Go set a watchman

Within an hour of putting GSAW on my currently reading shelf I had someone already complain to me about how racist and horrible it was. So I knew I was already in for a long story or so I thought.

I should say first what this book isn't: It isn't a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird. It's easy to see how people would assume that because of the same characters we grew up with in TKAM being in this one. In reality this is a draft OF TKAM that Lee decided to rewrite and then went on to become the novel we grew up with in schools for about 50 or so years. So we have to put things a little in to perspective when we go through Watchman.

Yes, even tho it's a draft Watchman fits VERY well as a continuation of the story begun with Mockingbird. So well in fact that people assume it is which is just an indication to Lee's ability to stay engaging and consistent as an author. The only downside to an alluring story is that we tend to hold it in such high esteem than anything which tries to view that book in a new light or change any bit becomes a point of contention.

Atticus....is a racist. People screamed and howled about it totally forgetting a few important points: Eventually, Scout is going to grow up and people change.

Once you get beyond the shallow controversy you find a slow and sleepy narrative that mirrors the hometown of Scout herself as she visits her family and society that shes left for New York. It doesn't take long before she realizes her father has changed: He's getting older, his health is not what it once was and worse of all Scout expect everything to remain the same. She doesn't accept that change is a constant thing but works in its own ways and that she herself can't control it, even if she has good intentions. It's a much slower pacing without any big climax as one might expect tho it flows well painting Scout in a way I hadn't expected to see her. She is an example of the restlessness of the time it was written in when people were ready to push forward yet had no real idea on HOW. The clash between Scout's mindset and the approach of atticus to the issues of the day are a startling contrast that overlaps the uneasy politics they were grappling with at large.

Very rich personalities and spirit against a cross section of mindsets makes Watchman very likable as long as one's ready to let it stand on its own and stop comparing it to Mockingbird. We've grown up since first reading it in school, so should we let Scout and Atticus grow up as well.

Starts out excruciatingly slow, and is marred by poor editing (Is the school headmaster Mr Tuffett or Ms Muffett?) It picks itself up a bit in the final third and becomes a nice but somewhat uninspiring read.

Mild spoilers:
Others have mentioned how their biggest disappointment is the relegation of Atticus from God Almighty to Regular Joe. I don't see that at all. All through Mockingbird I looked at Atticus as a decent role model for fathers and people in general, but felt very clearly that he was presented through the eyes of a child that adored him. This book only strengthens that view for me. Atticus is still as much a standout father, but with the obvious flaws that make him a mortal man. His handling of what can only be called a very delayed teenage rebellion seems to me to be nothing but a success. That he has views and opinions most people today probably do not have takes nothing away from that.

I went into this with low expectations, I figured there was a good reason this book was never published, before and there is. It appears unfinished and rather immature and would probably not have appeared at all (or at least not in this form) had it not been a guaranteed success. In conclusion, you certainly do not have to read this, but it's not all bad either.