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Title: One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow ISBN: 0-446-67378-1 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.23 (102 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: The book probably does not represent the typical HLS Student
Comment: I'm not sure what to make of Turow's book. Here is a guy who goes to Harvard Law School, an institution which has existed in its present form for well over 200 years. As a first year law student, he has the nerve to have all these criticisms of the institution -- that it's hostile, that the law is not warm and fuzzy, that there are clear boundaries in the law, which seem to indicate that he has choosen the wrong field. He seemed to be quite selfish in that he wanted the school to change many of its most cheerished methods of teaching to satisfy one alienated, empty-headed student.
All readers assume that one's first year at Harvard Law School is challenging. Ironically, it does seem as though Harvard may have listened to Mr. Turow's complaints since I have not heard of the difficulty of the institution from other students/graduates. It is possible that they have dumbed-down the curriculum to satisfy those who would prefer to complain than learn.
At the same time, this book certainly opens our perspective in how the law school class is set up, including the Socratic method, to which I was already quite familiar with. I would urge readers not to think that Mr. Turow's experience is at all shared by most at Harvard -- or any other institution. Remember that Mr. Turow just happened to want to write about his experience, but many others who choose not to write probably had drastically different experiences. Maybe they choose to learn and excel rather than to criticize an institution ten times their age.
Mr. Turow's analysis of the other students also appears rather superficial and shallow. The students are essentially grouped into the achievers, the complainers (who think of themselves as "intellectuals," but who, in reality, are no more intellectual than a kindergardener with a crayon), and the professors who "harass" the students. What about the exact types of questions one faces in law school. How are the questions different from undergraduate life? Is law school merely a tarriff to prevent competition in the legal professsion? Also, as with most people who advocate change, Mr. Turow is remarkably short on specifics on how he would change the law school experience. The lack of specifics is common for those who gripe about the present but are unable to explain an alternative system to which they aspire.
This is certainly an interesting book, but I would hesitate to think that it is the Bible of the Law School experience. It is merely one story about one institution in a particular year.
Rating: 4
Summary: Suspenseful and interesting account
Comment: Intense is the only word to describe Turow's taut, melodramatic account of 1st-year student life at Harvard Law School. Turow's description of the emotional roller-coaster of that first year--ranging from excitement and fascination to shear panic and deep depression, will keep you on the edge of your seat.
I understand that things have changed a lot at Harvard, as well as other law schools, since when it was written 25 years ago (which is good), but if you want to find out what it was like before the winds of a more humane milieu blew through it's vaunted corridors, there is no better account than Turow's book.
I never attended law school, but I can certainly sympathize with Turow's position as a result of my own experiences. One of the schools I attended in the late 70's, about the time Turow was at HLS, had the highest suicide rate of any school in the state (and it was a big state with lots of colleges), and there were enough depressed and suicidal students running around so that people were becoming alarmed, and eventually the school had to try to do something about it. Well, they did try, by providing psychological counseling for distraught students, and the professors even seemed to be more aware of possible problems, so hopefully it did some good.
Anyway, looked at from a cultural perspective, maybe such overblown, hyperkinetic, and extreme rites of passage as law school are just society's way of making sure only the toughest (as opposed to the smartest) students, survive? Or maybe it's just society's way of getting "even" with budding lawyers for what they're going to do when they get out?
Well, obviously I'm being somewhat facetious here, but sometimes I ponder why modern societies set these things up this way.
One other interesting thing Turow did is that the recent edition includes an afterward in which he discusses his experiences working for 10 years in the district attorneys office in Chicago, where he prosecuted cases of corruption brought against lawyers and judges.
All in all, Turow's book makes for a suspenseful and interesting read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Essential read for pre-laws; still a good read for others.
Comment: This is a great book. If you are thinking about Law School, you HAVE to read it. Understand, though, that the Law School experience--and the HLS experience, in specific--has changed a lot since the time this book was written. Still, nothing can give you a better idea of what law school will be like than this book. Today, hundreds of law students keep blogs of their experience--this phenomenon was clearly inspired by this book, which is written like (and, in fact adapted from) Turow's journal.
Even if you're not Law School bound, this is an exciting, engaging book that tells a great story. Turow is, of course, a successful author and an established writer. This book stands on its own as a good read.
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Title: Law School Confidential : A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience by Robert H. Miller ISBN: 031224309X Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 14 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Acing Your First Year of Law School: The Ten Steps to Success You Won't Learn in Class by Shana Connell Noyes, Henry S. Noyes ISBN: 0837709121 Publisher: William s Hein & Co Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Complete Law School Companion : How to Excel at America's Most Demanding Post-Graduate Curriculum by Jeff Deaver ISBN: 047155491X Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: March, 1992 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title:The Paper Chase ASIN: B00008UALL Publisher: Fox Home Entertainme Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $12.28 |
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Title: Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams by Richard Michael Fischl, Jeremy R. Paul ISBN: 0890897603 Publisher: Carolina Academic Press Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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