Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius
Publish date: 16 February 2015
Issue Number: 615
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Corruption
Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius
John Carlin
Atlantic Books. R209
Matthew Syed in The Times judged Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius by John Carlin ‘superb’, its strength being that ‘it weaves many disparate strands into a humane and sensitive overview of a case that shocked the world. Alternating in consecutive chapters between the drama of the court proceedings and the backstory of Pistorius’ life, the book examines the social context, the role of the media and the many ironies of our celebrity culture … The detail is fascinating.’ Carlin is ‘not unsympathetic to the findings of the judge’. Justice Malala pointed out in the Sunday Times that the author ‘is a highly respected former foreign correspondent in South Africa, who has already written the book that became the 2009 film Invictus’. His book is ‘unavoidably dull’ when it recounts the trial day by day, but ‘Where the court reporting does come alive is when Pistorius takes the stand and is subjected to cross-examination. Here, it reads like a taut courtroom drama.’ Harriet Alexander, who reported on the trial for the Daily Telegraph, concluded in her review that it was ‘an accomplished retelling of the Pistorius tale – albeit without any huge revelations’.
