To Kill a Mockingbird

I had never read this book before, but it is awesome! I really enjoyed it and would suggest it to anyone interested in a captivating read.

This is my all time favorite book, wonderful on so many levels. At the end I cried for the loss of the characters in my life. Simply extraordinary.

Must have been the times in which it was first released because this book did nothing for me. I just don't get why people rave about this book. This is one of those rare cases where you should watch the movie and forget the book.

The novel is simply amazing! An amazing storyline to go along with a tremendous theme in human equality and rights. A must read for everyone who grew up in the south....actually a must read for every American period!!

Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, narrates this tale that covers roughly 2 years of her childhood starting from shortly before she started the 1st grade. The story is a mixture of many elements including a mysterious neighbor named Boo Radley, various coming of age issues regarding Scout and her brother Jem, and her father, Atticus, defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. As the story is set in Alabama in the 1930s, the rape case is particularly incendiary.

To Kill a Mockingbird is such a classic piece of American literature that most people read it in high school. I somehow missed that experience and curiosity prompted me to pick it up and give it a try. While there were a few descriptions of rural southern life that ran on a bit long for my taste, the novel was well worth reading. For sheer entertainment value, I enjoyed the Boo Radley subplot the most as it is both mildly suspenseful and immensely interesting.

Of course, the novel is most famous for the rape trial and this is also compelling in a fairly horrifying and very sad way. Harper Lee paints a vivid portrait of the extent to which African Americans were relegated to a status far below even second class in that place and time. Atticus Finch does a masterful job of defending the accused, but he knows that the all-white jury has practically cast their votes before ever entering the courtyard. The author uses the narrative voice of the children to highlight the blatant injustices and the outrage that any decent person would feel as a result. The technique is highly effective if not exactly subtle.

To Kill a Mockingbird is easy to recommend. The story is interesting, the characters substantial, and the subject is still relevant today. It's a shame that Harper Lee has not published a second novel but this single book is likely to ensure that her voice will continue to be heard fro many years to come.