thirty-ninth novel, Sooley ( Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-54768-0) is a masterwork written by an author at the top of his game. And a game is just what this novel about. Basketball.
Samuel Sooleymon lives in South Sudan, Africa, has a month left of Secondary School, and talent for playing basketball on the dirt court of his village. He's fast, tall for his age at seventeen, and can jump high enough to dunk the ball through the hoop.
He also can't put a jump-shot into that hoop. It's his only flaw in the game. Regardless, he travels to the nearest town hoping to be selected for a chance to travel to America for a scouting session judging seventeen year old kids. He gets picked last to go, but go he does.
Meanwhile, his father is killed by lawless guerrillas and his mother and family are caught up in the civil war that has raged the country forever. They flee their village to find help with the basic needs in life. Eventually they find an overflowing tent city where they sleep on the ground and struggle to find water and food.
This book is not just about basketball. It's about the atrocity of war. Raw, primitive war that both sides wage against the unfortunate civilians caught up in a struggle they cannot win or escape from. It hurts to hear the truth, but it's far worse to live it. Sooley's family loses a daughter to troops who take her to commit God knows what.
Sooley gets selected to play for North Carolina Central University. He takes on a life that is so very foreign to him, but with his roommate and the roommate's family he adjusts to a life in the world of basketball.
He goes to the gym early every day and shoots basket after basket, improving slowly in nine hundred increments each time. He works hard at the game and the coach notices. Then the games begin. He doesn't get much playing time, but his enthusiasm never dips below his expectations of playing.
A Doctor-Without-Borders hooks up with him using a cell phone and he gets to talk to his mother. The relief is a blessing for both of them. They schedule a weekly call and the money he sends his mother makes her life a little more bearable.
Sooley gets to play, and his improvement gets noticed, so the team gets behind him as he takes them to the Final-Four tournament.
Sooley gets picked to play pro ball and enters a new life unknown to him. The book could end there, but once more the truth is hard to hear.
He starts the process of bringing his family to America which is a difficult task. Eventually, with his American family's help they get them here and away from the continual warfare of their home country.
The novel is an elegant ode to the opportunities of living in America, and an indictment of civil war. Grisham writes with intense compassion for his characters and the world they live in. It is a joy to read while understanding a different world exists outside our experience.
Obviously I like this story, and I recommend it as a summer read. Even if you don't care for basketball you can still connect with an inside look at college level play.
Again, sorry I was gone so long, but I'm back to reading and taking recommendations to read a book you would like to share.
