To Kill A Mockingbird : 60th Anniversary Edition

Outstanding classic book, perfect gift for a family member who loves classics. Story is excellent; writing is superb -- way better than the movie (Gregory Peck) but the movie was fabulous. A must read for anyone able to read!!!

You're familiar with the basic story and maybe you read it long ago. You know the book is a classic and you remember seeing the movie as a child. But have you ever sat down and just appreciated this novel for the wonderful story that it truly is? This is story about racism, culture and societal expectations. But, most of all, it is a story about integrity and doing the right thing. The story is set in the South: the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's. A place where white people have roles and black people have rules. This is where the great Atticus Finch is raising his two children - Jeremy (Jem) and Jean Louise (Scout). Although he is a widow, he does have the help of a servant named Calpurnia who is a cherished part of the family. Atticus is a public defender and serves on the State Legislature. He is a highly-educated and thoughtful man dedicated to his town, his neighbors, his family - and justice. His motto: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." The story, however, is not told from his perspective, but from that of his daughter, Scout who is around 5 or 6 when the story begins and about 10 or so in its closing scenes. Through her eyes, we get innocence mixed with a precociousness and the wry sense of humor she has inherited from her dad. He's a lawyer and he asks a lot of questions. Sometimes he asks them when he already knows the answer and so does Scout. Atticus is always straight-forward about answering her. Jem tries his best with her, but he is also very young at the time and trying to find his way of fitting in as well. The first few pages introduce a cast of characters and are somewhat challenging to get into. Best to relax and just enjoy the ride - it will all come clear as the story unfolds. Remember you are being introduced by a small child. The action starts soon enough, as Atticus is assigned to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. The scenes leading up to and within the courthouse during the trial are brilliant and evoke so much emotion as you "climb into another's skin and walk around in it". The writing is so vivid and the characters really come alive. Your heart wants one verdict even though your head knows it's going to be another. The town gets past the trial and life goes on; or does it? Unfortunately, not for everyone. The ending is incredible and will not leave you for a long time to come. I read this book as part of a banned book project and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I fell in love with Atticus Finch and Scout and I hope to become a better person for it! I'm glad when young people review this book and are shocked by what the world offered in 1935. That helps me understand that times are indeed changing despite still having a way to go!

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a classic. When I was in middle school in the 60's it was required reading. The book is a powerful story that explores racism, injustice, and moral growth. The story is told through the eyes of a child, who learns valuable life lessons that will undoubtedly shape her into a responsible, compassionate, and moral person. The book is so beautifully written and powerful. This is an excellent book to re-read every decade or so, reminding us of the value of empathy. I have purchased several copies over the years and eventually gave them away to loved ones.

Reflections on Harper Lee’s novels - Spoiler alert, if you have not read these books and do not want the plots spoiled, I will spoil them here. Well, I chose to read Harper Lee’s works in chronological order. I think I made the right choice. It was good to have Scout’s childish perspective and focus on a certain life-defining episode of her youth as the background for Jean Louise’s coming of age story. Harper Lee took a few pages of her first work and turned them into a compelling, fully fleshed out story of childhood innocence disturbed by subtle yet turbulent reality. The account of childhood in small town Alabama with the underlying racial and social tensions puts us there, in the middle of this placid surface, this languid recounting of summer play and childhood imaginations ruled by the somewhat abstract, quite benevolent and highly principled Atticus Finch. The Maycomb of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a tightly controlled universe where everyone knows their place. We accept the dictums of the time. The blacks live where they live, the white trash are just that but they are not all evil, and the servants, as seen through the eyes of the child, are there to serve but also to police and mete out reprimands or sage advice as needed. There is the required crazy person that must be present in every Southern novel. And, somewhere, in the very vague background are the local politics which will intrude in the idyllic, drowsy pace of life. Of course, the idealization of Maycomb, of its inhabitants, of the unimpeachable Atticus, rest on that childish platform. If we look at it from the perspective of “Go Set A Watchman” we can see that this view of Maycomb as a place of seeming harmony, with well working social structures - this view of Atticus as a paragon of virtue and integrity - could not survive the sober scrutiny of adulthood intact. I can see why Mockingbird is such a beloved novel – in simple terms it is about doing the right thing even if you know you can’t win or change the world. This is the lesson. Atticus defends the black man accused of rape, stands up to the lynch mob, and forces his children to take insults with dignity. Wow, daddy is Gregory Peck at his best. And yet, very subtly, the image starts to blur. It is almost like you can see the palimpsest of Watchman in Mockingbird. Atticus Finch holds a seat in the Alabama State Legislature to which he is constantly reelected. Would he have the support of his constituents if he did not uphold the status quo? He is assigned the Robinson case, he did not ask for it. He goes along with his sister’s prohibition of the children going to a black church. He tolerates the racism of others. He jokes with Scout that if women served on juries, trials would never end. Ultimately, he goes along with not investigating a murder. Fast-forward, or rewind, to the Watchman universe- Jean Louise (formerly known as Scout) has graduated from college, is living in New York and comes home for her yearly visit. What do we learn right away? Her father is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and cannot pick her up because he can’t drive to the train station. He relies on her boyfriend, an up-and-coming lawyer who has become like a son to him for day to day work. He is somewhat henpecked, somewhat tolerant of his sister’s control of the household and we soon learn that she is there because he needs her to take care of him. Then we have the town of Maycomb, where the tensions are no longer simmering, they are at the forefront of activity. The white folks are pissed off about desegregation, the black folks are openly showing their distrust, the Citizens Council is hosting the Klan, and the boyfriend is deemed trash by the social powers that be. From the moment that Hank picks her up we understand that she is seeing her hometown with different eyes - with eyes that have been cleansed of childhood cobwebs. Still, she is in denial about the one constant in her life. She thinks Atticus is in better shape than he actually is. She very slowly starts to come to grips with his frailties as she observes how his rheumatoid arthritis keeps him from doing simple things like tying his shoe laces, and also makes him dependent on others for rides to work. This coming to terms with his physical limitations is well crafted. It leads perfectly into the moment when, sitting in the same courtroom gallery where, at the age of six, she watched Atticus defend a black man because it was the right thing to do, she now watches him join forces with the height of Maycomb’s racist establishment. The stage where he became her guiding light, her moral compass, is the stage where he falls from grace. As she watches him introduce the speaker from the Klan, shake his hand, and offer him a platform to share his views, the scaffolding that has held Atticus up for the past 20 years comes tumbling down. Jean Louise’s reaction is extreme; all is lost and she no longer has her rock. Her hero plunges off the pedestal. Up until this point, the narrative is solid, if somewhat predictable. She confronts her father and falls apart. She wonders what, if anything, about her life is true. She sees Atticus as a racist and feels deceived. The confrontation is realistic. He is who he always was and he knows that she needs to come to terms with it. As Atticus, the perfect Southern gentleman, would, he is gracious and understanding while, at the same time, completely comfortable with his world view. The blacks are backwards children who should trust good white men like him to make the world a better place for them. He and his peers know what’s best. Jean Louise feels betrayed and goes on a rampage of blame. Can a visit to her childhood maid set things right? During this visit, where she is treated politely but given no trust or warmth, Jean Louise finally realizes that her childhood memories veer into the realm of fantasy. The rest of the novel is a mad dash through denial, acceptance, self-awareness and absolution. Atticus emerges once again as the paragon of parenthood. He is proud that she has become her own person and not just a follower of Atticus. Jean Louise realizes that she is still part of the system she abhors and makes peace with her role in the drama of racial relations in Maycomb. In the end, she realizes the status quo is a bad thing but, what are you going to do? This is the part of Watchman which would have benefitted from careful and thoughtful editing. It is too rushed. A scene where she visits her uncle for a session of gnashing of teeth and pointing of fingers reads like a something out of a cheap melodrama leading to the clichéd “slap this woman so she will cease her hysterics” moment. This is followed in quick succession by the scene in which Atticus is proud of his daughter for becoming her own person and she realizes he is still her hero. I am saddened by two missed opportunities in these last few chapters. This is a coming of age novel where the heroine must lose her childhood innocence, realize that her father is not perfect, separate herself from him and become her own person who must somehow reconcile her idealized parent with the real human being. In Mockingbird the ground is laid for this process to take center stage. The loving attention to Scout’s inner landscape is missing for Watchman’s Jean Louise. I personally feel that the process of seeing the feet of clay and learning how to love your imperfect parent, while setting different standards for becoming the best person you can, is an amazing and fulfilling process. It can lead to a rewarding and loving adult relationship with that very important person in your life. It paves the way for learning how to develop mature and satisfying relationships with your lover/spouse/mate. It creates a blueprint for building positive relationships with your children. I feel that Harper Lee could have written that if she had had some good guidance. Another missed opportunity is the one to explore how a person who is working through their own racism can live in a racist society. Ursula K. Le Guin explains this beautifully in her review of Watchman. For me, these are the important questions - How do you love people who are racist? Where do you draw the line? Will you live in a state of constant confrontation or will you let some things go? Is this right or moral? Where are you willing to compromise your values? Can you fit in and still hold your principles? Are you ashamed of your loved ones? Can you be a teacher and a guide without alienating them? Can you serve a higher purpose while maintaining your affiliation? When do you call it quits? How do you love the victims of racism? Can you be truly their ally without becoming their “savior”? Can you ever see them as they want to be seen or respected as they should be respected? Can they truly love you? Are we deluding ourselves when we think that our servants, nannies, maids, could love us while they left their children behind, while making the difficult choice required to put food in their mouths? Could they stop themselves from loving the innocent child who will eventually become their oppressor? This exploration could have been the lesson of this novel. I wish the original editors had asked Harper Lee to write both novels, I wish the original editors had taken the time and effort to work Watchman to its potential. I wish we had seen Harper Lee’s tremendous talent truly applied to a novel that could have taught us so much. That said, I do not regret having Watchman in my literary universe. The ideas, the passions, the archetypes, haunt me. This novel offered me some space for reflection and introspection. I can truly recommend it.

Its A Great Book to Read and i recommend it to young readers

Excellent classic

This book needs to be read by all students in high school. It is wonderful.

thank u

A genius book, to read at least once. Buy it or at least give it to someone you like.

Harper Lee hat eine bemerkenswerte Gabe des Geschichtenerzählens. Ihre Kunst ist visuell, voller taktiler Brillanz und mit kinematografischer Fluidität und Subtilität ausgestattet: wir sehen vor unserem geistigen Auge, wie eine Szene mit einer anderen verschmilzt, ohne dass es dabei zu holprigen Übergängen kommt. Die Schicksale der Protagonisten sind im Kopf, im Herzen und in der Seele des Lesers emotional und moralisch miteinander verbunden. ***** Setup Anfang Der Schauplatz dieses Buches (erschienen 1960) ist die fiktive Stadt Macomb (Alabama) Mitte der 1930er Jahre. Dort lebt der Rechtsanwalt Atticus Finch (50 Jahre alt) mit seinen Sohn Jem (Jeremy) und seiner Tochter Scout (Jean Louise) – die auch die Erzählerin der Geschichte ist. Die Geschwister sind zu Beginn des Romans, der etwa eine Zeitspanne von 3 Jahren abdeckt, 10 bzw. 6 Jahre. Die Mutter der beiden starb einige Jahre zuvor. Atticus verteidigt einen schwarzen Mann (Tom Robinson), der der Vergewaltigung einer weißen Frau beschuldigt wird. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass ein solcher in den 1930er Jahren in den Südstaaten einen fairen Prozess bekommt, liegt bei etwa 1 zu einer Million... optimistisch betrachtet. UND: Der Leser sieht die Welt durch die Augen eines jungen Mädchens, das noch versucht, seinen Platz in ihr zu finden (genau wie ihr Bruder), und dem ganzen Trubel um sie herum einen Sinn zu geben. Ein größerer Teil des Buches (und seiner „Faszination“) besteht eben auch aus einem Bericht über das „Aufwachsen“ / „Erwachsen werden“ zweier Kinder, ihren Fragen, Freundschaften zu anderen Kindern & Erwachsenen, ihren Erlebnissen und wie sie diese verarbeiten. ***** Setup Ende Das Buch behandelt eine breite Palette von kontroversen Themen, das Verhüllen von Klassensystemen, Geschlechterrollen, Südstaatenmanieren und Tabus sowie einige Botschaften wie Freundlichkeit, Liebe und Überzeugung - alles in einem skurrilen Bilderroman enthalten, den kein Leser, der je von seinen Seiten beglückt wurde, je vergessen wird. Ich habe TKAM zum ersten Mal vor 40 Jahren in der Schule gelesen und es hat mich tief berührt. Und als ich das Buch im Jahr 2017 noch einmal las, war ich genauso ergriffen, erschüttert, betroffen und überwältigt. Harper Lee brachte uns dazu, Vorurteilen und Ungerechtigkeiten ins Gesicht zu blicken, und danach zu streben, ein Atticus-Fink zu werden. Fähnchen schwingend gibt es 5-Sterne! ***** Einordnung *** Die Weigerung der Afroamerikanerin damals 42-jährigen Rosa Park (1913 - 2005), ihren Sitzplatz in einem Stadtbus einer weißen Person zu überlassen, führt nicht nur zu ihrer Verhaftung und Verurteilung (wegen Störung der öffentlichen Ruhe), sondern löste auch den Montgomery-Bus-Boykott von 1955 aus. *** Die US-amerikanische Professorin für Literatur und Theater-Geschichte, Claudia Durst Johnson, schrieb 1994 in ihrem Buch „To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries“: „In den 33 Jahren seit seiner Veröffentlichung stand das Buch noch nie im Mittelpunkt einer Dissertation, und es war nur Gegenstand von 6 literarischen Studien, von denen einige nicht mehr als ein paar Seiten lang waren.“ *** Harper Lee (1926 - 2016) wuchs in der Stadt Monroeville (Alabama), auf, wo sie sich mit dem später berühmten Schriftsteller Truman Capote anfreundete. Capote war ziemlich sicher Vorbild für den Nachbarjungen Dill (Charles Baker Harris) im Roman. *** Es gab auch zahlreiche Gerüchte, habe Capote habe in Wahrheit den Roman geschrieben oder zumindest stark redigiert. Diese wurden 2006 durch den Fund eines privaten Briefs Capotes an eine Verwandte zu Fall gebracht. *** Originaltitel: „To Kill a Mockingbird“; auf Deutsch: „Wer die Nachtigall stört“. Der „Mockingbird“ ist aber eigentlich die sogenannte Spottdrossel (Mimus polyglottos). Das Gesangsrepertoire des Männchens besteht aus 50 bis 200 Liedern. *** Harper Lee veröffentlichte ein Jahr vor ihrem Tod ihr zweites Buch „Gehe hin, stelle einen Wächter“ (im Original Go Set a Watchman; 2015). Der Titel spielt auf die Rolle von Atticus Finch als den moralischen Kompass ("Wächter") von Maycomb an. Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, mittlerweile 26 Jahre alt und Jurastudentin, kommt aus New York City zu Besuch nach Maycomb und trifft viele der Figuren aus TKAM. ***** Zitate „Aber bevor ich mit anderen leben kann, muss ich mit mir selber leben.“ (Atticus (11. Kapitel)) „Vorurteile, ein schmutziges Wort, und Glaube, ein sauberes, haben etwas gemein: Sie fangen beide da an, wo die Vernunft endet.“ (Onkel Jack Finch; jüngerer Bruder von Atticus) „Dill hatte einen großartigen Plan ausgeheckt, um Boo Radley ohne jede Gefahr für uns herauszulocken. (Man nehme Zitronenbonbons, lege sie als Köder auf den Weg zwischen Radleys Hintertür und dem Vorplatz, und schon wird Boo wie eine Ameise der Spur nachgehen).“ „Man versteht einen Menschen erst dann wirklich, wenn man die Dinge aus seiner Sicht betrachtet - wenn man in seine Haut steigt und darin herumläuft.“ (Atticus (3. Kapitel)) „Wenn ein Kind Sie etwas fragt, antworten Sie, um Himmels willen. Aber machen Sie keine Inszenierung daraus. Kinder sind Kinder, doch sie erkennen ein Ausweichen schneller als Erwachsene, und es bringt sie einfach durcheinander.“ (Atticus)

Point-de-vue de la jeune Scout encore une enfant. Elle se chamaille souvent avec son frère Jem. Quel est le but de cette histoire pourtant si belle est que, tout ce passe en Alabama dans les années 30', et que le père de Jem et Scout doit défendre un jeune homme noir qui a été accusé de viol. Qu'il l'ait fait ou pas, son destin est de toute façon tracer ce qui laisse un arrière goût d'amertume dans la bouche. Bien sûr avant d'en arriver là, le lecteur va découvrir la vie et la routine qu'ont Jem et sa soeur durant leur enfance, et surtout comment ils vont réagir quand l'affaire du procès va les toucher. Et puis, il reste la question, qui va vous hanter la majorité du temps: Qui est Boo Radley ? (non mais oui parce que c'est bien beau de parler de lui...il a un beau nom mais qui est-il ? une légende ? Haha la fin est magnifique dans un sens cela ne vous viendrait même pas à l'esprit. J'ai du lire encore et encore la fin tellement elle m'a surprise.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful and thought-provoking books I’ve ever read. The story is gripping, with unforgettable characters like Scout, Atticus, and Boo Radley, who stay with you long after you finish the book. The themes of racial injustice, empathy, and moral growth are just as relevant today as they were when the book was first published. Harper Lee’s writing is beautiful yet straightforward, making complex ideas accessible and emotional. This is a novel that not only tells an incredible story but also challenges you to think deeply about the world around you. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a book that is as enriching as it is captivating.