356 books
—
548 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Paper Chase” as Want to Read:
The Paper Chase
by
When initially published, The Paper Chase was widely acclaimed as the first novel to realistically describe the experiences of students within American law schools. The film version appeared to sensational reviews, and John Houseman, playing Professor Kingsfield won an Academy Award. Then, with Houseman again playing Kingsfield, The Paper Chase appeared as a television ser
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 249 pages
Published
September 2nd 2004
by Whitston Publishing Co Inc
(first published 1971)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Paper Chase,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about The Paper Chase
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Paper Chase
I have One L. by Scott Turow more than once because it is a really good book on the experience of Law School. Note: One L is non-fiction. Paper Chase is a novel. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with Paper Chase.
Read this in one day, and what an odd little book. I imagine many readers will be put off by the impenetrability of the characters, but personally I found this compelling because Osborn absolutely nails the many, many anxieties and insecurities of academia. A solid campus novel; I only wish it it had been a little longer and given the characters a little more room to breathe. (But also Susan is nuts and I love her.)
Excellent. I watched the movie going into Law School and enjoyed it. Reading this after 1L made me appreciate the story even more. I highly recommend this book to any future law student or anyone interested in getting a fairly accurate depiction of what life is like as a first-year law student. Several things have changed since this book came out, but overall, it does well in describing classmates, professors, and sentiments one encounters. This book is also an incredibly fast read.
A great book with a timeless theme - the relationship between teacher and student - but with plenty of themes that make this a highly individualized novel.
Also, I loved the insight into the mechanics of an ivy league law school. Working with law students here on the West Coast only added to the spice of this crazy rite-of-passage.
Also, I loved the insight into the mechanics of an ivy league law school. Working with law students here on the West Coast only added to the spice of this crazy rite-of-passage.
This is a fabulous read. It's short, takes a day to read, and gets right to the point. It does the job so much more brilliantly and pungently than Turow's One L. This is the definitive book about the first year at the Harvard Law School. It really made me glad I went somewhere else.
...more
One of the worst books I've ever read, back in the 1980's. It had a particularly unsatisfactory way of ending; I remember swiftly reading the last few pages and in one fluid movement closing the book and placing it in the trash. Then I quickly stood up, left the room and closed the door!
...more
As I greatly enjoyed the film, I grabbed a copy of this book when I saw it in a used bookstore. It's very close to the movie, which I liked. The story focuses on the first year at Harvard Law School of a young man from the Midwest named Hart. The really interesting character, however, is Kingsfield, the intimidating law professor who ruthlessly uses the Socratic method with his students. Hart becomes obsessed with Kingsfield and even carries on a love affair with the professor's independent dau
...more
“The Paper Chase” is John Jay Osborn’s 1971 novel of law school and the main character Hart’s mostly one sided psychic war with contracts professor Kingsfield.
Osborn started writing “The Paper Chase” in his first year at the Harvard Law School. The novel is formatted like a series of vignettes of law school linked together by Hart’s romance with Kingsfield’s daughter Susan, a relationship he finds every bit as challenging and frustrating as his relationship with her father.
I’ve probably come to ...more
Osborn started writing “The Paper Chase” in his first year at the Harvard Law School. The novel is formatted like a series of vignettes of law school linked together by Hart’s romance with Kingsfield’s daughter Susan, a relationship he finds every bit as challenging and frustrating as his relationship with her father.
I’ve probably come to ...more
I normally don’t write reviews. However, I hated this book so much that I believe it’s worth trying to prevent anyone else from reading it.
My first issue is the description of the characters. I found every single character one-dimensional and heavily flawed. The reader is encouraged to root for Kingsfield, and the study group but each character has no positive qualities. They each show moments of cruelty and are boring. Frankly, I hoped that they’d all fail out by the end.
There is also no plot ...more
My first issue is the description of the characters. I found every single character one-dimensional and heavily flawed. The reader is encouraged to root for Kingsfield, and the study group but each character has no positive qualities. They each show moments of cruelty and are boring. Frankly, I hoped that they’d all fail out by the end.
There is also no plot ...more
A terribly written book that gives random unrelated snippets of the various sub-components being played out. I found this book similar to the script of the latest Quentin Tarantino movie where it was cumbersome to make sense of occurrences. Elements being sought by the reader, e.g., Harvard Law School experience, domination by an infamous professor, or the love between one of his students and his daughter were not built to their maximum potential. The only positive was that this suffering spanne
...more
An easy read and I got a rough feel about how stressful it was to be a law student back then. But I have to say it lacked any detail on what law school classes were like. Just a basic overview of how hard they studied and how they were intimidated by their professors. Very few scenes showing tension between the main character and the contracts professor...like I remember from the TV show.
This read was just as good as my first read back in 1972. In many ways, the novel influenced my classroom teaching. I couldn’t teach like Kingsfield but I did find ways to make teaching a dialogue. And I ways to convince students that they could SPOILER ALERT throw their grades in the ocean.
I was hoping for a lot more about law school, the classroom, the grind, etc. but it seemed the majority of this novel took place outside of the classroom and law school-related matters. Well written though.
I liked this book. It's not what could be considered a defining characteristic of a person's story-telling abilities, but it took some time to feel out the characters (what little bit there was).
I liked it. Everyone was crazy in their own way and the ending was a breath of fresh air.
...more
I liked it. Everyone was crazy in their own way and the ending was a breath of fresh air.
...more
It's mildly concerning that my new favorite storyline is "academic obsession spirals into madness."
While the writing isn't always captivating, this story did make me very introspective about my own unhealthy fixation on academic achievement and for that I give this book a lot of credit. ...more
While the writing isn't always captivating, this story did make me very introspective about my own unhealthy fixation on academic achievement and for that I give this book a lot of credit. ...more
A really good read about first year students at Harvard Law School. I may have been slightly prejudiced by watch all 4 seasons of the TV adaptation a number of years ago.
I don’t get this book. Unless law school really does make everyone temporarily crazy, and focusing yourself, and ignoring the competition is the solution. But yuck.
Thought I'd read a book from long ago and see how it reads today. Not bad
...more
...more
It's not that serious, you guys.. Don't lose your mind over it... The professor isn't thinking of you like that. You're just one among a sea of faces that changes each semester... It's gonna be fine.
...more
Great book - provides a realistic account of a law student (none of that Suits nonsense)! Really easy read.
The author gets five stars. The copy editor, however, gets zero stars for using hyphens instead of em dashes throughout the book.
The TV show was far better
This was good. I can't remember whether I watched the movie first or afterwards.
...more
The movie is so much better than the book!
Having never been in law school--nor ever interested in attending--any finer points regarding accuracy and stereotypes have fully passed me by.
But as a regular ol' English major, there were aspects of this which really appealed to me.
The Paper Chase reads much less like a novel and more like a series of sketches. They don't necessarily link from chapter-to-chapter, and even once the whole thing is said and done a number of the chapters still feel a bit haphazard. Few books could get away with do ...more
But as a regular ol' English major, there were aspects of this which really appealed to me.
The Paper Chase reads much less like a novel and more like a series of sketches. They don't necessarily link from chapter-to-chapter, and even once the whole thing is said and done a number of the chapters still feel a bit haphazard. Few books could get away with do ...more
Meh.
I guess it's almost inevitable that such a short novel(la) would operate in the stereotype-osphere, but allowing that doesn't make The Paper Chase any more enjoyable. I think there was a great nugget of an idea here, but Osborn was either too busy or young to fully develop it. I do hope, however, that the stereotypes in his novel were a reflection of the various sides and states of mind he was in while at Harvard Law...that would be a little redeeming. I had wondered (before reading his bio) ...more
I guess it's almost inevitable that such a short novel(la) would operate in the stereotype-osphere, but allowing that doesn't make The Paper Chase any more enjoyable. I think there was a great nugget of an idea here, but Osborn was either too busy or young to fully develop it. I do hope, however, that the stereotypes in his novel were a reflection of the various sides and states of mind he was in while at Harvard Law...that would be a little redeeming. I had wondered (before reading his bio) ...more
Nov 14, 2013
Nick Mann
added it
No book had more influence on me in writing “Forgetful” than “The Paper Chase.” The parts of my book that dealt with the seminar were difficult to write. But the knowledge that more than 40-years ago John Osborne had been able to vividly capture the feel of a 1st-year law class at Harvard made me know that it could be done. I just had to keep at it. Of course Osborne wrote from the viewpoint of Hart, the student, while I wrote from the perspective of Ben Parks, the professor. But still Osborne’s
...more
Aug 18, 2007
Rob
rated it
it was ok
Recommends it for:
beginning law students (with a big grain of salt)
What I learned is that this book is over-hyped. I start law school in a few days and virtually all the books I've read about it say that law school is this horrible experience filled with awful people who engage in every sort of cutthroat tactic in order to get ahead of you in the curve. The Paper Chase is the quintessential example (and probably most famous) of these types of stories. From all the people I've talked to here at William & Mary and elsewhere, this type of behavior is quite rare am
...more
Two good things:First, it is a good story. This is a story that needed telling. Second, the environment is described in a way that one can visualize it. Langdell Hall, the dorms, etc.
The distracting feature of this book is the style in which it is written. I describe it as "stilted," but I don't mean stiffly dignified; it is rather "stacked together." Too clipped at some points and the pacing seems very fast.
Overall, it is a fun read and, again, a good story. To quote ancient wisdom, "It is the ...more
The distracting feature of this book is the style in which it is written. I describe it as "stilted," but I don't mean stiffly dignified; it is rather "stacked together." Too clipped at some points and the pacing seems very fast.
Overall, it is a fun read and, again, a good story. To quote ancient wisdom, "It is the ...more
A quick read and one that was mostly enjoyable. There were a few things that felt pretty sexist but then the author portrayed Susan Kingsfield as a strong woman.
The movie adaptation is one of my favorites, with an impeccable cast: Timothy Bottoms as Hart, Lyndsey Wagner as Susan and the esteemed John Houseman as Kingsfield. The film follows the story mostly, but at times it changes scene order or attributes actions to Hart that were done by others. The Susan character was definitely dialed back ...more
The movie adaptation is one of my favorites, with an impeccable cast: Timothy Bottoms as Hart, Lyndsey Wagner as Susan and the esteemed John Houseman as Kingsfield. The film follows the story mostly, but at times it changes scene order or attributes actions to Hart that were done by others. The Susan character was definitely dialed back ...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
John Jay Osborn, Jr. is the author of the bestselling novel, The Paper Chase, a fictional account of one Harvard Law School student's battles with the imperious Professor Charles Kingsfield. The book was made into a movie starring John Houseman and Timothy Bottoms. Houseman won an Oscar for his performance as contracts professor Kingsfield. The Paper Chase also became a television series. Osborn w
...more
News & Interviews
Happy Women's History Month! One of the undisputedly good things about modern scholarship is that women’s history is finally getting its due....
74 likes · 11 comments
2 trivia questions
2 quizzes
More quizzes & trivia...
2 quizzes
“Through my questions, you will learn to teach yourselves.”
—
4 likes
“The trouble with entering the upper echelon is you have to work harder to stay there.”
—
4 likes
More quotes…
