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A review by stijen4
Clarence Darrow for the Defense by Irving Stone
5.0
This excerpt, found in the vast Goodreads quote collection was the thing that piqued my interest and brought my attention to this book. In the source section, it mentioned Clarence Darrow, a name that I did not recognize, and Irving Stone, the name I recognized instantaneously. The latter I have already known for his outstanding historical fiction novels about Michelangelo and Van Gogh, to name a few.
Motivated by that quote and an epic sounding title, I went on a book hunt. I managed to find a 1971 edition sold on a Craigslist-like site, paid an insane shipping fee, and clicked the Order button. A week later, in my hands I held a worn out, beaten, yellow-paged tome that smelled of the days past. A book that in parallel tells two intertwined stories.
One of the stories is about America at the chasm of centuries. Not the America that we see in our history books, the land of infinite promises and the cradle of freedom. This book shows the other side of that shiny coin. It depicts „those who spin in darkness that other man may be clothed“ - the working people, the immigrants, the outcasts – the lowly of the low. All those who used their own hands and built and produced and in return were treated without a shred of human dignity. Their shifts were never shorter than 12 hours. Their children became a cheap labor force. They were underpaid and afraid will food and a shelter be waiting for them tomorrow. And above them, stood the employer, like „the medieval king who ruled by divine right and whose omnipotent will was not to be questioned.“
Those people were readily prosecuted, discarded, and harassed. Those people rarely had anyone to stand up for them. And that is the second story this book tells. The tale of one of the greatest attorneys that ever stood up for the defense.
He was giant in both stature and character and later in life known under a picturesque nickname: Old Lion. He was a kind and good-natured man, but despite that still hated by many. That lot labeled him as a heretic, an agnostic, a pagan, and an anarchist. Like his clients, he was often marginalized, prosecuted and obstructed every step of his way. Yet, that did not stop him to always go over and beyond the common amounts of empathy to save even the guilty from prison. He was a fierce opponent of the death penalty, a champion of science, and a magnificent orator who could keep his audience under a spell for hours on end.
Clarence Darrow fought for those who had no one else. He defended even the people he disliked, sacrificing himself and his reputation in the process. The imperfect nature of men was clear to him and by nurturing that thought, he became a living embodiment of the old adage: „Hate the sin, love the sinner.“. He always appealed for the greater cause in mind. His topic was often the fight against greed, cruelty, and ignorance. He was a teacher with a lawyer's degree and educated the jury instead of persuading them. To this day, the speeches he produced are regarded among the best that the American courtrooms have ever heard.
He was a truly unique man and reading this wonderful story Irving Stone tells about him might string some very deep emotions. It can make you cry out for injustice you just witnessed or yell out in triumph when the truth is uncovered. And of course, with this book, you are bound to learn a lot of history and see how some things that happened a hundred years ago are eerie similar to things happening today.