Last year I read a book that deeply impressed me, even though it was disturbing and brutal in many ways.
This year the most impressive book for me so far is this one. I stumbled upon it quite by accident and will definitely read some more books by the author after reading this one.
The stories in this book are sometimes funny, sometimes amazing and sometimes just tragic. But they are all worth reading. One more thing: I am glad I am not a criminal lawyer or judge.

***1/2

I may be biased as I'm an attorney that would have liked to practice criminal law. Be that as it may, this book was a refreshing take on the legal genre. The crimes, the witty legal solution and the characters involved really drove these stories. It is truly amazing how you want everyone of them to get off the hook. Last page made me cry.

The author of CRIME, Ferdinand von Schirach is a criminal lawyer in Berlin. He's also an extremely good storyteller.

The stories incorporated in CRIME (as the publicity material puts it) were specifically chosen to demonstrate the relationships between truth and reason, law and compassion. They are real-life cases from the author's own experience. The subject matter, frankly, is frequently much much easier to imagine as fictional - but they are not. Whilst it's clear they are tales chosen to trigger certain emotions and reactions in the reader, in von Schirach's hands, the telling isn't overblown or overtly manipulative. There's something restrained, dry, matter-of-fact in the author's storytelling which makes the subject matter striking, but somehow more palatable (for want of a better word). Palatable only in the reading mind you. Consideration of what is happening in each of these tales, on the other hand, is more challenging.

There's lots of things to find interesting about this book - not just the nature of truth, reason, law and compassion, but also the more practical elements - the way that the justice system works in Germany, the glimpses into the world of the criminal lawyer. More than once I finished one of these stories wondering how it is that people get themselves into these situations, and how they ended up on von Schirach's doorstep afterwards. Perhaps the first part of that statement is what the book does best - really makes you wonder / think / consider the nature of justice.

The only downside to the book is that it might be best to read in small snippets - a story at a time, and then give yourself some thinking time and then onto the next. I certainly have found myself drawn back to reading some of the entries again, which, for somebody with a lot of reading matter available to them, is about the highest praise I can think of.