Go Set a Watchman (2015)

I would give this more stars if I didn't know the story behind it. She was basically forced to publish a book that clearly wasn't ready to be published. It felt incomplete. It felt a little sad. Too bad. ( )

Go Set A Watchman is no To Kill A Mockingbird, its not a sequel (even though it can be read like one mistakenly), and it’s obviously a early version of a story that needs some work. The focus is on Scout visiting home from New York after segregation has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Jean Louise realizes her father and her love interest are racists and it shatters her image of her father and her town. Some plot points lead no where, there are long speeches that are confusing, and frankly there are just some characters and events I don’t care about. There is a good moral story, stand up for your beliefs and don’t runaway from a challenge.

I believe Go Set a Watchman will become a footnote in literary history. It won’t become a classic that is taught in school like To Kill A Mockingbird is and there really is no comparing the two. Watchman can stand on its own as a decent book, but clearly it led to a better formed book and does not take anything away from Mockingbird. It can easily be seen as a sequel with the thinking that Mockingbird is from Scout’s perspective as a child and then as an adult in Watchman she finds out about the real Atticus, but this is wrong. They are not the same characters and its not the same story. The book is enjoyable on its own, it has its faults, but overall its a good story. 3.5/5 ( )

This review contains spoilers.

Ever since I read To Kill a Mocking Bird, I've wanted another Harper Lee book to devour. So when I passed a bookshop and saw the bright orange covers I just had to get one.

As a follow up to "To Kill a Mocking Bird", Go Set Watchmen chronicles Jean-Louis Finch's return to Maycomb to look after her aging father. But when she gets home, Jean-Louis, aka Scout, finds that things have changed. Scout finds herself torn between the town and family she loved and what has become of it.

Harper Lee touched on some interesting topics including the race, politics, feminism, and more.

Mostly this book was about why people in the south opposed the civil rights movement.

What I liked
I liked going back to Maycomb and "visiting" with Jean-Louis, Aunt Alexandra, and Atticus. I really felt like I was going back there with her and seeing everyone again after "all these year". I also liked the sections in the book where Scout reminisces about her youth, her rows with Cal, and annoyances with Jem. I guess it was more the nostalgia of it all than anything else.

I also liked Chapter 18 and 19 - I think. These are chapters where Scout speaks to her uncle who gives her some perspective on everything that's been happening. He helps her understand why her father and fiance hold the views they hold and tries to "make her see the light".

The reason I like these chapters isn't because they were amazing pieces of prose but rather they voiced the other side of the civil rights discourse. Usually, literature about civil rights or any other liberation theme is one dimensional. We hear about those being violated and why it is their right to protest.

But we seldom hear, see, or read literature that says why these movements are opposed. And I think that's what Harper was trying to achieve with this book - and in these two chapters in particular.

I also feel that it's important that such voices exist in our age because too many movements seek acceptance and tolerance - which they are entitled to - but that doesn't make the opposition hateful. Everyone has an opinion - a point of view and we need to learn to tolerate that and accept that we don't agree.

What I didn't like
I didn't like this book. It was really disappointing. As mentioned above I appreciate the voice it gives those who opposed the struggle but this book was unnecessarily long, there was no real, clear plot. It dragged on forever. I kept hoping it gets better. There is also a recurring theme where everyone tells Scout to "You don't understand", or "Try looking at things from my perspective" - which is fine but it felt like everyone was telling Scout We are right you are wrong. Also after her conversation with her uncle Scout is so mad that she wants to leave and then after her uncle slaps her she suddenly has an epiphany and everything makes sense. In two sentences she goes from "I'm leaving don't stop me" to "It all makes sense now" which is ridiculous. And disappointing and after that paragraph I skipped to the last page and ended my misery.

Jem died! What?! And I missed Dill.

I wouldn't recommend this book. Unless you want to get some insight into why people in the South opposed the civil rights movement.
( )

This is the must read companion book to TKAM...after all, it was Harper Lee's initial story about the pervasive racism in the south. The relentless efforts to "keep negroes in their place" is not a pretty story in any decade.
Reading Go Set A Warchman in the aftermath of the hateful slaying of nine beautiful members of the AME Emanuel church here in my hometown helped me understand the sources of all the hatred and racism in the South. The same Ignorant racism that was around in 1932, and 1954 is still here. ( )

A coming of age story as Scout, Jean Louis Finch, comes home to Maycomb, Alabama from New York to discover that her father, Atticus Finch, holds some unpalatable views. Set in the heat of the civil rights movement, race and racism loom large in this sequel to Kill a Mocking Bird and there are times when it reads more as a polemic than a novel. ( )