Sally-Anne Lambert answers “Why do you think Grisham had to go into so...”

Paula Mills asked this question about The Reckoning:

Why do you think Grisham had to go into so much detail about the war story? I don’t think it really was that relevant to the plot and was way too long and graphic. It was not his usual style and I was disappointed with the book.

Sally-Anne Lambert The Bataan part is central to the story, it's a mystery hidden there. MacArthur was born with Pluto on alGol the demon star. He was sent to Philippine…moreThe Bataan part is central to the story, it's a mystery hidden there. MacArthur was born with Pluto on alGol the demon star. He was sent to Philippines as a punishment by General Pershing because Louise Cromwell the most desirable woman of DC chose MacArthur over Pershing who'd had an affair with her. MacArthur deliberately prevented the forces sent to destroy the Japanese before they could attack the air field in Philippines after Pearl Harbor. The Japanese immediately decimated their entire air force there, and surrounded them.

Then when they retreated to the Bataan jungle, MacArthur deliberately left the food supplies (massive amount including rice that could have fed them for years) behind, ensuring they were starved, couldn't fight in a desperate situation, and ended with the biggest US defeat ever and biggest surrender ever. Then they were massively abused as POWs including massively larger number of Filipinos.

All because MacArthur was obsessed on his fatal love for a taunting woman and in a hugely spiteful triangle in which he was blindly infuriated at his ultimate superior the General of the Armies Pershing. He retained a hatred of his superiors all his life and had to be removed from the Korean War leadership by Truman, and would have nuked 34 military targets in North Korea/ China. (But at least he didn't intend civilian targets like others did.) In his memoirs he never once mentioned Louise by name. She had a femme fatale horoscope with 8 grand trines. He struck her on at least one occasion and she humiliated him at social functions. He was also denied a medal by Pershing.

Pershing himself had heavy karma. He fought against the American Indians and his first wife and 3 daughters died in a fire. He caused the sister of General Patton to remain a spinster all her life after breaking their engagement. He had a secret marriage to a French-Romanian artist, and he was friends with the Nazi collaborationist French Vichy leader Petain. (less)

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