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.
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.
Questo libro è considerato universalmente un classico e devo ammettere che per i temi trattati, il titolo sia sufficientemente meritato. La storia non è il massimo dell'originalità, però i due giovani protagonisti sono davvero simpatici e, sebbene con un tocco di leggerezza, si parla del razzismo e di ciò che più bieco produce. Da leggere.
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.''