To Kill a Mockingbird

It's almost a SIN that they stuff this novel down your throat in HIGH SCHOOL. Most adolescents are first introduced to this book as a 'coming- of- age' story; a 'let's learn something about the South' kind of book, but...believe it or not , it exists in a multiple of different ways. First, as AMERICAN CLASSIC, second, as LITERATURE, third as MYTH, and the list goes on and on. I...more

It's almost a SIN that they stuff this novel down your throat in HIGH SCHOOL. Most adolescents are first introduced to this book as a 'coming- of- age' story; a 'let's learn something about the South' kind of book, but...believe it or not , it exists in a multiple of different ways. First, as AMERICAN CLASSIC, second, as LITERATURE, third as MYTH, and the list goes on and on. I can't say enough about this book that hasn't been written already. There are minor, if any, tricks here; almost no magic at all. Unlike the Potter series, there are no teenaged wizards saving the day, no full scale battles to satiate an over-active mind. What we have here is, pure and simple, a GREAT story, which is layered and subtle, grandly told , BUT in a simple way. You couldn't want it any different Literature un-diluted. Atticus Finch may be one of(if not THE) best hero in American literature, but Boo Radley has MY vote for most careful, most ominous, most precious villain. (Sorry Voldemort.) I've read it twice, and my recommendation (along with 'The Catcher in the Rye') is to give it, at least, 3 reads in your Lifetime. One in highschool, when you're first introduced. One in your 30's, when the world is weighing you down and you need a little direction. And One when you're very old, just to make sure that you haven't gone completely crazy; just to prove that the 'Classics of Literature' haven't changed all that much since you were a kid. (If you're lucky you will read them all: GRAPES OF WRATH, OF MICE AND MEN, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST, CATCH 22, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER...) ALL the great American Literature when you're upon your Death Bed. Read them all, and be saved. Let's hope so. Steinbeck, Atwood, Ondatje, Faulkner, Fante, Bukowski, Hemingway, Orwell, Huxley...will save you...I promise... -dcb    hide

I overstretched the reading of this book along too many months. The final result is: I did not really like it. Perhaps my expectations were too high. This enjoyable small novel is a bad treaty of American morals. When I think of it now, it seems to me that hypocritical movies like Forrest Gump own a big debt to this book. Set in rural Southern States, To Kill A Mockingbird is a tale of a...more

I overstretched the reading of this book along too many months. The final result is: I did not really like it. Perhaps my expectations were too high. This enjoyable small novel is a bad treaty of American morals. When I think of it now, it seems to me that hypocritical movies like Forrest Gump own a big debt to this book. Set in rural Southern States, To Kill A Mockingbird is a tale of a little child struggling to grow adult in a cruel, racist and moralist human environment where fathers can well put their sons to jail for years without being prevented to at any time and negros can be blamed for just about everything. To Kill a Mockingbird is far from the grim, overstrong moralist molasses of Uncle Tom's Cabin, but is definitely untrue, like that other book, with its bad vs. good characters, its wise vs. brute, its beautiful vs. ugly, its just vs. rogue. I think this was perhaps the right novel at the right time in the right place. Eager Hollywood was ready to take the chance and squeeze the thing into an Academy Award-winning flick, which, I understand, is a masterpiece. I own the DVD and when I see it, I will probably get a different picture of the book.   hide

Pulitzer Prize winner published in 1960. One of those very few books I’ve read whom I could actually call “English Literature” and “novel” at the same time. Written in the first person, this book shows the world from the perspective of a small girl - Jean Lousie “Scout” Finch, and as a grown woman reflecting on her childhood. The author has acknowledged...more

Pulitzer Prize winner published in 1960. One of those very few books I’ve read whom I could actually call “English Literature” and “novel” at the same time. Written in the first person, this book shows the world from the perspective of a small girl - Jean Lousie “Scout” Finch, and as a grown woman reflecting on her childhood. The author has acknowledged that this character is loosely based on her own childhood. After I read this book, I learned that this novel is widely taught in schools in english speaking countries; and I was surprised at the same time because I never thought I would like a book that was actually taught as literary text. This entertaining and extremely well written novel is tied to the themes of tolerance and prejudice. The character of Atticus Finch, the narrator’s father is one of the most enduring fictional images of integrity. Atticus is certainly one of my heroes in the literary world.   hide

Ok here is my veiw of the book. Let's start positively, it is a good story. There is a lot of insights and moral lessons to be seen and learned. Now this is why teens hate it: One, the teachers pick it apart and force their inturpritations of it on their students. It should be read at ones own pace. The reader needs to digest it and form their own views on the subject matter. If the...more

Ok here is my veiw of the book. Let's start positively, it is a good story. There is a lot of insights and moral lessons to be seen and learned. Now this is why teens hate it: One, the teachers pick it apart and force their inturpritations of it on their students. It should be read at ones own pace. The reader needs to digest it and form their own views on the subject matter. If the administrations believe students will learn character from it then let them learn not be infected by others lessons. If we don't let them form their own opinions no new lessons will be learned. I would be more interested to find out what it meant to each student from a breif " what it meant to me" paper than to re-read dozens of answers to the same questions and see the same deffinitions to vocabulary words. If English teachers are using this as an example of great writing, Let a grammer and spell checker on a computer get a hold of it. It will tell you there are too many errors to continue. People who don't speak or hear the southern language daily will have a miserable time reading this. I found if you actually use a drawl you do better. The audio version helps a great deal. Teachers please stop forcing your veiws on the students and let's see if we can get some new original thoughts on the book.   hide