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To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
by Harper Lee
Why is it when I pick up To Kill A Mockingbird , I am instantly visited by a sensory memory: I’m walking home, leaves litter the ground, crunching under my feet. I smell the smoke of fireplaces and think about hot cider and the wind catches and my breath is taken from me and I bundle my coat tighter against me and lift my head to the sky, no clouds, just a stunning blue that hurts my eyes, another deep breath and I have this feeling that all is okay.
Why? Why this memory? I mean, this takes place in Alabama and mostly in the summer, well there is that one climatic scene on Halloween, but I bet it’s still hot enough to melt the balls off a brass monkey.
It must be the school thing, my daughter just finished reading it, prompting me to give it another go, to fall back into Scout’s world and pretend to be eight and let life simply be.
How is that? How can life for Scout be simple? I mean, she lives in the south, during the depression, she has to deal with ignorant schoolteachers and town folk, her ideas of what is right, what is what it should be are laughed at by her schoolmates… man, and I thought my childhood was rough.
Still, she lives in this idyllic town, I mean, except for the racism and the creepy neighbors and the whole fact that it’s, you know, the south…(forgive me… I’m not immune to the downfalls of the north, I mean, we had witches and well, Ted Bundy was born here…) But, there’s this sense of childlike innocence to this book that makes me believe in humanity… even in the throes of evil. What am I saying here? I guess, that this is a good pick me up.
What I also get from this book is that I have severe Daddy issues. I consume Atticus Finch in unnatural ways. He is the ultimate father; he has the perfect response for every situation. He is the transcendent character. My heart melts at each sentence devoted to him and I just about crumble during the courtroom scene.
Am I gushing? I sure am. I was raised by a man who thought that Budweiser can artwork was the epitome of culture. That drinking a 6-pack was the breakfast of champions. That college was for sissies. He could throw out a racial slur without a single thought, care or worry to who was around. I won't even get into the debates/rantings of a 16 yr old me vs a 42 yr old him... What a role model.
So, I thank Harper Lee for giving me Atticus. I can cuddle up with my cider and pretend that I’m basking in his light. I can write this blurb that makes sense to maybe a handful but that is okay, I am approved of and all is good.
Why? Why this memory? I mean, this takes place in Alabama and mostly in the summer, well there is that one climatic scene on Halloween, but I bet it’s still hot enough to melt the balls off a brass monkey.
It must be the school thing, my daughter just finished reading it, prompting me to give it another go, to fall back into Scout’s world and pretend to be eight and let life simply be.
How is that? How can life for Scout be simple? I mean, she lives in the south, during the depression, she has to deal with ignorant schoolteachers and town folk, her ideas of what is right, what is what it should be are laughed at by her schoolmates… man, and I thought my childhood was rough.
Still, she lives in this idyllic town, I mean, except for the racism and the creepy neighbors and the whole fact that it’s, you know, the south…(forgive me… I’m not immune to the downfalls of the north, I mean, we had witches and well, Ted Bundy was born here…) But, there’s this sense of childlike innocence to this book that makes me believe in humanity… even in the throes of evil. What am I saying here? I guess, that this is a good pick me up.
What I also get from this book is that I have severe Daddy issues. I consume Atticus Finch in unnatural ways. He is the ultimate father; he has the perfect response for every situation. He is the transcendent character. My heart melts at each sentence devoted to him and I just about crumble during the courtroom scene.
Am I gushing? I sure am. I was raised by a man who thought that Budweiser can artwork was the epitome of culture. That drinking a 6-pack was the breakfast of champions. That college was for sissies. He could throw out a racial slur without a single thought, care or worry to who was around. I won't even get into the debates/rantings of a 16 yr old me vs a 42 yr old him... What a role model.
So, I thank Harper Lee for giving me Atticus. I can cuddle up with my cider and pretend that I’m basking in his light. I can write this blurb that makes sense to maybe a handful but that is okay, I am approved of and all is good.
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Quotes Kim Liked
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Reading Progress
| 10/05/2009 | page 336 |
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100% | 1 comment |
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Amelia
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Oct 06, 2009 12:13pm
I should re-read that. I only vaguely remember it. Old age, senility and all that...
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'hot enough to melt the balls off a brass monkey'
Nice one, Skimmers. (The review and the metaphor.)
I was assigned this one in freshman English but never got around to reading it. Thank you, Cliff Notes.
Nice one, Skimmers. (The review and the metaphor.)
I was assigned this one in freshman English but never got around to reading it. Thank you, Cliff Notes.
UHM...Hi ! Loved the book,love your review of it. Just popped in to say it is cold in Bama in Oct................. Just sayin'. : )
Wonderful review! This is my all-time favorite book. Every time I read it, I get something different out of it.
Kim, Great review! Sandi, This is probably my favorite book too. It certainly was when I read it for the first time when I was 11 or 12. (I'd seen the movie when it first came out when I was 9 so I knew the gist of the story.) I've reread it so many times but not for over a decade. It might be time for another reread.
Wonderful review, Kim. You are not alone in your fixation on Atticus Finch. I adore him. I thought I was weird for so many years because of my feelings for this character. I can't decide if I want to marry him or have him be my honorary dad.
Thank you! I feel the same way Danielle... and it will provide discussions for many more therapy sessions, I'm sure. And now I suspect you are picturing Gregory Peck, Kim... ;)
well, there's that. :)
Gregory Peck was in a class of his own, oh and well maybe Jimmy Stewart too. I just loved Peck as Atticus!
What about Humphrey Bogart? He wasn't classically handsome, but he was sexy. Harrison Ford is kind of the same type, but I don't see anyone in the new generation of actors who fits the bill.
Kim, wow! I love the thoughts and the place that reading this book brought you. My "south" was Texas in the 50s/60s with lots going on of which I was unaware. It is only upon reflection that I see hints of the larger issues that were about.
My father, a prosecutor with a seersucker suit, resembled Atticus in so many of the important ways.
He would have been able to shoot that dog down at an even greater distance and by the time I was scout's age, I could have too.
That we were taught to shoot and were taken hunting seems a cliche, but it was with the utmost reverence for where we were and what we were doing as well as with safety and respect for weaponry.
He also cared and provided for his fellow human beings. He shared that humanity. He gave legal advice and services to many with "payments" in whatever they had to offer, often just a handshake and a smile. He took the fruits of our hunting and gathering to people who were in need.
His ethics were nearly flawless. He taught us what it meant to hate and to perpetuate that hate and the terrible legacy of small mindedness. His father, a klansman, left an indelible impression on generations. He rejected that message and supported our formation as ALL our brother's keepers.
However, he wasn't humble. He took pride in his abilities and those of his children. Even when he called us brats, we could feel that love.
That love and value system has seen me far in this difficult world. I thank the powers that be for that support and strength and I feel it when I even hear the opening music to the movie made from Harper Lee's book or dip once again into the pages and go back to those warm summer nights and roaming the neighborhood watching and waiting for Boo Radley.
Lived...and you are more than welcome. I read your post followed by mine to my husband, another southerner, born and raised in New Orleans in the 1940s. Then we both teared up. Not everyone gets or is really meant to get this book. That you do and that it is important because of your background instead of in spite of it, is a gift, especially to me. That no matter our ages, we can be scout and walk with her on a leafy, blowing evening at dusk...the power of storytelling.
I'm going to try and friend you, so look for me.
Ah great review. Your first paragraph has clicked into my mind that you're great at visualizing things. ^_^ I enjoyed reading this review, and what your opinions were for this book. It's fun to read other people's opinions about things. Keep up the great reviews!
So you've got all that to say about your father (Budweiser, racial slurs, sissies) and you're prejudiced against the South?I won't say your feelings about the South are wrong. But basically, every place is that bad. I say this from my experience of living and working in 10 different states all over the US.
I like the South, the traces of gentility that remain, the sense of a lost culture and history. The Southerners of Scout's world were a defeated people, and that set them apart from the rest of our country, gave them a sort of group tragedy.
No, I don't mean to apologize or forgive for the awful things that have been done there. But I'd challenge you to find a region of North America that doesn't have terrible incidents in its history, and terrible people in its present.
I didn't really come here looking for something to chastise. I liked your review of Mockingbird, one of my favorite books too for many of the reasons you give. But I was struck by the comments even as I was reminded of my own rantings against parental prejudice (my mother, who turned cold as ice when I announced I was marrying someone not of her race).
This is one of my top rated books of all time I have read it several times and will again its just my style and interest me in relation to its history and location but mostly it purpose.
Well. I haven't gotten to participate yet as I would have liked but; nevertheless , have almost finished reading it. Oh if I had more time. I'm a southerner living in New York City and have interesting observations about the south but don't have time at the moment.
WOW! Simply WOW! Are you are writer? You can may be write a book as good as To Kill a Mocking Bird. You have some passion. Some force. You have a talent for writing. WOW! What a rev.... WOW! Super! WOW! What a review! Delighted to read it from the first to last. Again I say to myself after reading this review - WOW!
When I was reading this for school, I thought it would just be another book that ended in a tragedy , like Of Mice & Men, that we had finished not too long before we started TKAM. When I read almost any line of Atticus', I melt as well because like you, Kim, I have Daddy issues as well. Thus was the kind of dad I've always wanted and that's what I love about books. You cab go into that world and practically live there when you read it for the first time and then when you read it again and again, you feel as if you're coming home into the safety on someones arms. Great job onthis review and I hope you relationship between your dad has did improve at some point in time.
