Finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
I feel like everyone’s already read this book and done a much better job of reviewing it than I ever could, so I think I’m just going to babble a bit about how awesome it is. And if you haven’t read it, please fix that. This book is amazing and deserves all its accolades.
For whatever reason, I didn’t have to read it in school so I read it for the first time probably about 10 years ago (followed immediately by A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I think may be the best literary double feature ever). When we learned that our friend/fellow book club member Philip hadn’t read it at all (so I guess everyone but Philip has read it, but hopefully he’s read it now, too), Julia and I decided that it was going to be our next book club pick.
Re-reading it now, in my thirties, was just as great as reading it for the first time. I think this is one of those books where you get different things out of it, depending on where you are in life when you read it. So while I think I would’ve loved it as a kid (and would’ve spared me the incredulous looks of “You’ve NEVER READ To Kill a Mockingbird?!” I got for my first twenty-some years of life), I’m also kind of glad I waited because I don’t know if I would’ve really gotten it the way I did reading it as an adult.
I honestly don’t get why this book is challenged as often as it is. Yes, there’s violence and swearing, yes the n-word is thrown around from time to time. But it’s about racism (both overt and insidious) and doing the right thing and if there’s a better role model anywhere than Atticus Finch, I don’t know that I’ll ever meet him/her. And I would rather my hypothetical kids learn about doing the right thing, even when it’s futile, then never have their delicate sensibilities challenged. (Because honestly? Kids aren’t anywhere near as delicate as their parents think.)
Such a great book and one of my top five favorites.
I read both books when I was a teen-ager-ey kind of kid. Not for school but probably because someone was talking about how it/they should be banned from school libraries. I don’t really remember what the story line is for either of them. I think I’ll see if they are available for my Kindle.
I know Mockingbird isn’t; I’m not sure about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. They are both so, so good. :)
I made it through High School and a damned LIT degree without reading Mockingbird. When I was working at WSJT, a part-timer and I had a book exchange. She signed my copy, “Welcome to my favorite book. Tom? Meet Atticus Finch.” Words can’t adequately describe its awesomeness.
And I love that she never wrote another book. (Btw, she’s a main character in “Capote.” Cool as hell)
I also made it through high school and college (ALSO as an English major) without reading TKAM. And I think that’s probably a good thing. I mean, it would have been nice to discuss it (especially in college, where you discuss real themes and not just mutter whatever you think the teacher wants you to say, like in high school) but it was also so nice to read it for its own sake and not for an assignment.
I definitely think this goes in the “Everyone should have to read this book every decade of their lives” pile — which is pretty rarefied air. In many ways, I think it could be the best book of the 20th century.
Agreed. I got the nice 50th Anniversary hardcover for my birthday and according to the back, they surveyed a bunch of librarians and it was voted the best book of the 20th century. I wouldn’t argue. :)
I ALSO got through high school and a lit degree without reading it, and finally read it in grad school just for fun. I agree with everything said here — it’s just phenomenal. Must read it again soon.