To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird
Book Review: Children make everything simple
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading this book I find it completely reasonable that Harper Lee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and several other prizes, and that librarians across the United States have selected this book as the best novel of the twentieth century. It is also understandable that Harper Lee did not write any other novel after this one; she had already created a perfect one and there was no real room to improve! The aspect I loved most about this book is how it shows that when children are allowed to think by themselves, without being prejudiced by the opinion of the adults, they see everything crystal clear.Lee has created a literary masterpiece with so many remarkable aspects that one feels threatened to comment on them for fear of leaving out important ones; I will try nonetheless to point out at least a couple of them. The story revolves around the experiences of Scout, who is the one telling the story. She is a little girl whose father is assigned as the defense attorney of a black young man falsely accused of raping a white girl. The main lesson the book disseminates and the one that is easiest to grasp is that racism is destructive and has no reason to exist in our society. If you consider that the book was written in 1960, this is not a minor point, but on the contrary it is a very powerful statement. Even nowadays, we have a long way to go towards accepting that someone's skin color is completely irrelevant. Although this problem has been reduced considerably other forms of discrimination still exist and should be eradicated.
It is uplifting to see a father like Atticus Finch, who is raising two kids by himself, after losing his wife, and is doing a splendid job at it. Not only he differs from the norm at the time because he never hits his children, but he also tries not to influence their ideas of what is wrong and right. Instead of promoting hatred in Scout and Jem against the people that are racist and unfair, he tries to teach them tolerance to understand that these individuals are acting mostly out of fear. Throughout the story one can observe how the two siblings go from considering Atticus an old man who could not play football with other dads to seeing him as a hero with outstanding values. Jem describes this perfectly: "Atticus is a gentleman, just like me".
I can understand why this book has been selected as part of the required readings in high school, and also why a lot of kids, finding it difficult to read, do not particularly enjoy it. To those of you that have a bitter recollection of this book and are now adults, I urge you to reread it and I guarantee that you will see clearly that it was worth it. If you are reading the book for high school, try to understand what the society was like in 1960 and you will enjoy this chore a lot more. Finally, I just have to say that I feel privileged for having read "To Kill a Mockingbird", even though nobody ever forced me to do so.
Book Review: A timeless classic that should be read by everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a timeless story of racism, compassion and an unlikely hero's fight for justice in the face of hostility. It follows the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of the rape of a white woman, and the effect of the trial on the largely white populace of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's. The story is told through the eyes of Scout, the nine year old daughter of defence lawyer Atticus Finch, who is desperate to raise his children with a strong sense of right and wrong and to protect them from the hatred and narrow-mindedness of the majority of the townsfolk.Atticus's fatherhood is made all the more difficult, being both a widower and lawyer, mixed with Scout's, and her older brother Jem's, sense of adventure and their aversion to the relatives and neighbours sense of being a proper lady and gentleman, means that not only is he attacked for what is perceived as raising bad mannered children, but also because he is openly friendly towards the black community.
Scout's young age adds a wonderful sense of comedy and naivety to an otherwise bleak story; she is constantly fighting with her fast maturing brother, her aunty, school classmates and teachers, and struggling to grasp the terrible truth that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
However, Atticus not only teaches his children the importance of tolerance, but also lays the foundation for greater understanding in the community at large. He shows that a lady doesn't have to wear a dress and host tea parties with polite society, but must be compassionate, unprejudiced and tolerant, even if she does wear dirty breeches and fights with boys.
Harper Lee's story is beautiful, funny, thought-provoking, and highly moral all at the same time without ever being pious or judgemental: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a book that should be read by all; young, old and everybody in between.
Book Review: A truly powerful and important masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
Harper Lee's moving and powerful novel deserves to remain as one of the most important 20th Centurary Classics. The moral story of a young girl named Scout and her understanding of the world she lives in, attacks the predudices of adulthood and the ignorance of man. The novel is centred on the issue of racism and the interaction of man with man. Exploring this theme, Harper views the world through the unpredudiced eyes of Scout and we watch as her views are shaped by those around her.The novel is shockingly powerful, with characterisation that will move you through emotions. The novel is written in a style that most ages will find easy to read, and enjoy. The lessons to be learnt by this book are of such great importance to the modern day world in which we live, therefore I believe that it should be positvely encouraged to early teenagers, as they themselves are having their views shaped by those around them. I would say that Nelle Harper Lee deserves all the respect she gets for this truly outstanding novel.
Book Review: affecting portait of the deep south as it begins to change
Summary: 5 Stars
Difficult to know what to say about a book which is so well known.What surprised me? Well its along time before we get to Tom Robinson and his trial. Most of the book is about growing up in a small southern town, and the characters & attitudes that Scout the narrator encounters. This I think is its strength rather than the slightly laboured trial. No doubt the book was campagining & radical in its day but things have moved on a lot since then. It is a book partly about rascism in which the black characters are rarely heard.
A book I think best read at an age younger than my 42 years but still an excellent novel. If you haven't read it go and do so.
Book Review: Quite simply,a great book..
Summary: 5 Stars
Pretty difficult to write about this book as it is so well known.I just want to say that it is one of the best books I have read and it is fabulously well written.Although the story is really about the world of the deep South of America as seen through a childs eyes,the story is never patronising and neither does it try too hard to be moral.It is such a strong story and very easy to get into.Harper Lee describes things in such a way that you feel drawn into the world of Scout and she deserves all the praise that has been lavished on her through the years.
The story is sad at times,it will make you angry at other times.But it truly is one of the best books ever written and can be enjoyed by all ages.