One of my friends drew my attention to a snapshot of John Grisham’s book, The Judge’s List, propped against the sugar white sand of a local beach, complemented by a post: “This morning, enjoying a couple of hours of free time. Nothing better than reading the most recent book of John Grisham “The Judge’s List,” while enjoying Aruba’s beautiful beaches.”
The post appeared on the Prime Minister’s FB page — yes, ours, on the day we registered more than 400 new cases, before announcing extra measures, to curb the advances, of the Omicron variant, while she herself was burdened by a common cold.
Writes one of my friends: “I barely know what free time means and I’m running a small business with just 22 people on a skeleton sched; how she has time for the beach and a book is a mystery. I have to applaud her. Maybe she can give me lessons.”
It dawned on me that my friend found the post credible. Or maybe she was sarcastic.
Grisham?
She’s a lawyer, so maybe a legal thriller with a female protagonist is of interest.
Of course all public figures deserve a personal life, and pictures with grandchildren and assorted family members on the beach, against spectacular sunsets, are welcome, but a picture of a book on the beach, on December 28th take it a bit too far.
Allow me to roll my eyes.
It just isn’t credible.
I chuckled some more when suggestions came in for an upgraded and improved Reading List for MinPres, with Alexander Dumas, Stefan Zweig and Leo Tolstoy, in starring roles. Les Miserable by Victor Hugo, 1862, 1,462 pages, got a special mention as a favorite — for its redemption theme, as the ex-convict, Jan Valjean, after much suffering, dies content.
The post continued to entertain me with more suggestions, recommending Harlan Coben, a mass-producer of thrillers and Alafair Burke, a wholesale crime novelist.
Do we believe the MinPres reads anything besides Raymond Knops’ love letters? Sure.
But with the country is crisis, financial & medical, if she has time to read a book on the beach she isn’t working hard enough.
