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

- 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.

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!

In the course of 5 years, I’ve read this book nearly 17 times. That adds up to reading it once at least every 4 months, on an average. And I still return to this book like a bark seeking a lighthouse in the dark. When I first finished it, I was so overwhelmed by how much I related to it, I read it nearly 8 times before the year ended. By now I’ve memorized almost every scene and I still can’t shake off the feeling that I still have to learn a lot from it. Over the years, I realize that without knowing it, it has become my personal Bible – a beacon to keep me from straying from the path of kindness and compassion, no matter what.

With its baseless cruelty and what Coleridge poetically referred to as motiveless malignity, the world is in need of much motiveless kindness – a rugged determination to keep the world a quiet haven and not the callous, cruel place it constantly aspires to be.

To Kill A Mockingbird is one of those rare books that doesn’t give in to the belief that ”deep down, everybody’s actually good.” Not everybody is. And we must still persevere to see things from their perspective, and though we may not justify their ways, we must strive to understand them – though we might not follow them, we must try to be as kind to them as possible. And yet, there comes a time when some people need to be put down – we must follow the call of our conscience then, and yet be kind to them in the process, as much as we can.

Striving to follow this dictum, I have realized how difficult it is to be kind to others when I find I’m right. It is so easy to put down others bluntly, it is so easy to be critical and fair, but so difficult to consider for a moment what the other might be going through. How convenient it is to dismiss the hardships of others and say, “They had it coming!” and unburden our conscience of the probable guilt that perhaps we’ve been a bit too harsh.

How simple it is to stereotype people, classify them neatly into convenient square boxes and systematically deal with them based on those black-or-white prejudices! Robe a prejudice in the opaque, oppressive garment called Common Sense and display boldly the seal of Social Approval and you’ve solved the biggest difficulty of life – knowing how to treat people.

And yet, nothing could be farther than the truth. Rarely are people so simple as they seem. In Wilde’s words, “The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.” For you never know when a grumpy, rude, racist Mrs. Dubose might be fighting her own monsters or Ewell be, in fact trying to protect the last vestiges of honor he has, or Aunt Alexandra only trying to advocate the least painful way of life. And though we might not agree with any of them, like Atticus, we must see them for their peculiar situations and grant them a little leeway, make a little corner for them too, and yet, stand up for what is right in defiance of them.

It is this tricky rope-walking balance between prejudice and common sense, kindness and firmness, and justice and leeway that spurs me to revisit this little book every time I seem to falter. While I find it difficult to keep my cool in the midst of flagrant injustices and ensuing pain, I strive to strike a balance between giving in to despair and becoming too optimistic; between becoming indifferent, unkind, righteous and being compassionate, considerate. It is what keeps me from becoming paranoid or cynical with the unceasing drone of passivity, callousness, overwhelming prejudice and unyielding customs while still being alive to the pain of those very people I do not necessarily agree with.

In a country like India with its bizarre, incomprehensible equations and sequestrations of religion, class, caste, region, language, race, gender, sexuality and education, it takes a whole load of effort not to blow up one’s mind – people will kill each other over anything and everything. They’ll hate each other, isolate each other and cook up stories amongst themselves and leave it floating in the air. It takes every ounce of my energy not to hate my land and its majority people viciously. Yes, viciously.

But you see, I’ve got so much to learn to survive here – I have to stand up for myself when there will be hordes banging upon my door telling me to shut the hell up. And I’ll have to muster all the courage I have to tell them to go f*** themselves if they think I musn’t transcend the limits set for me. But I also have to learn not to hate them. Even if it sounds silly.

I know for one, Lee – I don’t care if you never wrote another work. I don’t care if Capote helped you write it, as many say. I’m glad somebody wrote this book, and somebody assigned this book as syllabus when I needed it the most. Five years ago, I hadn’t even heard of it. I read it in a single sitting. And then I read it several times over, taking my time, pondering over every page. I still do so. It is my favorite book ever.

If the total output of your entire career should include only one thing, make it something special.

Not only was To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee's only novel, at one point she nearly destroyed it. That would have been a terrible loss, for - coming from an insular, white-New England upbringing - this book was a game changer for me and my young outlook on life and race relations. Having read it as a youth, it's coming-of-age or loss-of-innocence theme spoke to me while the idea of equal rights for all held by the "liberal" Southern Atticus Finch seemed heroic and opened my eyes to the closeted bigotry around me. I know I'm not alone in my reaction and the effects it had upon me.

Perhaps Lee didn't write another novel, because she took to heart the maxim "write what you know" and this was the one and only novel within her. It seems a shame such a good writer should have produced and be judged by only one book, but at least she made that one book something special.

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.

Well, I never read this as a teen. The reason being that my middle school didn’t think it was appropriate to put in our reading curriculum, probably due to rape  and the fact that our district taught abstinence in lieu of any practical sex ed. So with the sequel about to come out, I decided to finally read this one. I wanted to go to Barnes and Noble and get their special leather-bound edition of it, but was told that it was no longer available. I bought it on Amazon instead.

What we have here is part coming of age school novel, part courtroom drama, and part small town mythos.

While Scout recounts her early years at school (which seem to blend together without regard for timing), it’s a learning process for all. Her earliest teacher makes bureaucratic, though well-meaning, mistakes by shaming Scout for already knowing how to read and doesn’t know the faux pas of the town social nuances.


What surprised me most about the court case was how swift it was decided. I don’t know how fast these things went in the old days (to see if the book was an accurate portrayal for the time), but a one-day trial for rape seems too quick. Really, even small claims civil cases can take days with all the pomp and circumstance of a courtroom (at least in larger cities). Atticus really makes this an open and shut case with a few facts, but that doesn’t seem to sway the juror’s predisposed prejudice against the defendant on the basis of color.



Then there’s this weirdness with a Halloween pageant where Scout has to dress like cured pork. Which leads up to a very real confrontation where she gets shanked in the ham.


Then Boo ghosts out of his place and just kills Scout’s assailant abruptly, says about 2 lines and leaves to star in The Godfather.


All in all, it was an okay novel. I can’t say I was blown away by it, but that might have been because my expectations were too high to begin with.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 5

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.

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

February 22, 2023

I finished the reread and increased the rating to 5.

Some quotes:

"Telling the turth is not cynical, is it?"

"It's not time to worry yet."

"...we're making a step -- it's a baby step, but it's a step."


February 20, 2023

Yesterday I started rereading To Kill A Mockingbird by listening to the audiobook narrated by Sissy Spacek. Today I got to where Atticus Finch tells his daughter Scout, "Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird."

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Original review follows
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I read this in high school right after I saw the movie on TV. I don't remember much about the movie and even less about the book. I guess I'm due for a reread.

OK, everyone needs to stop what they're doing and go find a copy of Sissy Spacek reading this book. I am not exaggerating when I say it is the best audiobook performance I have ever heard.

I have read To Kill a Mockingbird perhaps 10 or 12 times in my life, and it is one of my favorite books, but this was the first time I listened to it. Sissy was the perfect narrator for Scout, and she also did a fantastic job at all of the other voices. If you like audiobooks, this is a must-listen. (And if any publishers are reading this, please hire Sissy to narrate more Southern literature. Her voice is so soothing she could charm a cat out of a tree.)

What struck me about the story this time is how sadly relevant the issue of racial prejudice and inequality still is, even though the book was first published in 1960. At the heart of the novel is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. What quickly becomes apparent is that Tom is innocent, and Mayella was actually beaten by her father, Bob Ewell, when he caught her trying to kiss a negro.

Atticus Finch, the hero of the novel, does his best to defend Tom, but the jury (and most of the town) convicts him anyway, and Tom is condemned to death. Atticus' two children, Jem and Scout, are deeply upset by the case, especially when Bob Ewell continues to threaten them.

This book reminded me of the police shooting and riots in Ferguson, Missouri, and of innumerable other stories in the news of African-Americans not being treated fairly by officers or the courts. I would like to find hope in what Atticus said when he's trying to explain the Tom Robinson case to Scout: "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win."

There is so much to love in this book. Scout, whose real name is Jean Louise, is a tomboy and she is our narrator. The story occurs over several years, and we watch her grow up. Harper Lee has a terrific sense of humor, and Scout's antics always make me laugh.

One of Scout's best friends is a boy named Dill (a character reportedly inspired by Harper Lee's real-life friendship with Truman Capote) and at the start of the book, the kids are obsessed with a reclusive neighbor named Boo Radley. Boo is a mystery throughout the story, and when he finally appears, well, I usually have to wipe a few tears from my eyes.

This novel is a gem, a true American classic. It has been a favorite of mine since I first read it in 8th-grade English, and I think it has had an impact on every generation who reads it. And based on the news, it sounds like it is still needed.

Favorite Quotes
“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.”

“The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

“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, he is trash.”

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