To Kill a Mockingbird

A true American classic, Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD continues to be read and discussed by thoughtful readers of all ages nearly sixty years after she wrote it. Recently I began reading a related book called SCOUT, ATTICUS & BOO, a collection of reflections on both the book and the (equally classic) film. The pieces in that book were so filled with praise and comments about the book and its characters that I put that book down and went back to Lee's original text. I found that, given today's highly charged political atmosphere, TKaM, with its intense and dramatic treatment of racial hatred and references to the KKK, is just as relevant right now as it was when it was first published. I have seen the film version perhaps a half show more dozen times over the last fifty years, but I had not read the book since the 60s. It still works. I know it's a cliché, but this book will make you laugh and cry. Lee's subtle sense of humor shines through this very serious work repeatedly, and the deeply affecting relationships in the Finch family - Atticus, Scout and Jem - will make you weep. This is a beautiful book. A classic? Absolutely. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

This was fairly light-hearted, and surprisingly so. I knew practically nothing about this book going in, though pop-cultural osmosis had led me to believe that this was a moody and sombre book in the line of The catcher in the rye or Lord of the flies, only with more moralizing. I was wrong: To kill a mockingbird turned out to be much cuter than either of those.

I really liked it: it dealt with heavy issues calmly and accessibly, and between reading sessions I was especially looking forward to returning to the narrator’s voice -- she’s adorable! The goody-goody characters were suitably muted, the bad guys were suitably humanized; and all were contextualized and portrayed, not as characters in a moralizing tale (the tomboy with show more something to prove, the uneducated hick, the saintly bedrock of moral certainty), but real people. It also featured some tropes I like -- the mysterious and unseen neighbour, a courtroom trial, the contrast between a child’s perspective and adult reality.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that there isn’t really anything that I’d say is wrong with this book -- I can’t think of a single thing I’d want to be different. I wouldn’t go so far as saying that this is one of my favourite books, but it’s definitely one of those books that does everything right. To kill a mockingbird is simply perfect the way it is! show less

Audio book narrated by Sissy Spacek
5***** and a ❤

Is this the quintessential American Novel? Will it stand the test of time as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has done? Time will tell.

I do know this, however. This is a singularly powerful novel that had a great impact on me when I first read it at age 13 (shortly after it was first published) and has never failed to move and inspire me as I’ve re-read it over the years (at least 20 times by now). It has touched generations of readers in the 50-something years since it was first released and remains high on many “must be read” lists.

There are many reasons for this. It’s a well-paced novel, a fast read with elements of suspense, family drama, humor and moral show more lessons. Scout is a wonderful narrator, both as a child and as an adult looking back on her childhood; and the fact that Lee was able to seamlessly move between these two viewpoints is a testament to her skill as a writer.

Many people feel this is a book about racism. I don’t think that is the core theme of the book, though it is the central plot device Lee uses. I think the major theme of the novel is personal integrity and courage – doing what you know is right when all about you seemingly disagree and even when it may be dangerous to do so, being true to your own moral compass, and instilling those values in your children by example not just words.

In this respect Atticus Finch shines as the protagonist of this work. He is a man of strong moral fiber, a man who is “the same in his house as he is on the public street,” a man “who was born to do our unpleasant jobs for us.” He embodies the lessons he tries to impart to his children: that courage is not a man with a gun in his hands but rather, “It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”

The novel aims a spotlight on a particular time and place in America’s history. Lee writes with clarity and colors this world for the reader with descriptions that put us squarely in Maycomb, Alabama circa 1935: Somehow it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.”

The minor characters, especially the women, are as richly drawn as the major players. I was struck by what a wide range of personalities, strengths, weaknesses and ethics Lee was able to express using characters such as Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandra, Helen Robinson, Mrs Grace Merriweather, Lula, Miss Maudie, Mrs Dubose, Miss Caroline and Mayella Ewell. Some of them appear for only a page or two, but they come alive on the page and remain in the reader’s memories.

The audio book is performed by Academy-Award-winning actress Sissy Spacek. She does an admirable job, though her accent is wrong. She is a Texan, and the Southern Alabama accent is softer than her twang. Still, by the second disc I had stopped noticing this, and allowed myself to be carried into the story by her expert reading.

*******
NOTE: The above is a fresh re-write in July 2015; compiled from notes I’ve taken over several re-reads: May 1998, July 2004, 14Aug2010, 22Oct2011, 07July 2013, 13July 2015.
Most recent re-read: 12 July 2024. show less

This is something like the third time I have read this classic, and is still lively and moving from Atticus's wit and wisdom to Scout's tomboy determination and the lurking threats of Boo Radley (revealed to be not a threat) and ingrained racism (revealed to be a real corruption). Full of vivid characters and a taut story, this will never be out of print. I recommend reading with or for it I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee.

Non ho un amore particolare nei confronti della letteratura americana, se si escludono i romanzi di genere, preferendo di gran lunga quella inglese e canadese, ma sono felice che Il buio oltre la siepe costituisca eccezione alla regola.
La penna di Harper Lee è limpida ed evocativa nel richiamare atmosfere che senza dubbio assumono valore di archetipo e che sono riconducibili bene o male all'infanzia di tutti noi. Tra queste ovviamente il passaggio tra l'infanzia e l'adolescenza e la scoperta di un mondo adulto ipocrita e meschino che nel romanzo assume la forma di un processo contro un uomo innocente. Nell'America che ancora soffre dei postumi della depressione, nel profondo sud dove la Guerra di Secessione è tutt'altro che un show more ricordo e dove i Ku Klux Klan incomincia appena a perdere il suo potere, un uomo innocente, se di colore, è per definizione colpevole, come dimostrerà l'ingiusto processo. Eppure il padre della narratrice accetta di assumerne la difesa, non perché convinto di vincere (sa che perderà), ma semplicemente perché è giusto. Così Jem e Scout, i suoi figli che sono i veri protagonisti della vicenda, non solo capiranno l'ipocrisia di una società dai valori morali dubbi, ma impareranno una lezione di gran lunga più importante attraverso le azioni del padre Atticus.
Ma oltre a essere un bildungsroman e una critica al razzismo il romanzo della Lee contiene un'altra tematica portante: ciò che più temiamo può essere la fonte della nostra salvezza. Non potendo essere più specifico per non rovinare l'unico colpo di scena della storia, posso solo invitare alla lettura.
Non ho timore nell'asserire che Il buio oltre la siepe sia un classico moderno che supererà la prova del tempo e forse il migliore prodotto della letteratura americana moderna. show less

II had never read this book before, or seen the film with Gregory Peck, and all I knew about it was that there was a little girl whose lawyer father defended a black man who had been charged with raping a white woman, so the Boo Radley sub-plot came as a surprise to me. But once Scout and Jem found the presents he had been leaving for them in the tree, I somehow knew that he was going to end up saving the children from danger at some point in the story. I hadn't realised before reading it that the book was set as early as the mid 1930s, I had assumed it was set in the 1950s or thereabouts, nearer to the time of the civil rights movement.

It is so well written, capturing the thought processes of a child who sees everything that is going show more on, without really understanding the subtleties of adult behaviour and the hypocrisy of the townsfolk. Towards the end, when her teacher is praising the Jewish people and condemning Hitler for his prejudice without seeming to connect that with her own prejudice against the local black population, Scout's confusion is obvious even though she can't articulate it properly yet.

One thing that was really struck me was Atticus Finch telling his children that the worst thing you can do is to attack, con or steal from someone black (I've taken the book back to the library and can't remember exactly how he put it). When I thought about it I realised that he said this because in Alabama in the 1930s there was no way that a black person could retaliate in any way against a white person, without risking extreme and disproportionate consequences, so it was unfair of white people to take advantage of that.

I wonder why Harper Lee never wrote another novel. Maybe To Kill a Mockingbird was such a personal story that nothing could ever come up to its standard in her mind. show less

The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird was in high school in the 1980s. I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the literature we were required to read I never would have read on my own for enjoyment. The Great Gatsby. Moby Dick. The Old Man and the Sea. Red Badge of Courage. All great books...but I didn't identify with any of the characters. I read each one because I had to....not because I cared about the story in any way. To Kill a Mockingbird was different. I felt a connection with the characters and enjoyed the book so much I have re-read it many, many times since then.

Scout and Jem Finch live with their father, Atticus, in the south. Atticus is an attorney and state congressman. When Atticus defends a black man accused of raping show more a white woman, the court case causes division in the small town where they live. Scout, Jem and their friend Dill learn hard lessons about racism. There are also lighter coming-of-age moments -- like trying to make the recluse next door come out of his house. The kids are totally obsessed with Boo Radley.....a man who hasn't been seen outside his family's home in years and years.

I felt a connection with the kids in this story because I had many of the same questions that they express in the book. I never understood racism. I wasn't raised that way. My father would have worn me out with a paddle if I had ever used a racial slur or behaved less than kind to anyone for ignorant reasons like the color of their skin, religion, etc. And in the small midwest town where I grew up, racism was never out in the open, but an undercurrent that was hidden and not mentioned, but always there. Like the local men's civic club that didn't accept black members. Like the phone calls my father got when I went out in a group of friends that included black classmates. The teacher who handed a racist note to a white female student who was attending prom with a black classmate. I never understood all the hypocrisy. Especially when the racist nonsense was coming from people who were in church every Sunday. I didn't understand it then.....and I don't understand it now. I think that's why I love this book. It all comes down to one thing....one important life lesson that Atticus Finch's children learn: Do what is right. In life, some things are beyond our control. Things will not always go the way they should. And people will not always behave as they should. In all things, the only thing we can do, is make sure that we do what is right. It might not change the outcome in every situation, but at least at the end of the day, we have the knowledge that we faced the situation and did what was right. A person deserving of respect is someone who goes into a situation knowing that they have already lost the fight, but they endeavor to do right anyway. Atticus Finch was that sort of person and he raised his children that way as well. It makes for a powerful coming-of-age story.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. Narrated by Sissy Spacek, the audio is just over 12 hours long. Spacek reads at a nice pace and is easily understandable. I have partial hearing loss, but was easily able to hear and understand this entire book. I enjoyed Spacek's performance. She did a great job with Scout's voice and the various other characters.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the first book I've read/re-read from the 100 books featured in The Great American Read. Check out the list here: http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/ show less