One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the United States. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Lawyer Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson -- a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Writing through the young eyes of Finch's children Scout and Jem, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of …
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the United States. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Lawyer Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson -- a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Writing through the young eyes of Finch's children Scout and Jem, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in small-town Alabama during the mid-1930s Depression years. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.
XX. mende hasierako AEBetako hegoaldearen erretratua neskato (zuri) baten ikuspuntutik
5 stars
Liburuaren bizkarreko laburpena irakurrita epaitegiak eta abokatuak oinarritu dituen liburu bat espero nuen eta egia esan ez ninduen gehiegi erakartzen. Hala ere, irakurri ahala ezusteko oso atsegina hartu dut. Lege kontuek badute pisua liburuan, batez ere liburuaren erdi aldera, baina nagusiki XX. mende hasierako AEBetako hegoaldeko herrixka baten eta bertako biztanleen erretratua da, neskato zuri baten ikuspuntutik kontatua: arrazismoa, klasismoa, sexismoa, itxurakeria... Amaitu ondoren kritikak irakurtzen aritu naiz, eta egia da ikuspuntu zuri batetik idatzia dagoela, baina bere garairako oso aurreratua iruditzen zait, eta dirudienez eragin handia izan zuen AEBetako beltzen eskubide zibilen aldeko mugimenduan.
The book represents a point of view of a child during the 30's written by someone who was a child during the 30's, which brings valuable historical authenticity. It was published in the 60's and due to its immediate success it was a part of a shift in attitudes regarding the civil rights movements of the 70's. Reading the book with this context in mind is an interesting experience because to a contemporary mind, the 60's is in many ways more absurd than was the 30's to the author.
The novel own its own merit is greatly delivered, with enough character building and contextualization that by the time the main plot arrives my metropolitan millennial mind is decently acclimatized to a completely alien society and culture. The naive, progressive-household-raised, clean slate kid point of view gives the narrator plausible bewilderment when facing the pervasive racial injustice and hypocrisy the book …
The book represents a point of view of a child during the 30's written by someone who was a child during the 30's, which brings valuable historical authenticity. It was published in the 60's and due to its immediate success it was a part of a shift in attitudes regarding the civil rights movements of the 70's. Reading the book with this context in mind is an interesting experience because to a contemporary mind, the 60's is in many ways more absurd than was the 30's to the author.
The novel own its own merit is greatly delivered, with enough character building and contextualization that by the time the main plot arrives my metropolitan millennial mind is decently acclimatized to a completely alien society and culture. The naive, progressive-household-raised, clean slate kid point of view gives the narrator plausible bewilderment when facing the pervasive racial injustice and hypocrisy the book aims to criticize.
But this book too is a product of its time and one can immediately recognize the white savior angle. The white gentleman class is displayed one cut above the white trash that are no better than also-poor-but-black folk, and raises itself a toast for being so intellectual. A pat on the back for being kind enough to employ honest colored folk and defending the sanctity of written law. The expectation is overwhelming gratefulness in return, even if the result is still injustice. The portrayal of "the good blacks" is subservient and forgiving, and the weapon of choice to build empathy is pity and the analogy with the sin of killing a creature that is dedicated to servitude and entertainment - the mockingbird.
Five stars as an expertly crafted novel with admirable goals and celebrated impact, one star as modern literature on racial injustice. I don't think the two aspects have equal weight but lacking better utilitarian formulation I'm averaging to 3 stars.
Romanzo per giovani adultǝ scorrevole e di forte impatto, ma capisco perché molti americani non apprezzino: vederselo obbligato come libro sul tema razzismo nelle scuole non mi sembra proprio il massimo, visto che se lo si analizza con minuzia cade talvolta nella narrativa del salvatore bianco.
We never read this in highschool. I guess my homeschool curriculum focused on different stuff than most.
It's an enjoyable, easy read. Lee's opinions come through the voices of the child protagonists a bit more heavy-handed than I like. Despite agreeing with his message, I strongly dislike putting your opinions into the mouths of babes, as if they are the natural truths a pure and innocent child is born knowing.
I wish my daughter will look at me as Jem and Scout look at their father, Atticus Finch. There are a few things I have learned from him.
“Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.” Atticus knows his kids are looking at him, observing what he does and learning from him. So he has to keep his head straight, do the right thing, no matter how ugly it is. Only that he can earn their kids’ respects.
You also need to understand the kids, and know how to give them a lesson when they did something wrong. So when Jem cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned because she said Atticus is a nigger lover, Atticus said to Jem, “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries …
I wish my daughter will look at me as Jem and Scout look at their father, Atticus Finch. There are a few things I have learned from him.
“Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.” Atticus knows his kids are looking at him, observing what he does and learning from him. So he has to keep his head straight, do the right thing, no matter how ugly it is. Only that he can earn their kids’ respects.
You also need to understand the kids, and know how to give them a lesson when they did something wrong. So when Jem cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned because she said Atticus is a nigger lover, Atticus said to Jem, “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable. I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose.” There is no harsh words, only advise. What a father!
And you also need to know when to not overreact to kids behaviors. When uncle Jack was mad at Scout speaking dirty words, Atticus was fine because he knows that “Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it.”
Oh, you also have to have something which your kids can boast about. Atticus was the deadest shot in the county!
Mrs. Dubose is another figure in the book I found admirable. She was addictive to morphine because her doctor prescribed it as the pain-killer (similar tragedies happen pretty frequently in the U.S. today). When she knew that she only had a few months to live, she decided to break the addiction and die free! The process was unbearable, but she died “as the mountain air,” and was" conscious to the last". We all know that breaking a bad habit is very difficult, not mentioning the morphine addiction. Maybe it’s the time for us to say no to our own addictions, as Mrs. Dubose did, and to be a confident freeman?
read this in highschool so maybe i was just an idiot. but i dont really like reading about racism told through some white guys perspective. "white savior narrative" or so they say
I thoroughly, completely love this book. Scout, Jem, Calpurnia, and especially Atticus. In many ways, it's a simple coming of age story. But it is more than that, too. It's about equality, and prejudices, and hatred. And I loved it. And I just might have a big huge crush on Atticus Finch.
I'm not sure what else to say. If you haven't read it, please do yourself a favor and read it now. It's a classic for a reason.
Review of 'To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Simply stunning! Why hasn't Harper Lee written more? Such a shame as she makes reading and picturing the story so easy.
Scout, Jen and Dill are a great group of kids, some of the stuff they get up to is really fun, brings back memories of being a kid and doing similar sort of stuff.
The story is very moving and has the ability to make you so angry during the court scene.
I can certainly see why this is usually at the top of best books lists.
Review of 'To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The book has been described as a southern gothic novel which gave the book a certain appeal to me and was one of the main reasons I decided to read this book. What I found left me a little disappointed. To begin with, I found the book didn’t start to get interesting till chapter 11. I know the back story was needed, it was a different time, but I didn’t much care for the childhood of Jean Louise, Jem or even Boo. To me it felt like it dragged on and could have used some cutting down, but some people like to hear about life in the 1930’s. When I did eventually get to chapter 11, I did start to enjoy the book a lot more and finally at chapter 17 we started to get into the real story of To Kill A Mockingbird; The Court Case.
Atticus was the …
The book has been described as a southern gothic novel which gave the book a certain appeal to me and was one of the main reasons I decided to read this book. What I found left me a little disappointed. To begin with, I found the book didn’t start to get interesting till chapter 11. I know the back story was needed, it was a different time, but I didn’t much care for the childhood of Jean Louise, Jem or even Boo. To me it felt like it dragged on and could have used some cutting down, but some people like to hear about life in the 1930’s. When I did eventually get to chapter 11, I did start to enjoy the book a lot more and finally at chapter 17 we started to get into the real story of To Kill A Mockingbird; The Court Case.
Atticus was the only truly enjoyable character for me. He was a wise and fair man, though he never wanted to take Tom Robinson case he did his upmost to make sure he was treated fairly and got the best representation possible. Atticus was the shining light throughout this book; he was a scholar and gentlemen through thick and thin. Once the court case was over and Atticus no longer had to deal with Tim Robinson the book again went back to its original slow pace and eventually fizzled out.
The book wasn’t all bad, it was well written and tackled some important topics, including racial injustice, class and even sexuality. I can see why this is a classic book and I think Harper Lee did a fantastic job at shedding light on some important social issues, the story just felt to slow for my liking, but I can understand why so many people enjoy this book.
This book is about as good as everyone says. Reckon I got nothin' much to add.
Why four stars? It's a solid story, well written and well told. I don't have any particular reason to begrudge it a fifth, other than p'rhaps sheer orneriness. It was a mite predictable.
Best novel of its century? Can't think of another could knock it off its hill.
1) '''Atticus, you must be wrong...' 'How's that?' 'Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong....' 'They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,' said Atticus, 'but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'''
2) '''She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her#-I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely …
1) '''Atticus, you must be wrong...' 'How's that?' 'Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong....' 'They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,' said Atticus, 'but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'''
2) '''She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her#-I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.''