The Just And The Unjust by James Gould Cozzens
In the 1930s to 1950s, James Gould Cozzens was a premier American novelist. Reading this book is similar like perusing the classified advertisements in a vintage Saturday Evening Post or Life magazine. Everyone uses cigarettes, you drive a car by “letting the clutch out,” people wear hats and linen suits in the summer, there is no mention of air conditioning in the stuffy, hot courtroom in Pennsylvania, one of the defendants uses “opium” rather than heroin, and at a party on a barge, cocktails are mixed in a cocktail mixer but there is no mention of wine.
The Just And The Unjust by James Gould Cozzens
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Cozzens was recognized as a significant American author in the middle of the 20th century, but his reputation has waned as of late. However, this is simply a very, very nice book about a lawyer from a little town. It is ultra-realistic, therefore it dates from a time when realist novelists thought their duty was to simply depict the so-called middle range of experience, which some could find uninteresting. But the book is absolutely gorgeous. It’s a lovely depiction of a specific period and location. I would recommend reading this book if you really want to understand what it was like to work as a small-town lawyer in the United States in the 1930s, especially if your grandfather or great-grandfather was one.
Fans of the court system and of small-town life will enjoy this author’s account.
When I read this 1942 book, I had the impression that the author had taken the cast of the venerable Andy Griffin show and dispersed them all over the Childerstown courtroom.
As if Andy Griffin were actually sitting in the judge’s chair, we read about a judge who was familiar with the different personalities and could recount their backstories. Each day’s proceedings at the trial come to a close, and we then watch what happens in the families of the defence attorney, other characters, and even the accused.
Apparently, a narcotics dealer was murdered. When two suspects are quickly apprehended, we replay the crime from there and a friend’s perspective. The reader examines the suspects’ families and their relationship to the neighbourhood.
This is mixed in with the tale of an attorney who cheated a wealthy young widow and made off with her money. In reality, the woman moved in with the judge’s family, and the husband and his wife spent a lot of time trying to find the missing offender. We can understand how history and justice interact in this way.
