آپدیت ۱۴۰۱:
این ریویو رو انگار فراموش کرده بودم. خوندمش و خشکم زد. انگار دو سال پیش برای همین روزهای تلخ نوشته بودمش. برای محسن شکاری. چقدر بده که هنوزم به اندازه‌ی روزی که نوشتمش معنی میده. کاش یک روز بیاد که بخونمش و بگم اینا همه برای گذشته بود

۱۳۹۹:
چندین ساعته دارم بحث می کنم. توی گوشم چیزی داره صدا می کنه. بهش میگم تو "می دونی" که من دارم درست میگم، تو می دونی که این طرز تفکر تاریخ گذشته‌ست، چرا دو دستی چسبیدیش؟ میگه من نمی‌تونم توی خانواده اولین نفری باشم که این کار رو می‌کنم

توییت‌ها رو می‌خونم و قلبم داغ می‌کنه، حکم اعدام؟ آخه یعنی چی؟ انگار کس دیگه‌ای درون من زندگی می‌کنه که داد می‌زنه تو چیکار می‌تونی بکنی؟ هیچی! اینا رو می‌خونی که باز استخوان هات از درد بی فایدگی و منفعلی تیر بکشه؟ نخون لعنتی.

داره حرف می‌زنه و فقط نگاه می‌کنم. نگاه می‌کنم که مجبور نشم حرف بزنم. می‌ترسم. من حرف برای گفتن زیاد دارم ولی بزدلم. خودم که می‌دونم. می‌خوام بگم دختر خودتم بود همین‌ها رو می‌گفتی؟ نمی گم‌

تو سرمای آبان توی یک ایستگاه اتوبوس که شیشه هاش خورد شده و بلورهاش زیر نور خیابون برق می زنه نشستیم. هربار که نیمرخش رو نگاه می‌کنم یک بار از اول تصمیم می‌گیرم. بین فریاد و سکوت. بین انتخاب خودم و انتخاب درست. باز از تصمیم واقعی فرار می کنم. به خودم میگم الان نه

کشتن مرغ مینا رو توی سرویس اداره گوش میدم. مردم توی دادگاه نشستن و اتیکوس فینچ از مرد سیاهی که به جرم تجاوز متهم شده دفاع می‌کنه. یک لحظه به خودم میگم صبر کن ببینم، این لعنتیا "می دونن" که این مرد بی‌گناهه، نه اینکه چشم‌هاشون رو نژادپرستی بسته باشه و احمق باشند، می‌دونن و هیچی نمی‌گن، می‌دونن و تصمیمی نمی‌گیرن چون هنوز وقتش نیست، چون این‌ها اون آدم‌هایی نیستن که قراره تغییرات بزرگ بدن و جلوی "تا بوده همین بوده‌" بایستند... ولی توی قلبشون می‌دونن

این‌ها فقط گوش میدن، نگاه می‌کنند، فرار می‌کنند و صبر می کنند تا زمان همه چیز رو حل کنه، شاید

من(تو؟) فقط گوش میدم، نگاه می‌کنم، فرار می‌کنم و صبر می‌کنم تا زمان همه چیز رو حل کنه، شاید

و این کتاب میشه کلاسیک و نمی‌میره، چون ما همه هنوزم توی اون دادگاه نشستیم و به اتیکوس فینچ و ژوری نگاه می‌کنیم تا یکی مر�� بی‌گناه رو نجات بده، شاید

٩٩/۴/٢۴

این کانال جدیدیه که بعد از بسته شدن قبلی درست کردم و کتاب‌ها و ریویو‌ها رو اینجا می‌گذارم
Maede's Books

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was Atticus' advice to Scout and Jim, before the onset of African American Tom Robinson's trial for the alleged rape of a white woman in a town in the Deep South, in the United States in the 1930s. A work of genius, of pure perfection, the best book I have ever read.

On every single level, this book is flawless.

Thank you Harper Lee.

FIVE STAR READ... 12 out of 12!!!!!!!

2010 and 2011 read

So far, I have found that this book is complete drivel. I don't understand the mass appeal to this novel, nor do I understand how it managed to go down in history as an amazing piece of America literature. This book has no plot, no point, and no real characters.

The characters in this book are one dimensional and painfully drab. They all seem to have the same personality with a few minor differences, and all that does is create boring dialogue and an uninteresting point of view. Harper Lee may be talented with using advanced vocabulary, but that does not make her a good writer.

There is no conflict in this book. There's no personality. There's nothing interesting that compels me to read more.

I'm fairly far into the book, and yet I still have no idea what it is about. If I could rate this book no stars, I would do so. This book is a necessary read for my honors English class, but if I could get away with not reading it I would do it without a bit of hesitation.

As soon as I am done with this sorry excuse for a book, I am either going to tend to my fireplace using the pages as kindling or stash this book in the far corners of my basement where it will live out the rest of its days in darkness. I am not afraid to say with all honesty that this is possibly one of the most terrible wastes of paper I have ever laid eyes on.

کتاب "کشتن مرغ مینا" روایتی است تلخ از دنیای تاریک و بی رحم بزرگ ترها که با زبان شیرین کودکانه و از نگاه معصوم دختربچه ای هشت ساله نقل می شود
حکایت کتاب حکایت غم انگیز جهل و تعصب و تبعیضی ست که زخمش هیچ وقت کهنه نمی شود. قربانیان داستان نه اسیر فقر و تنگدستی که بیشتر از آن اسیر جهل و نادانی هستند که به پشتوانه آن انجام هر عمل ناپسندی را حق خود می دانند ولو این عمل قربانی کردن انسانی بی گناه باشد
بچه های داستان ما می دانند که مرغ بی آزار مینا را نباید کشت ولی سر در نمی آورند که چرا مردم کشتن انسانی بی گناه را ، که آزارش به هیچکس نرسیده و تنها گناهش پوست سیاهش است، جشن می گیرند
کتاب علی رقم عمق و محتوایی که داشت بسیار ساده و قابل درک نوشته شده بود. شخصیت های اصلی کتاب یکی از یکی دوست داشتنی تر بودن خصوصا "اتیکاس" که به نظرم بهترین بابایی بود که در دوران کتاب خوانیم باهاش آشنا شدم. خلاصه که بی نهایت از خوندنش لذت بردم

بخش هایی از کتاب
گاهی آدم هایی پیدا می شوند که آنقدر غصه ی "آن" دنیا را دارند که هیچ وقت یاد نمی گیرند در "این" دنیا چطور باید زندگی کرد
***
اگه کسی به تو لقب بدی داد ، لازم نیست بهت بربخوره . این لقب به تو صدمه نمی زنه ، برعکس نشون می ده که خود گوینده اخلاقا" چه قدر فقیره
***
هرکس حق داره هر طور می خواد فکر کنه و توقع داشته باشه که دیگران هم به عقایدش احترام بگذارند . اما من قبل از اینکه با دیگران زندگی کنم ، باید بتونم با خودم زندگی کنم . وجدان آدم تنها چیزیه که نمی تونه تابع نظر اکثریت باشه
***
لازم نیست ادم هر چی بلده نشون بده.نه خوبه که آدم به خودش بباله نه مردم از کسی که بیشتر از آنها چیز بلد است خوششون میاد
---
خب پرونده این کتاب هم فعلا اینجا بسته میشه تا من یه بنده خدایی رو راضی کنم جلد دوم این کتاب رو به عنوان هدیه ی تولدم بخره :دی

This rates possibly as my favorite novel. It has no down side. Wonderfully written, amazing characters (based on reality), and marvelously readable.

A side issue, I can at times hate preachy, self righteous, or PC books. This book carries it’s moral compass proudly and does it well. Atticus Finch, is in many ways the man I wish I was.

I love this book and could not tell you how many times I’ve read it. Don't miss this book...for whatever reason. This is THE AMERICAN NOVEL.


Update: 5/30/2012

Read and reread this novel succeeds and needs to be recommended on so many levels that it's hard to limit anything said in specifics to a manageable size for a review. Above I simply said great, don't miss it.

From the relationship of child to child to the relationship of child to father this is a stunning read. Of course the matters of racial hate will be front and center to any reader who picks the novel up. It gives a look at the world as it was in America not so very long ago. It gives us a picture of those who actually do view all people as equals and how this inspires hostility, anger, acrimony and (as noted) hatred from the people too weak, stupid and ignorant to understand this.

Scout's experience in school reminds me a bit of the way school was when I began. I grew up on a farm and we had for a long time very little money, yet still it wasn't like the depression. This book is great on so many levels it must rank as one of the best even greatest novels of all time.

Again I recommend, don't miss it, revel in it. Take time to absorb it, experience it. Five stars + and the highest recommendation I can give.

This is on a short list with Moby-Dick; or, The Whale and The Old Man and the Sea for the great American novel.

And this one stands apart as a novel that is also a celebration of courage, integrity, and dignity.

If ever there is a lawyer who, at least once, didn’t admire and want to be like Atticus, then there’s something deeply wrong with that lawyer.

The scene where the courtroom is empty and Atticus is gathering his notes and files and the black folks in the upper room are waiting and then as he begins to depart, they all stand, and Scout asks why, and the man says, "Because your father is passing," gives me chills to this day, gave me chills typing that.

Beautifully written, a true classic.

** 2019 addendum - it is a testament to great literature that a reader recalls the work years later and this is a book about which I frequently think.

This was the book that made me fall in love with reading. It's a stunning novel, which was light-years ahead of its time and deservedly remains a classic to this day.

There’s a beating heart inside some books.
They’re magnetic.
They’re warm.
One can feel their strength and heat pulsing through their covers.
They’re alive and only ask to be read because they trust the power of their own message.
To Kill A Mockingbird is one of those books.

n  It's not necessary to tell all you know. (...) Folks don't like to have somebody around knowing' more than they do. It aggravates 'em. You're not gonna change any of them by talkin' right, they've got to want to learn themselves, and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do but to keep your mouth shut or talk their language.n

A short, important, and powerful classic that deserved all its fame.

This will be a short review, there’s nothing else I can talk about here that hasn’t been discussed for the past 50 years and more.

Racism, prejudice, rape, false accusation of rape, all of these are abhorrent and really should have never existed in the first place within our world and society. However, it does. I find it insanely sad that even though this book was published more than 50 years ago, has also been used as an educational book for countless young students and even with countless histories to learn from, it seems that some human will never ever learn from hem and the main problems depicted in this book is still very evident in our time.

n  n   

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

n  n

I’ll be honest, I didn’t understand how important the message this book tried to give when I was a kid; it bored the crap out of me and I didn’t make it to the exceptional court scene. Maybe same as the main character in this book, I didn’t truly understand the gravity of the situation yet when I was young. Now though? Let’s just say I realized why this book became one of the most highly famous and well-received classics.

One last thing, Atticus Finch is truly a role model to aspire to, as a father, a lawyer, and most of all, a human being; truly a well-written protagonist.

n  n   

“They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

n  n

If it wasn’t for some part in the first half that bored me, this would’ve received a 5 stars. But if we’re speaking about the message to be taken from this book? this was without a doubt an important and wonderful short read.

n  n   

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

n  n

Amazing job on writing this book, Harper Lee. May you rest in peace.

You can find the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest

Ένα αντιρατσιστικό μανιφέστο, ένα βιβλίο-σταθμός που εκδόθηκε στην Αμερική του 1960, σε μια εποχή που κυριολεκτικά ‘έβραζε’ φωνάζοντας υπέρ της ισότητας και των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων. Ένα μυθιστόρημα που ακουμπάει όσο πιο ανθρώπινα γίνεται κοινωνικά και φυλετικά ζητήματα και που μπορεί να καυχιέται πως από τότε που εκδόθηκε μέχρι σήμερα έχει συνεισφέρει στη διαμόρφωση συνειδήσεων και έχει βάλει καθοριστικά το λιθαράκι του στο μονοπάτι προς έναν πιο δίκαιο και πιο ανθρώπινο κόσμο.

‘’Σκοτώστε όσες κίσσες θέλετε, αν μπορείτε να τις πετύχετε, αλλά να θυμάστε ότι είναι αμαρτία να σκοτώνεις τα κοτσύφια’’

Ποια είναι λοιπόν τα κοτσύφια; Το πρώτο κοτσύφι της ιστορίας μας είναι ένας νεαρός μαύρος, ο Τομ Ρόμπινσον, που κατηγορείται από μια αναξιόπιστη οικογένεια της περιοχής, μια φτωχή, αμόρφωτη λευκή και τον άξεστο, αλκοολικό πατέρα της για ένα βιασμό που ποτέ δε διέπραξε. Και παρ’ ότι αποδεικνύεται η αθωότητά του με αδιάσειστα στοιχεία, καταδικάζεται σε θάνατο. Το έγκλημά του δεν είναι ο υποτιθέμενος βιασμός, το έγκλημά του είναι πως γεννήθηκε μαύρος και όχι λευκός, και κανένας μαύρος δεν αθωώνεται όταν έχει να αντιμετωπίσει τις κατηγορίες ενός λευκού, όσο παρανοϊκές και ψευδείς και αν αποδεικνύονται.
Μην αντέχοντας το βάρος της αναίτιας καταδίκης του, ο Τομ προσπαθεί να ξεφύγει και αρχίζει να τρέχει και να πηδάει συρματοπλέγματα διεκδικώντας έναν ελεύθερο θάνατο. Διεκδικώντας λίγη ελευθερία στην φυλακή της ζωής του και ας είναι το τίμημά της ο θάνατος.

Το δεύτερο κοτσύφι μας είναι ο Μπου Ράντλεϊ, ένας άνθρωπος που λόγω της ασθένειάς του, προτιμά να μένει κλεισμένος στο σπίτι του, δίνοντας αφορμές στην προκατειλημμένη και γεμάτη δεισιδαιμονίες κοινωνία του Μέικομπ να πλάθει εξωφρενικές ιστορίες γύρω από το όνομά του και να εξάπτει την περιέργεια των παιδιών της γειτονιάς, που δε διστάζουν να τον παρενοχλούν και να εφευρίσκουν διάφορους τρόπους για να τον κάνουν να βγει απ’ το σπίτι του.

‘’Τα κοτσύφια δε μας βλάπτουν σε τίποτα, κελαηδάνε μονάχα για να τ’ ακούμε εμείς και να χαιρόμαστε. Δε χαλάνε τους κήπους μας, δεν τρώνε τα σπαρτά μας, μόνο ομορφαίνουν τη ζωή μας με το τραγούδι τους χωρίς να ζητούν τίποτε. Γι’ αυτό και είναι αμαρτία να σκοτώνεις κοτσύφια’’

Το θέμα του βιβλίου βαρύ, στενάχωρο, διαχρονικό και η αθώα ματιά, τα έντονα συναισθήματα και τα αναπάντητα γιατί ενός οχτάχρονου παιδιού που έρχεται για πρώτη φορά αντιμέτωπο με την υποκρισία των ανθρώπων και αδυνατεί να καταλάβει γιατί ο κόσμος είναι όπως είναι και γιατί φέρεται όπως φέρεται, κάνουν την κατάσταση ακόμα πιο δραματική.

Είναι από τις σπάνιες φορές που η κινηματογραφική μεταφορά του 1962, σε σκηνοθεσία του Ρομπέρ Μάλιγκαν, με τον συγκλονιστικό Γρέγκορι Πεκ στο ρόλο του Άττικους, στέκεται αντάξια του βιβλίου.

Και κλείνω με μια ρητορική ερώτηση: Αλήθεια έχει υπάρξει ποτέ πιο αγαπητός, πιο αξιοθαύμαστος, πιο ανθρώπινος λογοτεχνικός ήρωας από τον Άττικους Φιντς;

Μια ιστορία που θα σε κάνει να αποκτήσεις αχρωματοψία στους ανθρώπους και να θες να υπερασπιστείς κάθε πλάσμα που αδικείται λόγω των ιδιαιτεροτήτων του.
t

Firstly this entire book is stated from the perspective of a child so I am amazed at the creation! I am speechless, honestly!
Anybody who is about to read this review, I promise you, you will derive more wisdom about life from this novel than you may have ever been taught you entire life so don’t let the superfluous, flowery praises for the book appear as mere mention of a genius’ creation. No! This book makes you look inside yourself and ask if you have quite learnt to deal with life as nobly as you will come to appreciate it amongst certain characters in the book!

Once in a while a book comes along as a paintbrush and you are the canvas it had been seeking for quite sometime….in this event, as the artist and the platform collide, it is perfection happening. This perfection begins to materialise and exist in space from then on and is an eternal entity thereafter….

So, Harper Lee’s creation selected me as its perfect canvas and in this mental space of me, it denied the presence of the other canvases it had selected before. The perfection of the art it sketched over my berth has strengthened to immortality and there is literally no other way to describe it! Even “masterpiece” is too disqualified a description here and this is no masterpiece—this is a painting :) over a headspace of a quiet Indian!

But this paintbrush took the liberty of coming into my canvas for a bigger reason I believe—it was seeking to offer me a light to travel through the darkness of the world! Because that is the ultimate residual whisper the brush left me with—“I came to show you the way in through this worldly mess!”



Lessons and little statements of pure wisdom that will live with me till I cease to exist:

1. People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.

2. At the beginning of chapter 25, Scout is playing with a roly-poly bug on the porch, and Jem intervenes before she can squash the harmless bug. When Scout asks why she cannot smash the bug, Jem replies, "Because they don't bother you.”

I gave it a lot of thought and realised insects don’t mean to hurt us. They merely exist and only mosquitoes and cockroaches bother us because of what they do. However, I find it verrrrry challenging to go by this line when it comes to certain insects!

But it definitely holds so much wisdom for our ways in the world.

3. “Closed doors meant illness and cold weather only”

4. ”You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

5. Atticus said that it was a polite thing to talk to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in.

6. Atticus once hung around a conversation with Uncle Jack, stating his concerns around the townsfolk behaviour his kids would inavariably invite as a result of his law duty towards Tom Robinson. That night Uncle Jack stated these words to Uncle Jack when nobody was inside the room:

“Right. But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand…..I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough…..”

This helped remind me of a time when my own father scolded me very bad for wanting to learn figure skating against medicine (it was something I badly wanted to do in this lifetime but the time, resources and availability for the same were scarce). So my pursuit of something so far-fetched had infuriated father. Years later, one day, I discovered out of a relative that my father had secretly been asking her about ways to access figure skating grounds abroad (in colder countries I mean). This made me acutely aware of the fact that parents always want your best, only wish for your best and nothing else. So, thank you to the writer of this book!

7. Atticus taught me the importance of not going around defending myself simply because people failed to notice my contribution anywhere. He says, “…..you just hold your head high and see those fists down.” My own father said something very similar recently——“When you boss yells at you for an honest, unintended mistake, you just hold your head high and swallow the words like taking one of the most bitter medicines available around—Quinine, for Malaria, responding (not reacting), “I will be learn madam.” I became aware of similar things father had often told me in the past that I hadn’t followed back then as a child. He said that just because somebody tried offending you, it doesn’t mean you alter your ways and hurt them back. Atticus and my father have such similar traits!

8. One mesmerising lesson I learnt in page 251—> This is where Jem and Scout, Atticus’ children discover in absolute clarity the truth—that even when the people in their kith and kin fought around who was superior in literacy and who wasn’t, even if they rejoiced in their veritable, prideful airs of being a Flinch tribe, they really were all just mere folks in the world. Just people. As in all are equal. So, if they were all real the same——that is merely people—why couldn’t they just get along with each other?

9. It is not okay to hate anybody. According to Atticus—“you never really understand people until you consider things from his point of view…..until you climb into his skin, and walk around it.” So both ultimately mean the same almost!


(These are only some of all)

This part of the novel caused me to pause and stare at the page for a full minute. I have NEVER EVER READ any fiction novel touch upon eternal truths of this kind! Never!


So the book came to be a surprise teacher in my journey of life. There is so much I learnt from the novel and incorporate everyday in my life now every moment.



Another take….

So many times... so many times I found myself laughing I can barely count by now. Two kids plodding into their father, Atticus’ business over and over again, not once, not twice, but 100s of times, mostly for reasons well-meaning from the point of view of a child but  bunching, in the process, entire loads of chaos or order (yes! Order!) into the adult gatherings, or solitary adult lives (Boo Radley’s) they were trespassing in. Along every bump that they stumbled across, they gradually discover traits of gold within Atticus, their father, and quietly discovered, despite the reproaches and commands, a genuinely honourable human who relentlessly taught his children the importance of living in quiet dignity, of nodding past venomous comments from townsfolk over a man’s undying support and humanism for black-coloured people.

I couldnot contain myself in many places of humour throughout the novel:

---> Sending blood-hounds to locate furniture
—-> damn-ham
——>a name synonymous with ‘Jackass’
—->….ear trumpet so enormous that Jem declared it was a loudspeaker from one of those dog Victrolas
——> There was a part about Scout dressing up as a “Pork”….I just read that part and I started laughing in the middle of so much work!


There are some which are soooo good in inducing laughter that I fear I will be giving too much away if I post them. I laughed so much in the recollection of them yesterday that my parents thought I had lost it! I Suddenly became acutely aware then that in life, nothing really needs to be right, you can just laugh through and through! Laugh at the mayhem! (That is a irrelevant to the story but it just struck me)


There was one lady in the book whom I wanted to punch really hard for her nasty remarks. She was by the name Mrs. Dubose. Ohh! Reading her part made all hell break lose in me, I so would have punched her straight through the pages. But the discovery of her underlying mental illness robbed me of this craze and made me aware of the volumes of odd pleasure I derived in the await of justice when the storms heralded her nastiness. 


The reason I mentioned the last paragraph was to provide a peep into one of the finest character-creation I have ever come by from any author around.  I repeat I would have absolutely punched this woman if I were Jem. 



A glimpse into the mastery of English literature that is nowhere discontinuous:

“Buzzed with talk, none of which was complementary”

“But her death caused hardly a ripple”

“…..contributing to the aberrations of nature.”

“Felt extremely noble for having remembered and remained noble for 3 weeks”

“Mr. Tate blinked again, as if something had suddenly been made plain to him.”

“Nothing is more deadly than a deserted waiting street.”

Mrs. Merriweather states: ‘Maudie, I am sure I don’t know what you mean. ,’ said Mrs. Merryweather.
‘I’m sure you do,’ Miss Maudie said shortly.
She said no more. When Mrs. Maudie was angry, her brevity was icy.

Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of cheese cloth to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse.

The varmints had a lean time of it, for the Ewells gave the dump a thorough gleaning everyday, and the fruits of their industry (those that were not eaten) made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child: what passed for a fence was bits of treelimbs, broomsticks, and tool shafts, all tipped with rusty hammer-heads, snuggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire.




At a point in my reading of the novel, I very interestingly aligned with Scout, the 6-year old girl of Atticus, who was peeping into Atticus’ business.
Let me frame it well…..
At about ten o'clock, Jem, accompanied by Scout and Dill, sneaks out of the house and follows his father to the town center. From a distance, they see Atticus sitting in front of the Maycomb jail, reading a newspaper. Jem suggests that they not disturb Atticus and return home…

I recall myself sneaking into my father’s clinic, peeping into his business through the door adjacent to his main work-room at precisely the same time I was at this page of the book. I had come to read the novel next to him in his clinic! I see so many traits of Atticus in my own father. Harper helped me recognise so much more about my own father. I am so proud of him honestly!


Also, the paintbrush splashed colours, many many many layers in order to depict one undeniable truth—the truth of irrationality and human stupidity. Humans in this painting spoke things like this—> “around here, once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black!”

For the first time ever, I began glimpsing for real the sad plight of black discrimination that existed in parts of the western world, the true colours of this irrationality hitting me with the force of an anvil. It has been something I read about, discuss with my father sometimes but to sink to its bottom, to live a portion of their lives, makes me acutely aware of how foolish the world is!

Einstein’s words——“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe”——is breaking past all doorways of doubt this time.


Honestly, I am appalled not merely by the writing but by the throes of human prejudice and its ever-escalating degrees in the world as revealed in the book! No wonder some people choose to become sages!

So you will learn about what happened to Tom Robinson and when you do, if you are deeply contemplative, you might want to question if this person ever existed. This is what Google provides—> The origin of Tom Robinson is less clear, although many have speculated that his character was inspired by several models. When Lee was 10 years old, a white woman near Monroeville accused a black man named Walter Lett of raping her.

However, maybe the case, the truth remains unshakable.
The more I reflect on how their world judged/judges black people and mouthed the plight of Tom Robinson, the more I realise it is only delusion that we are living with. All of it! Delusions multiple-layered, deca-layered covering what nobody knew by direct experience with a human…. I considered how slander works in the community. It does the exact same way!
And even if I hold the whole story back, I will allow you to glean into a fractal of this delusion in law from this story of someone I know:

Someone very dear to me who stays in Arizona was stripped off his hard-earned designation as a doctor simply because some infamous pictures had found their way into his computer. He once told me in an exchange where I had stated that I was a writer at heart, “For me it has always been to be a doctor.” But by then, his degree had been severed for good. All law efforts had failed to restore it back in place.

You know what, this cousin of mine is one the most innocent persons I have ever come by. I know for certain he never carried infamous things, that it was mere bad luck of internet or someone else’s ploy, or a virus or something. And look at what happened!

You will be appalled by the messiness of law in Maycomb, very similar to what you read above. Sadly this is precisely how law functions in most of the world.


When you believe in a slander, even if it is from a dear person, you have leapt into a delusion of your own (This I learnt overarchingly from this novel)…
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

If only I could meet Harper Lee once to tell her how much she changed my life….

If there is one person in any book who resembles my father completely, it has to be Atticus! I can’t believe a writer I never met did that!!

Humbled, that’s what I am—about someone’s creation, about what I learnt about someone I deeply honour, and love from my own life—my father, about life, about black people’s pain, and mostly about not knowing so much about the world! Mostly, I understood the importance of family while also making use of your own brains to question things in a family that don’t stand as healthy.

As I shut this book and recollect the streams of images it created in me, I smile at the memory! It’s so beautiful a keepsake!

I will remember this book for good! I was crying very hard at the last page-not because it was sad but because it was ending!
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Alabama year 30, in total depression, Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the small town of Maycomb, raises his two children with Calpurnia, the cook.
At the story's beginning, Jem, the eldest, at 13 years old, reveres his father; he is protective and curious.
In short, an easy-going child, Scout, the youngest, aged 9, failed, sort of Tom Sawyer with his tongue hanging out to the dismay of his aunt Alexandra.
In the company of Dill, the Scout lover, that's the holidays. They go hunting for ghosts and legends, the kind of games we all play as children.
Alas, the time of innocence will have an end, especially for Jem. Then, the children confront the adult world and the reality of the segregationist South.
He will accuse of rape on a white woman, Tom Robinson, defended by Atticus, a court-appointed lawyer.
In this 1961 novel, civil rights were still in their infancy despite the black community's 1955 boycott of buses in Alabama.
That's the 14th amendment being voted in 1868 and prohibiting any segregation.
This courageous novel is about when the Ku Klux Klan dictated its law.
The white balaclavas and flaming crosses remind blacks who want a dignified life not to cross the yellow line.
In this story, where the freshness and innocence of Scout and Jem almost make us forget the initial message, i.e., respect for the person and human rights. "do not shoot the mockingbird" still falls short of the novel "the colour of feelings."
I have always liked novels in which children play the leading role, and these are initiatory novels in the tradition of Treasure Island or Oliver Twist.
These said, "do not shoot the mocking bird" remains a literary monument to be put in all hands.