5/5

First of all, let's forget it's a 'classic' that we all 'must' read for the sake of reading a classic.

Second of all, let's have no inhuman high expectations from this book.

Third of all, it's enough to know that this has been written from the perspective of a six year old girl.

And that's how we should pick up this one and go for it like we are picking up a newly released book and seriously that's the way it should be for everyone I would like to say...like again!

I won't go into details regarding what the book is about.

*Why the 5

این کتاب تو یک سال گذشته هر زمان که تو کتابفروشی بودم بهم چشمک میزد که بخرمش :)) و خب باید بگم فوق العاده بود، و مدت‌ها بود که به معنای واقعی اینقدر از خوندن یک داستان بلند لذت نبرده بودم! داستان شهر کوچیکی تو سال‌های دهه ۳۰ آمریکا که از زبان یک دختربچه روایت میشه و بی‌نهایت شیرینه. کشتن مرغ مینا درباره‌ی اجرای عدالته، تلاش برای خوب بودن و خوب زندگی کردن.. «اتیکوس فینچ» نمونه‌ی یه مرد درستکار و صادقه که شبیهش خیلی کم پیدا میشه، و اونقدر خوب و مهربون و دوست داشتنیه که شخصیتش به راحتی از ذهن بیرون نمیره و برای من یکی از موندگارترین‌ها شد.
بخش توصیف دادگاه پرداختش بی‌نهایت محشر بود، جوری که نمیشد لحظه‌ای کتاب رو زمین بذاری، همون قدر پر از استرس، سخت و تاثیرگذار..
همه چیز این داستان به اندازه و کافیه، جذاب و پر کششه و به حدی زیبا از عدالت، صداقت، خوبی، بدی و روابط انسان‌ها حرف میزنه که لذت خوندنش تا مدت‌ها همراهتونه..

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.

2010 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.

I think this is the 3rd time I’ve read it. How do you even begin to rate a book like this? It’s a classic.

Note: this book is listed as one of the most popular books to be banned, over the past decade, from both schools and private libraries. Support freedom of expression by reading and buying banned books! ❤️

To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee's Novel of Integrity and Duty in the Face of Intolerance and Injustice

“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.-- Atticus Finch”

n  n

Harper Lee, born 1926, 86

When Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 a few well known Southern authors had a few tart things to say about it. Carson McCullers, whose Franky was compared to Scout said Harper Lee had been "poaching on her literary preserves." Flannery O'Connor said the novel was fine, as far as it went if people realized they were reading a book for children.

But Harper Lee's only known novel was an immediate phenomenon. Today it is read by more people around the world than the Bible. That's saying something.

I am hesitant to attempt a review of this book. How much more can be said of it than has already been said. In all humility I can only say that I have loved this book for years. A goodreads friend asked me how many times I had read it. I replied in my Grandmother's words, "Eleventy-Seven." Loosely translated that means a lot--even more than a month of Sunday's.

I will not attempt to present a plot summary. There are few who don't know the story. It's only necessary to remind each other that it still remains a sin to kill a mockingbird. Atticus said so. And Miss Maudie reminds us that all mockingbirds do is sing their hearts out for us all the day long. They do us no harm. They are the innocents among us. They are due to be protected. As long as Tom Robinsons and Boo Radleys exist in this world there will always be a niche necessarily filled by To Kill a Mockingbird.

n  n *

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

To Kill a Mockingbird is especially dear to lawyers. Atticus Finch is the epitome of integrity in a profession often maligned by the public, sometimes rightly so on the basis of notorious incidents of failure to follow the rules of professional conduct. Over the years I was actively engaged in the practice of law, I returned time after time to this perfect novel as a reminder that it was my job to do the right thing and not just go for the win. It has seen me through difficult cases more than once.

n  n

Atticus defends Tom Robinson

Truthfully, I do not know the exact number of times I have read this perfect book. I know I have now passed a dozen times. Doubtless, in the years I have remaining, I will return to it again.

Why does To Kill a Mockingbird continue to sell so well? Why has it never been out of print? I can only hope that there are far more Jems and Scouts aspiring to become Atticus Finch. And we will always have a need for him and those who strive to follow his philosophy. It is not easy following in the footsteps of such a man. It takes a sense of duty, sacrifice, and responsibility for the innocents of this world. It takes courage. None of those characteristics ever go out of style.

“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.” --Atticus Finch

*Note--no copyright infringement is intended as this photograph is used for educational purposes only.

November 30, 2014

Tonight finds us in Augusta, Georgia, breaking our trip home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from our Thanksgiving holiday with my wife's family. Neither of us regularly listen to audio books. However, we both enjoy them when traveling. The latest edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, released in August of this year is an exceptional treat. Sissy Spacek is the perfect Scout, capturing every phrase with perfect timing, accent, and nuance. We highly recommend you give this a listen.

آیا می‌خواید کتابی رو بخونید که بدون اینکه خودتون متوجه بشید داره چی کار می‌کنه، شما رو تبدیل به آدم بهتری کنه؟ خب! در این صورت کتاب کشتن مرغ مینا انتخاب مناسبیه...
کشتن مرغ مینا از زبان کودکی به اسم اسکاته ولی آیا متن کتاب کودکانه‌ست؟ اصلا!
محتوای داستان به ظاهر در مورد زندگی روزمره‌ی اسکات، جیم و آتیکوسه و شخصیت‌های دیگه‌ای که در عین حال که حضورشون ممکنه توی داستان فرعی باشه ولی به خوبی بهشون پرداخته شده و قابل تجسم‌اند. روایت موضوعات به ظاهر روزمره ولی در واقع پرداختن به مفاهیمی عمیق و بنیادی (نیکی و بدی، تبعیض نژادی، تربیت فرزند و ...) باعث شده جوری این‌ها در ذهن ته‌نشین بشن که گاهی در نوع خودش تکون‌دهنده و منقلب‌کننده ست.
فکر می‌کنم این کتاب رو هر کس تو زندگیش باید حتما یک بار بخونه. شخصیت آتیکوس جزء شخصیت‌های تاثیرگذار زندگیم خواهد موند...
----------
یادگاری از کتاب:
- ... اگر بخوای با کسی تفاهم داشته باشی باید یاد بگیری به همه چیز از نقطه نظر او نگاه کنی...
- معذرت می‌خوام، نفهمیدم.
- منظورم اینه که باید تو جلد مردم رفت و وضع را همون‌طور که اون‌ها حس می‌کنن حس کرد.
...
آدم‌هایی پیدا می‌شند که... که اون‌قدر غصه‌ی اون دنیا رو دارند که هیچ‌وقت یاد نمی‌گیرند تو این دنیا چه‌جوری باید زندگی کرد.
...
اینکه صد سال شکست خورده‌ایم، دلیل این نیست که باز تقلا نکنیم.
...
من قبل از اینکه با دیگران زندگی کنم، باید بتونم با خودم زندگی کنم.
...
اگه کسی به تو لقبی داد، لازم نیست بهت بربخوره. این لقب به تو صدمه نمی‌زنه، برعکس نشون می‌ده که خود گوینده از لحاظ اخلاقی چه‌قدر فقیره.
...
مردم خوب آن‌هایی هستند که به تناسب درکشان، بهترین کاری که از دستشان ساخته است انجام می‌دهند.

n  n

Looking for a new book but don't want to commit? Check out my latest n  n    BooktTube Video: One & Done n  n - all about fabulous standalones!

Now that you know this one made the list - check out the video to see the rest!

n  The Written Reviewn:

If you haven't read this as an adult - pick it up today

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

I (along with millions of other kids) first read this in grade-school. And I (along with those millions) didn't really get the point.

I remember thinking, Well... I already know discrimination is wrong. I don't get why I have to read a book about it...

Oh Lordy, if I could go back in time...

Rereading led to a (unsurprisingly) wholly different interpretation of this novel. I am in awe of Harper Lee and what she's written.

How could I have so completely missed the point back in fifth grade?

n  People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.n

We follow Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch - a prominent lawyer. Scout narrates the great and terrible tragedies of her life - namely the trial of Tom - an upstanding "colored" man accused of raping a white woman.

Atticus is appointed to defend Tom and soon, nearly the whole town turns against the Finch Family.

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

Much like Scout, I was simply too young to understand much of what was going on the first time through.

I tell you, there were so, so many moments this time through where the light bulb turned on and everything just clicked.

n  As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trashn

My entire life, I never truly understood why this was such a classic, why people read it over and over, and why this (of all books) is forced upon kids year after year. I get it now. And I'm disappointed that I hadn't reread it sooner.

P.s. Sorry to my teachers for being such a sulky kid - they sure picked a great one. I was just so enthralled with reading other things that I didn't read this one as well as I should've.

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

Audiobook Comments
Exceptionally well-read by Sissy Spacek. I felt like I was in the story. If you are itching for a reread - pick up the audio!

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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

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.

/// gentle reminder that this is not the time to read this book ///

This is my first re-read of 2017, and I don't regret it one bit. When I first read this book three years ago, I really liked it. Sadly, I didn't write my thoughts down in an elaborate way back in the day, but I know for sure, that I didn't read critically then. Upon my re-read of this book, I honestly don't have good things to say. I am aware that some of my criticism is not a critique of the book itself, but about its perception, and how it is, up to this day, held up as the one true book about race relations in the United States of America.

And that really infiruates me. This book was written by a white woman, from a white perspective, about white characters, for a white audience. This book is a pat on the back for the white middle class. This book gives comfort to the white middle class. Comfort that they, especially back in the 1960s, didn't need, and allow me to be so bold, didn't deserve.

Harper Lee's focus is purely white. While the white characters in this book are the subjects, who take action into their own hands, who suffer and make sacrifices, the Black characters in this book are objects. They have little to no agency. Things happen to them. They are harmless, defenseless, and just there – waiting for the white knight hero, Atticus Finch, to save them. This book is a disgrace in the face of the Black liberation movements that existed back in the day, and the solidarity within Black communities. Black people stood up for themselves and fought for their rights, and only due to their voices, their protests, their sit-ins, their marches, their demonstrations, their conferences, was racial segregation made unconstitutional in the United States.

Black people, back then and now, know that Atticus Finch doesn't exist. And because no one put in better words than the one and only James Baldwin, I will quote a passage from one of his amazing interviews on the Dick Cavett Show in 1968. One could say that this is Baldwin's response to the cry of "not all white people":

James Baldwin: I don't know what most white people in this country feel. But I can only conclude what they feel from the state of their institutions. I don't know if white Christians hate Negroes or not, but I know we have a Christian church which is white and a Christian church which is black. That says a great deal for me about a Christian nation. [...] I don't know whether the labor unions and their bosses really hate me - that doesn't matter - but I know I'm not [allowed] in their union. I don't know whether the real estate lobby has anything against black people, but I know the real estate lobby is keeping me in the ghetto. I don't know if the board of education hates black people, but I know the textbooks they give my children to read and the schools we have to go to. Now, this is the evidence. You want me to make an act of faith, risking myself, my wife, my woman, my sister, my children on some idealism which you assure me exists in America, which I have never seen.

This right here is what I'm talking about. To Kill A Mockingbird plays into this idealism. Although the book touches on the horrors of racism in the Deep South, it’s a strangely comforting read. A terrible injustice is done, but at the end the status quo is reassuringly restored. The final message is that most (white) people are nice when you get to know them.

As a reader you are never allowed to feel with Tom Robinson, the Black man who is innocently convicted for raping a white woman, because all the Black characters in this tale are sidelined. This story should be about them, because how else would you be able to convince the white moderate (in the 1960s) that Black people are actually people. The closest insight we get to a Black character is the family's cook Calpurnia. Calpurnia is in the fictional tradition of the "happy black", the contented slave – the descendent of the ever-loyal Mammy in Gone With the Wind. And the rest of the Black community is depicted as a group of simple, respectful folk – passive and helpless and all touchingly grateful to Atticus Finch – the white saviour. We never see any of them angry or upset. We never see the effect of Tom Robinson’s death on his family up close – we don't witness Helen, Tom's wife, grieving and Scout never wonders about his children. Their distress is kept at safe distance from the reader.

I was very angry after finishing this book, and I'm still angry up to this day. Not necessarily at Harper Lee, but at our society as a whole, and at our educational system. Why do we constantly uplift white narratives, whilst brushing over marginalized ones? Why aren't our kids reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin – a book dealing with the exact same topic (a Black man getting falsely accused of raping a woman)? Why isn't Lorraine Hansberry required reading? Why are we still relying on white narratives, when talking about Black people and their struggles?

Since finishing this book, I started reading The History of Legal Education in the United States and I wanted to share some interesting facts, because I couldn't believe how absurd To Kill A Mockingbird was. This story is, supposedly, set in the Deep South in the 1930s, where Atticus Finch, our white saviour, takes it upon himself to defend a Black man at court. By the end of Lee's novel we are led to believe that Atticus had a great chance of actually getting Tom Robinson acquitted, if the latter had just been a "good n*gger" and didn't try to escape on his own. (Yes, I'm a little petty. I swear, I'm not turning bitter over this.) So, I just wanted to know how realistic that scenario is. All of the information is related to the 1930s Southern setting. Here's what I've learned:

Most Southern lawyers readily accepted Black clients for routine economic cases – property, tort, contract, dept, insurance – and minor criminal cases that did not threaten the South's system of racial hierarchy. It was virtually impossible, however, to find a Southern white lawyer who would accept a major criminal case involving a white victim or a politically charged case that in any way challenged segregation.

Only the combination of direct action, community organizing and legal strategy with the help of Black lawyers, made the defense of Black men and women at court possible. In the Lockett-case, the Black community in Tulsa survived largely because Black lawyers were able to defend the community's interests. In 1934, Black lawyers represented George Crawford, a Black man accused of brutally murdering a wealthy white woman – no white lawyer would take Crawford's case. In the end, Crawford got a sentence of life imprisonment instead of a death sentence. And this verdict had to be seen as an accomplishment by the Black lawyers and the Black community as a whole, because life imprisonment was as good as it was going to get.

Oftentimes, Black lawyers took serious criminal cases without a fee or at a very reduced rate. This was well appreciated by their communities, but also a given. It is admirable how well Black communities were organized. None of that got translated on the pages of Lee's novel. The Black characters do absolutely nothing, except sending Atticus food, because they're so grateful. [*insert snort here*]

This book appears to uphold the standard of racial equality; de facto it is about the white middle class patting themselves on the back for not thinking racist thoughts. I'm sorry to break it to you, Miss Maudie, but you won't get a sugar cookie for that. I am not saying that this is not a realistic portrayal of the white middle class, it is, it totally is. If you do just a little research on the Civil Rights movement, the moral apathy of the white middle class becomes crystal clear. However, we shouldn't portray these characters in a positive light, there is nothing admirable about them. After all...

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against is really cooperating with it.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.