To Kill a Mockingbird

This book is absolutely brilliant. I've read the book three times in my life, at ages 13, 18, and 22. With each reading I gain a better appreciation for the storyline, the author, and the moral beliefs that are challenged within these pages. There are few books that increase in complexity the more they are read, and this happens to be one of them. Harper Lee seems to speak to readers of all ages, and no matter how many times this novel is read, the reader will never cease to feel compelled by the message that it delivers.

The story is narrated by Scout, the daughter of Atticus Finch, a criminal defense attorney in the Deep South who is assigned to defend a black man in his trial for raping a white girl. The novel tells the story of how Scout and her family endure the threatening ridicule from their community for Atticus' loyalty to this man. While Harper Lee delivers the message that black people were discriminated against in the Deep South, the more notable message was the struggle that whites endured when they chose to side with the blacks. There are some extremely comical moments in this book involving Scout and her brother. Therre are also several other interesting sub-plots that help describe the morals, beliefs, and problems in the Deep South during that period of time. Though, my favorite part was Atticus Finch's closing argument during the trial. His monologue constitutes some of the best pages of literature I've ever read.

This was the only novel that Harper Lee ever wrote. Maybe it is best that she never published again. There's no way that she could have ever topped this novel. Not many authors can. This novel will always remain a permanent member of my book collection, and I'm sure I'll be reading it a few more times in my life and gaining something new ever time. Everyone should read this book.

I just finished this book a few moments ago, and I am completely awed by this story. Harper Lee has done an excellent job bringing this 1930s Alabama childhood to life. I can see why To Kill a Mockingbird has won the Pulitzer Prize, garnered an Academy Award for the movie version, and ultimately become a timely classic enjoyed by many generations.

To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of two children, sister Scout and brother Jem, and their childhood during three years in the midst of the Great Depression. Scout and Jem spend most of their summers with their summer-neighbor, Dill, making up plays and spying on the town recluse, Boo Radley. During the school year (minus Dill, who goes back home to Mississippi), Scout finds herself in trouble one too many times and struggles with the concept of being a lady, especially when all she wants to do is wear overalls and beat up her classmates.

Then everything changes one fall.... Scout and Jem's father, Atticus Finch, a lawyer in their town of Maycomb, Alabama, is appointed to the defense of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman (although not of the highest caliber), Mayella Ewell. The fact of this case rocks the town of Maycomb, and with Scout and Jem feeling the brunt of their classmates ridicule when they realize Atticus is on Tom's side.

I was simply floored while reading this novel. I wasn't expecting a "classic" to be so readable. Now I know what I've been missing! To Kill a Mockingbird is a piece of our American history that depicts racism and prejudice, childhood innocence, and the perseverence of a man who risked it all to stand up for what he believed in. Wonderful portrayal and one I will read again.

Somehow my education did not impose on me a reading of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," although I saw the excellent movie based on it several times. What a pleasure to discover, when finally picking up the book in my middle age, that the people who inhabit this book spring fully grown directly from the mind of Harper Lee herself, rather than just the actors in the film.

Harper Lee has written not a single one-dimensional character, and has created a few of the best realized and strongest characters ever put into print: not just Atticus, Jem, and Scout Finch, but also the dignified Calpurnia, the eager Dill, the peaceful but ghostly Boo Radley, even the degraded and predatory Ewell family. These characters jump off the page like in no other novel I can recall. There is no doubt in my mind that these folks are as real as any of the people I see walking down the street, and I feel for Atticus in particular a similar sort of astonished respect as I do for my own father.

If somehow the book itself has passed you by, or if (sadly) it was imposed on you for a class assignment when you were young, revisit it. It's one of the best ever written.

Oddly, I'd never read To Kill a Mockingbird as a high school student. Nor had I ever seen the famous film with Gregory Peck. Fortunately, I also avoided learning the entire plot through cultural osmosis. Sure, I knew who Boo Radley was-- didn't I? Atticus Finch... yeah, I know who that is... right?

Boy, was I wrong. Last week I finally decided it'd been long enough, and I sank into Harper Lee's only novel with high expectations. And I was certainly not disappointed. With its slow, warm and evocative opening chapters, Mockingbird starts off like a sulty summer day in the South. Lee depicts a South of "whistling bob white," biscuits and warm milk, and ladies who on the hottest days bathe twice by noon and then douse themselves in lavender-smelling powder.

Jean-Louise Finch, better known as Scout, narrates the story with the keen eye of an adult looking back on a childhood rich with incidents that shaped who she has become. Scout reminded me of some of Carson McCullers's heroines (Member of the Wedding, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), but without the morbid loneliness and heartbreak. Scout might be described as a tomboy, but that would be doing her a disservice. Her adventures with her older brother Jem, and their dimunitive friend Dill (real name: Charles Baker Harris. "Your name's longer'n you are," Jem points out) evoke the timeless place of childhood.

As for Atticus Finch, what can one say about a father who seems to embody the greatest of virtues? He is tolerant, patient, kind, and understanding. He does not meddle with his children's affairs, he speaks to them as fellow adults (he allows them to call him "Atticus"), and his skill as a lawyer is legendary. Lee presents Atticus in a tough and sensitive manner, so that his believability is paramount.

The other characters in the book are also depicted with great skill: Aunt Alexandra, bane of Scout's existence; Miss Maudie, who gives as good as she gets when harassed by intolerant neighbors; Calpurnia, the ever-present black maid who has as much a hand in Jem and Scout's well-being as Atticus; and of course the Ewells, whose poverty and ignorance help set the plot in motion.

Harper Lee has written a wonderful book that pulses with life, with compassion, and easy good humor. Watching Atticus face down an angry mob set on lynching a black man, or racing with Jem as he escapes gunshots from the Radley house, or sitting with Scout as she forced to join her aunt's church lady reception, or taking that long midnight walk with Jem and Scout, is pure joy; these are scenes that reverberate in the reader's mind and surely in the minds of several generations of readers. I'm glad I can now say I'm one of them.

This classic should be made required reading for every person in every culture and in every country. If only everyone would read it, and truly understand, identify with and 'learn' from the story and the message found within its pages, I believe the world would be a happier and peaceful place to live in for all.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a 'rich' and compelling story set in 1930s Alabama. It's a story about the purity and innocence of children, about justice (or the lack of it), racism, hypocrisy, human compassion, trust and love (all issues we can relate to) told from the experiences and perspectives of a small child (Scout).

The writing is wonderfully beautiful and charming. You'll fall in love with the depth of inner beauty and innocence found in the 2 children (Jem, and especially his sister, Scout/Jean Louis). You'll find yourself rooting passionately for their father (Atticus Finch) to win his case when he chooses to defend a black man on trial for life, despite much social pressure on Finch to give up the case and veiled threats against him and his family. Watch for the part where Finch cross-examines the "victim" (a white girl who accuses the black man of rape) and during his closing speech. Both are excellent courtroom drama (the best I've come across) and they also reveal a lot of the (ugly) truth behind the case.

Atticus Finch's sense of justice, perseverence and fighting spirit (the way he stood his ground) are most inspiring and touching. Based on what he believes in, he knows he must "do the right thing", all the more since he has 2 young children who look up to him for guidance on the difference between right and wrong.

I also loved reading the precious scenes involving Atticus and his children - Atticus is really a "beautiful" person and a perfect role-model of a dad - at once loving and understanding and patience and fair.

And what about the mysterious recluse, Arthur "Boo" Radley who hasn't left his house in years and has become some sort of a terrifying yet intriguing "legend" among the neighbourhood children? Is he really the madman or evil spirit that the children believe him to be?

This book (and another winner, "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt) should rank highly in everyone's list of must-reads. What a true gem! Read it and be charmed.