Synopsis: Pulitzer
Prize-winning coming-of-age novel about Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and
attorney father Atticus, set in 1935, racially-charged Alabama.
Date finished: 17
July 2014
Rating: *****
Comments:
Beware of superlatives....
I read this book in AP English in high school, and I
remember loving it then. But oh my goodness, I couldn’t have possibly gotten as
much out of it at 17 as I did on this re-read. I read it in preparation for the
new biography of Harper Lee, The
Mockingbird Next Door. In an interview, the author was asked why Harper Lee
never wrote a second novel, and she said she suspected (What, she never ASKED
her that?! Isn’t that the ONE question you’d ask Ms. Lee?!) that she felt she
could never live up to To Kill a
Mockingbird. I can understand that crippling fear, but how I wish she had
overcome it!
I’m just going to say it: this book is one of the finest novels
ever written in the English language. (My apologies to Jane Austen.) The
subtlety, the detail, the personalities are so well-crafted, I honestly
wouldn’t have changed a thing.
And be still my heart, Scout. Scout is one of the most
original, complex (for her age or any age), and humorous characters ever
presented to the American public. All the
naughty-girls-who-can’t-help-it-and-are-doing-the-best-they-can in literature
since this book owe themselves to Scout Finch. Without Scout there would be no Olivia, no Clementine.
(Eloise came before Scout. Stinker.)
Although the book deals with weighty subjects—racial prejudice,
poverty, rape, abuse, and murder—it is not a depressing book. I owe that to
Harper Lee’s ability to capture everyday life down to the last tittle. And then
to reign it in. Her characters have flaws and preconceptions and limitations.
They suffer for each other and at each other’s hands. Scout and Jem struggle
with growing pains and understanding adult issues. But the book never gets maudlin
or sentimental. Likewise, it never gets so ugly you can’t go on. Written as the Civil Rights Movement picked up
steam, this book challenged people—dared people—to, as Gandhi said, “be the
change they wished to see.”
If you haven’t read this heartbreakingly, breathtakingly,
beautiful book, please do.
(See, I told you there’d be a lot of superlatives.)
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
Are you kidding?
Fun fact:
I read this in three ways: my father’s 1962 paperback
(price: 60¢), electronically (for free) on archive.org,
and on audio CD narrated by Sissy Spacek. I recommend all three options, though
good luck finding the paperback.
I absolutely agree -- somehow I missed out on this in all of my required reading. I ended up reading it right before I went to law school and then again during and after law school... such a great novel. :)
ReplyDeleteYes. I really wish Harper Lee would have written more books. She had an amazing gift.
DeleteI have this book, bought it more than a year ago and still haven't read it. I sure will get to it this year. I hope. Thanks for the lovely review, I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, Melinda. I think reviews for books you loved are the hardest kind to write. I hope you love the novel!
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