учебный год 2023 / Fish files composition

Mezhidov Ramzan

Group 101(B).

Fish files

(By John Grisham).

Popular novelist John Grisham (born 1955) is the author of several thrillers that have been made into blockbuster films. His works, which center around the legal profession, include "A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Client", and "The Pelican Brief".

It is no understatement that John Grisham has achieved the status of what Entertainment Weekly called "a genuine pop-culture demigod." His have shared unprecedented weeks - and months - on best-seller lists, have numbered more than 60 million in print across the world, and have been translated into 31 languages. Dubbed "grab-it-at-the-airport" novels, they have also made their author a multimillionaire; Grisham's income for the 1992-93 fiscal year alone was $25 million. Along with author Scott Turow, also a former practicing attorney, Grisham has been credited with mastering a genre: the fast-paced, plot-driven legal thriller that thrusts an unwitting, sympathetic hero or heroine in the middle of a corrupt conspiracy and provides them with the means to extricate themselves. Despite his seemingly untouchable success, Grisham still wants each novel he writes to improve upon the last. "Right now I could crank out anything, and it would sell, " he told the same source. "But I want the next to be better than the first five. That keeps me awake at night."

Ford County is a collection of novellas by John Grisham. His first collection of stories, it was published by Doubleday in the United States on November 3, 2009. The book contains 7 short stories: Blood Drive ; Fetching Raymond ; Fish Files ; Casino ; Michael's Room ; Quiet Haven ; Funny Boy.

We read a story called “Fish files”. In this short text John Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, telling about people of Clanton city.

Mack Stafford, an alcoholic small-town bankruptcy and divorce lawyer with little money to his name. Bored with his job, family, wife, which always seems ungrateful and looking to escape his dull life, one day Mack receives a phone out of the blue from a New York attorney at a prestigious firm, claiming to be instructed by the European purchaser of a chainsaw manufacturer. The Europeans, the New York attorney claims, are terrified of the American system of tort law and want to settle any old cases from the chainsaw company. The "fish files" contain the cases of four loggers who were injured, and the New York attorney offers $100,000 per each case, plus an additional $100,000 for court costs. The local lawyer's take is 40%, and he is ecstatic.

After settling a series of personal injury cases and a divorce, he leaves the country for Belize. The final scene shows him jumping from a pier into the ocean. The reader is left unclear: is he committing suicide or is he on his way to a life-long fantasy?

In one hand, I respect determination and bravery of Mack Stafford. He changed his life without any superstitions. But in other hand, he left his family, broke life of his children. Mack also violated the law by false bankruptcy, what is unacceptable for any lawyer. John Grisham raises the question about the essence of justice in his story. He shows us, that sometimes lawyer can be cunning to help his clients recover lost rights. So, I really enjoy this story/