n  " Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird."n

I think this is arguably one of the most well known and well loved classics ever. And it's not hard to understand why - the characters are memorable, the flow of the story is easy to follow for a classic, the writing is lyrical and poetic without being twenty five metaphors deep like some American novels, and probably most importantly it aims to promote an anti-racism, anti-bigotry message most of us can get behind. but the whole time I was reading this all I could think was it's not the best way to discuss these themes from todays standards. Now there's a lot of essays written about how To Kill a Mockingbird is not as good as people may think and honestly I have to agree. It's filled out with the white saviour complex and characters with white guilt. when you're entire anti-racism story is all about white feeling and characters and barely shows any black people, but when it does the narrative refers to them with derogatory language and slurs and barely gives them ANY characterisation I have to wonder and obviously this book was groundbreaking for the time, and it still is so so popular today - but it is interesting this book by a white writer featuring white characters is lauded as THE anti racism book, even though people like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and W.E.B. Du Bois were Harper Lee's contemporaries.

I don't think you can really talk about this book in it's entirety without talking about the representation and race issues and yeah, because I've read book in 2017 about these issues I do think parts of it ring problematic. But since there are also black writers who love this book, so I'm not saying it's bad - I'm just saying calling it THE book with THE BEST exploration of these issues feels hollow to me After all it has so many tropes that ah .... eh. Non-fleshed out black characters, white man deemed a hero because he realised black people are people and a constant centring of white characters in black issues. But don't take it from me, go read some essays by the experts.

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

But regardless of thoughts on those issues, from an entertainment point this book is definitely enjoyable this is one of the most easy to follow classics I've read - partly because of it being so character driven, partly because of it's straight forward and well defined plot, and partly because the telling of it through Scout's eyes really simplified things.

I think the most memorable aspect of this book for me was the characters. The central characters - Scout, Jem and Atticus were generally interesting to follow, with dynamic characterisation that left me remembering them after the book. The process of growing up for Jem and Scout, as well as the unravelling of the mystery around Attitucs the father was enjoyable to follow and that was really what kept me most invested in the story.

Story wise, the first half was a little difficult for me to get into. I was waiting and waiting for the events to start happening and now I realise it's less about the "trial" which I considered to be the plot and more about Scout and Jem growing up, and seeing the world with more nuance. For me the second half went much faster, especially because of the court room drama (I love court room scenes). But the thing is despite the book being about learning to see in grey, this book still feels quite black and white to me. There are still essentially "good people" and "bad people" and I just think it's much more nuanced then that, especially when discussing things like race, racism and the impact of colonialism & slavery.

n  

“Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

n

From a purely entertainment point of view, I definitely liked this book. It had interesting central characters and the plot moved quickly in the second half. I definitely have remembered details of this book after reading it, which shows I enjoyed it. But I don't think I got the enjoyment everyone else did out of this. I read this and kinda closed is thinking .. well is that it ? Thats the book everyone loves so much?

And the thing is, in 2017 I think we can accept this book is not perfect in it's representation and it may be time to find something different or better. Not to say it's bad, but come on, this isn't perfect.

I definitely see why this book is a classic, Lee masterfully utilises the child narrator to explore issues contemporary to her, but ongoing today, and it was a complete game changer. I know it's seen as a sin to rate this book below 5 stars, but I just think can't help thinking it wasn't as good as everyone made it out to be. And honestly after reading a lot of literature on this book for uni I don't think thats such a terrible stance to take. 3.5 stars

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”(p. 20)

I love this book and this idea of reading being like breathing. As Scout did, I read early too, and often. Every night before bed I would read and still do. I saw a Twilight Zone Episode once where the main character loved to read and only wanted to be left alone to do so. After falling asleep in the vault of the bank where he worked, he awoke to a post-disaster world where only he was left. He busily gathered together all the books he wanted to read, all organized and stacked up. Just as he chose one to start with, his glasses fell and he stepped on them trying to find them. It was terrible and I remember feeling horrified that this man would never get to read again! Such a thought had never occurred to me. This semester I had to get glasses myself after suffering migraines from reading. I was so nervous at the eye doctor because the thought of not being able to read was too much for me. Of course, I only needed readers, but when I ran across this quote, I thought about how much like breathing reading is for me.


“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (p. 87)

Never say die! Fight the good fight no matter what! I love the anti-defeatist message in this quote. Even though Atticus knows the deck is stacked against him, he tries anyway. He understands that sometimes you have to fight the un-winnable fight just for the chance that you might win. It makes me think that what he’s trying to teach his children is never to give up just because things look dim.


“...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.” (p. 120)

As Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” That’s really all that matters. At the end of the day, when you lay down, you have to know that you did the right things, acted the right way and stayed true to yourself. Again, Atticus understands that the town is talking; he has to explain to his kids why he continues against the tide of popular thought. He sums it up so well here.

“We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”(p. 320)

I love the sad way this quote sounds. It is clearly the thoughts of a child, for hadn’t Scout just given Boo his dignity as they were walking home? Hadn’t she and Jem given him children to care for and watch over? But she knows too, even from her child’s perspective, that they could never give him anything close to what he had given them—their lives. It just sounds so beautifully sad.

Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. Print.

What can I say about this amazing book that hasn’t already been said? I think The Guardian said it best– 'To Kill a Mockingbird will never stop being a good book, and it will never stop inspiring good people'

The story is told from the point of view of Scout (Jean-Louise Finch), a six year old girl, through various events that happen in the town of Maycomb and in particular, the court case of Tom Robinson as her father Atticus Finch acts as Tom’s defence lawyer. Tom, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, has to endure multiple racial attacks. Atticus, widely described as the “most enduring fictional image of racial heroism”, describes the events to Scout so that she sees that all people should be treated equally.

Themes

The book mainly deals with the themes of racial equality and rape but there are themes of morality, class and gender also. To Kill a Mockingbird had been deemed so important that in 2006, British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should read before they die".

Above pointing the finger at racial and class issues, it’s a gripping story with great characters. What impacted me most when reading this was just how applicable all of the issues still are today, even though the book was published 57 years ago. We have indeed made good progress, but we still have a long way to go in my view.

Characters

Scout is such an awesome character, probably one of my favourites. Having the story told through Scout’s innocent point of view was a perfect choice, it creates a very unique atmosphere.

Atticus is nothing short of a hero. Not in today’s comic book / action-hero standard, but as a moral pillar of the family who is setting a great example for his family to follow. He sticks up for what he believes in. This probably sums him up perfectly - "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."

Writing

The writing was a joy to read. You really get to know and care for the characters. This story is really subtle in places and it’s not a fast-paced thrill ride. Had Lee’s writing been sub-par it could have become boring very quickly. Instead, Lee draws you in through her fantastic writing, which is both charming and astonishing in places.

"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."

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

"So it took an eight-year-old child to bring 'em to their senses.... That proves something - that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children."

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

“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.”

”Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

If we followed our feelings all the time, we’d be like cats chasing their tails.

Final thought

I wholeheartedly agree that this is one of the most important books ever written, beautifully created. Don’t be put off by all the themes and the millions of critical, in-depth analysis’s. Underneath all of that, it’s simply a great read. Highly recommended, and the audiobook version with Sissy Spacek is wonderful.

I’ll leave you with yet another quote from The Guardian “Let it not be forgotten that a true piece of literature, like To Kill a Mockingbird, is meaningful in every period and that today, Atticus Finch's message should be heard in the midst of all the global conflicts that we hear of on the news every night.”

Check out all my book blogs at http://constantreaderpauloneill.blogspot.co.uk/

4.5*

Harper Lees's wonderful bildungsroman discusses a number of important themes such as class systems, race inequality, gender roles, Southern behavior and transmits messages of love, equality, kindness. Although the moral lessons are very important sometimes their delivery seems forced.

atticus finch — the coolest dad in all of literature.

that’s the whole review.

I had a much longer review written for this book, but the comments were sadly annoying me. so I’ll just make my opinions clear in two sentences, because these are really the only thoughts about the book that matter to me:

I was extremely bored by the majority of this novel and thus I did not enjoy it very much (and no, I will not reread it because I do not care). most importantly, though, I don’t believe a white savior narrative like this one is a story that should be so heavily defended by white people or pushed as an essential book in school curriculum today when there are better books about racism by people who have actually experienced it, and especially when this book cares more about the white characters than the Black ones!

Is it weird that to me, reading this book is like sinking into a warm bath? It's an immensely comforting, beautifully written book that deals with big issues but never wears them on its sleeve. When I reread it last month I found little flashes of humor that had slipped over my head in my first reading (8th grade!). Few other books capture childhood so honestly. If you haven't read it, you should.

- رواية كلاسيكية تقليدية، تحاول نقل الواقع الذي تراه فتاة صغيرة من خلال علاقتها بمن حولها من اشخاص وبما حولها من احداث، وبذلك تتأرجح الرواية بين حياة الطفولة وتشعباتها وما بين الاحداث المحيطة ولعل اهم حدث هو محاكمة الرجل الاسود في زمن كانت العنصرية واضحة ويمكن التصريح بها علناً وتطبيقها على ارض الواقع.

- لم تقنعني شخصية "أتيكوس" (المحامي)، فرغم امكانية خروج انسان متنور بين مجموعة من العنصريين والسباحة عكس التيار، الا انه يمثل "البطل" الأمريكي التقليدي الذي يميّز "الخطأ" ويحاول تصحيحه. هذه النمطية التي درجت العادة على ترسيخها في العقول!!

- الترجمة كانت سيئة، عشرات الاخطاء اللغوية والإملائية.

After reading Casey Cep's fascinating book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee on Harper Lee's attempts to write a second novel based on an infamous murder trial in Maycomb, I decided I would like to go back and re-read To Kill a Mockingbird. It is some decades since I read it for the first time in high school in the 1970s when it had already become a classic. I loved it then for it's fine writing and character studies and it has remained in my memory over the years.

It was indeed a joy to revisit and appreciate Lee's wonderful storytelling and ability to create a fully formed character in a few lines. In the cadence of her writing and the way she has captured the Southern speech patterns I almost felt that I could hear her voice relating the story. She clearly had very fond memories of Maycomb and a fondness and keen understanding of its characters. For a woman without children, she also had an amazing ability to understand children, particularly the games they invent and the things they talk about to each other. In Scout and Jem, she created children who were intelligent and forthright in saying what they thought without being obnoxious and retaining that innocence of childhood. Atticus is just as admirable as a remember him, a wise and kind father and a lawyer who believes in justice for all.

I decided not to read Go Set a Watchman when it was first published but I think I might just read it now to appreciate the journey that Harper Lee took to finally publish her first novel. It seems a shame that she was not encouraged (or perhaps was not able to) revisit Watchman after she published Mockingbird to edit it into the sequel it deserved to be.

Prevarication
To Kill a Mockingbird is Harper Lee’s masterpiece that many (including me) consider one of the best books ever written. From its poignant narrative and tapestry of unforgettable characters to its timeless themes, this novel stands as a beacon of literary excellence, earning a solid 5-star rating.

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Harper Lee's skill is evident from the first page, drawing readers into the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, with vivid imagery of a time when racial discrimination was systemic and malicious. Through the eyes of six-year-old Scout Finch, her older brother Jem, and her friend Dill, we witness the unfolding drama of her lawyer-father, Atticus Finch, defending a black man on the charge of raping a white woman. Lee's ability to tackle weighty issues of racial animosity with grace and sensitivity is remarkable. Leveraging these issues into a child’s growing inquisitiveness and innocent perceptions, it drives home the magnitude of racial injustice, moral courage, and the complexities of human nature.

One of the novel's greatest strengths lies in its characters, from the noble Atticus Finch, whose unwavering commitment to justice serves as a guiding light, to the cruel, bigoted and compassionless Bob Ewell, who would kill a mockingbird, to the enigmatic Boo Radley, whose quiet presence speaks volumes. Each character is crafted with depth and nuance. It's impossible not to become emotionally invested in their journey, rooting for them through every triumph and tribulation. I read somewhere that the discussions between Harper Lee and her publisher caused multiple changes to the POV approach. Scout's first-person narrative was brilliant and perfect for creating a personal view of a growing recognition of societal prejudices.

Perhaps what makes To Kill a Mockingbird truly timeless is its exploration of universal truths. Through the lens of racial prejudice and social injustice, Lee delves into the essence of humanity itself, challenging readers to confront their own beliefs and biases. The novel's message of empathy, compassion, and standing up for what is right resonates just as powerfully today as it did upon its initial publication. Nowhere do we expect equality more than in a courtroom where the laws of the land both defend and hold to account, every defendant and prosecutor.

“The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any colour of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.”

In addition to its thematic richness, Lee's prose is elegant yet accessible, drawing readers into the story's heart effortlessly. Her keen eye for detail breathes life into every scene, transporting us to a bygone era with remarkable clarity.

There is a reason To Kill a Mockingbird appears on many 100 best book lists of all time because it is one of the best novels of all time. Its powerful message, unforgettable characters, and storytelling prowess make it a truly unforgettable read. I would highly recommend reading this book; whether you're revisiting Atticus and Scout for the umpteenth time or experiencing it for the first time, this novel is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Life gives you a few things that you can count on. Death (for all), taxes (for most), and the unwavering moral character of Atticus Finch (for me). "What would Atticus do?" is not just a meme; for eleven-year-old me it became a real consideration after I feigned an illness to cut school and stay home to finish To Kill a Mockingbird — while a decidedly non-Atticus-like move, choosing Harper Lee's book over sixth grade math was probably a wiser life choice.

For my thoughts on the shameless money grab by the money-greedy publishers recently published first draft of the novel inexplicably (or read: cash grab) marketed as a sequel... Well, I think I just said it all.

I cannot be objective about this book - I don't think you can ever be about the things you love. I've read it many times as a child and a few times as an adult, and it never lost that special something that captivated me as a kid of Jem Finch's age.

n  n  
n  
n  “[...] 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

To me, this book is as close to perfect as one can get.

It found a place in school curriculum because of its message, undoubtedly - but it's not what makes it so powerful. After all, if you have even a speck of brains you will understand that racism is wrong and you should treat people right and that “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.”

No, what makes it wonderful is the perfect narrative voice combining adult perspective while maintaining a child's voice, through which we glimpse both the grown-up woman looking back through the lessons of years while still seeing the unmistakable innocence and incorruptible feistiness of young Scout Finch. And then there is the magic of the slow measured narration painting the most vivid picture of the sleepy Southern town where there's enough darkness lurking inside the people's souls to be picked up even by very young, albeit quite perceptive children.

n  "If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time. It's because he wants to stay inside.”n

And then there's Atticus Finch. Yes, there may be countless articles all fueled by Lee's first draft about his 'transformation' into a bigot - but I refuse to jump on that bandwagon. I stand behind him the way Lee developed him in the book she *did* publish. Because I sleep better knowing that there are people out there who are good and principled and kind and compassionate, who will do everything they can with the utmost patience to teach their children to be decent human beings.

n  “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."n

What shines in this book the most for me is the amazing relationship between parent and child. It's the amazing guidance that the Finch children get in becoming good human beings that many of us would give up a lot for. I know I would. Because to me it will never be a story of a white man saving the world (and some, especially with the publication of that ridiculous first draft, would dismiss it as such). To me, it's the story of a child growing up and learning to see the world with the best possible guidance. It's a story of learning to understand and respect kindness and forgiveness and that sometimes you do right things not just because you're told to but because they are right things to do.

n  n

I see enough stupidity and nonsense and injustice in this world. And after all of it, what I often do need is Atticus Finch and reassurance that things can be right, and that with the few exceptions, even if I struggle to see it, "[...] there's just one kind of folks. Folks." and that, disillusioned as we become as we go on in life, "Most people are [nice], Scout, when you finally see them.”

Five stars from both child and adult me.

She only had one "at bat", but Harper Lee hit this one right out of the stadium!

Almost sixty years after its initial publication in 1960, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has proven it deserves its place in anyone's list of the finest American classic literature ever written.

Written a scant three years before Martin Luther King awed the world with his magnificent "I have a dream" speech, Harper Lee also stunned the world with a poignant story centered on the unconscionable treatment accorded to the black man in USA's Deep South.

Tom Robinson, a productive, quietly proud and well-spoken black man who by today's standards might even be called an "Uncle Tom", is also cautiously subservient, withdrawn and all too aware of his underwhelming place in the society of Maycomb, Georgia, a sleepy white town in the heartland of America's confederate South.

Tom stands accused of the rape of Mayall Ewell, the 19 year old daughter of a boorish ne'er-do-well white trash family that, to the best recollection of everyone in the town, has never put in a day's work in its collective life. Jeremy Atticus Finch is a gentlemanly white lawyer who, despite the virulent hatred his own community is directing at him, has decided to hold firm to his own convictions about the equality of all men before God and to accept his assignment to the responsibility for Tom's defense at his capital trial for the rape of a white woman - a trial that is expected to be little more than a formality with scant necessity for reference to facts and truth.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is not a legal thriller, although it certainly could have been. Rather, it is a story about human behaviour - kindness and cruelty; bigotry, hatred and prejudice versus acceptance and friendship; humour and pathos in the presence of sadness and dejection. Told from the point of view of Atticus Finch's children, Scout and her older brother Jem, we are witness to their father's poignant heart-warming attempts to teach his children to become the kind of citizens that, fifty years later, are sadly still the exception rather than the rule.

There can be few people (like me) left who haven't had the privilege of either reading TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD or seeing the movie, but if you are among that small number, do yourself a favour. Read it sooner than later.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss