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Kill a Mockingbird, To

By Harper Lee

(780)

| Paperback | 9780060933272

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Book Description

Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Puliter Prize-winning novel--a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality ofContinue

34 Reviews

5 people find this helpful

I won't comment on the book's message, except to say that people worldwide today can still use a lesson or two on accepting other people who are different from themselves.
Read the book, not for your school reading assignment but for the sake of reading, and you will understand what Harper Lee ... (continue)

I won't comment on the book's message, except to say that people worldwide today can still use a lesson or two on accepting other people who are different from themselves.
Read the book, not for your school reading assignment but for the sake of reading, and you will understand what Harper Lee had to say.
Equally brilliant but easily overlooked when reviewing this book is the writing, the language if you will, Harper Lee employed to construct the world of Scout.
Yes, she constructed not only a story, not only a series of events, but an entire world as seen by a child growing up in Maycomb during the 30's.
Not much of a writer myself, but I write novels on and off. And I believe in a minimalistic approach: the less you say that's unrelated to your main story line, the better. Don't waste two chapters on developments that can be summed up in two paragraphs.
And we see a fine counterexample in "Mockingbrid".
Reading the opening pages, you will find no trace of the theme advertised on the back cover: "a lawyer in the deep south defending a black man charged with the rape of a white girl." Instead, it is as if you can breath the hot summer's air, while running around in the yard as a seven-year-old.
Those big houses, you have in fact never set foot in one, and have only seen them on American TV shows such as Knight Rider. And back then you were in the living room of some apartment building in some Asian city. But the fact doesn't stop you from feeling that world of Scout.
And that's what drew me into the book. Not the message of acceptance and equality; not the social or historical value of the book. It's because I can feel so vividly another time, another age, another world all together. I can almost touch it if I just reach out, or it seems.
Harper Lee maintained the same touch throughout the book. This is not a story about the trial and the aftermath, but an account of Scout's childhood through her own eyes, with the trial standing out as one big event.
I don't think I can spell out my thought very clearly. What I mean to say is, it is so near-impossible to keep your focus while detailing on everything big and small. I certainly can't, and many published writers failed at one point or another at achieving the right balance.
Yet Harper Lee did it-- not a "balance" between the two, which implies some sort of deliberate exclusion. She maxed out both sides.
Pure genius. Something we can only admire and not copy. We are really not created equal in this case, and what can I say?

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pthow said on Jul 20, 2007 | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

Amore. Tanto, tanto amore.
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
"You aren't really a nigger-love, then, are you?"
"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody".
"And for godness' sake put some of the county back where it belongs, the soil erosi ... (continue)

Amore. Tanto, tanto amore.
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
"You aren't really a nigger-love, then, are you?"
"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody".
"And for godness' sake put some of the county back where it belongs, the soil erosion's bad enough as it is."
Dill stared at my father's retreating figure.
"He's tryin' to be funny," I said. "He means take a bath."
"How can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home.."
"Will you take me home?" [Boo] almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark.

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Serena! -A Mordor il male non dorme mai. said on Jan 25, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | 4 feedbacks

2 people find this helpful

Eminently readable.

The book is narrated through Scout, a 6 year old girl. It is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, a sleepy Southern US county. The novel is a Bildungsroman, as we follow the adventures of Scout, her elder brother Jem and their summer vacation friend Dill through their years, we also see significant events h ... (continue)

The book is narrated through Scout, a 6 year old girl. It is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, a sleepy Southern US county. The novel is a Bildungsroman, as we follow the adventures of Scout, her elder brother Jem and their summer vacation friend Dill through their years, we also see significant events happening in the county and how these events shape their thinking. Scout's dad is Atticus, a honest free thinking lawyer. About half of the book sets the stage by introducing the county, the neighbours of Scout, her adventures in school and most importantly the society of the America of those years. The real deal is when Atticus has to defend a black named Tom who has been charged of raping a white girl. As Scout and Jem follow their dad's court ordeal, they also perceive the change in the county towards them (this is Southern USA remember?). It changes their thinking about people and society and starts moulding them into maturity.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize. It was also made into a highly acclaimed movie which I'm now eager to see. I loved the book, couldn't keep it down once I started on it. There are several aspects in the book which endeared it to me — of lost innocence, of racism in the USA, of small town America, of the 2-tone view of a child's world and of how the world is a total complicated mess. Through all the hell around him, Atticus stands as steady as a rock for his children, always making them think about the answers to their queries of the world around them. Lee was apparently inspired by the Scottsboro Boys trial for this book. From what I know, under its shiny veneer racism still lurks in the richest nation of the world. This book is just as relevant today as it was in 1960. Eminently readable.

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Ashwin Nanjappa said on Jun 25, 2007 | Add your feedback

Un libro meraviglioso!! Mi spiace solo non avergli potuto dedicare il tempo che avrebbe meritato...ci ho messo una vita a leggerlo, e sicuramente non perchè fosse noioso, anzi! Ho adorato tutti i personaggi, ho imparato a conoscerli e a voler loro bene, e ora mi spiace quasi lasciarli e non sapere c ... (continue)

Un libro meraviglioso!! Mi spiace solo non avergli potuto dedicare il tempo che avrebbe meritato...ci ho messo una vita a leggerlo, e sicuramente non perchè fosse noioso, anzi! Ho adorato tutti i personaggi, ho imparato a conoscerli e a voler loro bene, e ora mi spiace quasi lasciarli e non sapere come proseguono le loro vite. Davvero, non ho parole, ma sicuramente è una lettura che consiglierei!!

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lupurk said on Feb 13, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I just finished this book.
Simply one word: AMAZING.
The charatcers, the story, the themes, the writing.
An absolute delight to read.
Highly recommended!

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TomteNadia said on Feb 11, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

Racism and prejudice seen through the innocent eyes of a little girl. Brilliant.

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Sibyl Vane said on Jan 26, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback