David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "harper-lee"
MOVIES WORTHY OF THE BOOK
1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
2. CLOCKWORK ORANGE
3. MISERY
4. THE THIN MAN
5. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
6. FIELD OF DREAMS
7. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY
8. THE NATURAL
9. ANATOMY OF A MURDER
10. THE COLOR PURPLE
11. SCHINDLER'S LIST
12. DR. ZHIVAGO
13. ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
14. THE BIG SLEEP
15. GONE WITH THE WIND
16. HUD
17. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
18. LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR
19. IN THE CUT
20. LORD OF THE RINGS
21. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
22. LOVE STORY
23. SHANE
24. CAPTAIN'S COURAGEOUS
25. FEAR STRIKES OUT
2. CLOCKWORK ORANGE
3. MISERY
4. THE THIN MAN
5. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
6. FIELD OF DREAMS
7. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY
8. THE NATURAL
9. ANATOMY OF A MURDER
10. THE COLOR PURPLE
11. SCHINDLER'S LIST
12. DR. ZHIVAGO
13. ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
14. THE BIG SLEEP
15. GONE WITH THE WIND
16. HUD
17. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
18. LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR
19. IN THE CUT
20. LORD OF THE RINGS
21. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
22. LOVE STORY
23. SHANE
24. CAPTAIN'S COURAGEOUS
25. FEAR STRIKES OUT
Go Set a Watchman
I wouldn't say GO SET A WATCHMAN is a rejected manuscript the author never would have wanted to publish, but it does need an edit, and it obviously got one. The result was TO KILL A MOCKINBIRD, and it was exponentially better.
The problems start when twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise returns from New York City to Maycomb for a two-week visit, as she does every year. The real Scout, Harper Lee, actually worked in New York as an airline clerk before her success as a novelist. The Supreme Court has just ruled on Brown vs. The Board of Education, and her relatives, including Atticus are not acting like they did when she was growing up. The Tom Robinson case is even mentioned, and that Atticus is not this Atticus. Uncle Jack is more of a featured character in this novel; he's a retired doctor who lives in his own world. He tries to explain to Jean Louise what is going on.
No only does the story need editing, but the writing could use some work. In one scene Scout is attending his first dance. Henry Clinton, a senior has asked her. She thinks it was Jem's idea, but he already has a crush on her. Anyway, Scout refers to the principal as Miss Muffett; she's really referring to Mr. Tuffett. Either that or she got confused during the first draft. We have all had nicknames for our principal, but Miss Muffett just doesn't work. Perhaps Old Lady Tuffett would have made her intentions more clear.
Calpurnia makes a brief appearance as well. At times she's the same old house keeper and substitute mother for Scout and Jem. She still calls Jean Lousie “Baby,” but at other times she looks straight through Jean Louise as if she's not there. You see, her grandson, Frank, is in trouble with the law. He ran over the town drunk and was arrested for manslaughter. Henry Clinton, Atticus's law partner, doesn't want to take the case. Atticus does want the job, to convince him to plead guilty and keep the NAACP lawyers from getting him off. Doesn't sound like Atticus, does it?
The ending is another disappointment. Not only is the Frank conflict go unresolved, but we get a bunch of hooey about how Jean Louise must learn to stand up to Atticus, and he's proud of her when she does. But the race question goes unanswered. I just thought it was unrealistic.
I have taught TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD sixteen times over my teaching career and never got sick of it. I was even criticized for not switching to another book. But I never found one that was half as good, and that includes some of the classics. After reading GOD SET A WATCHMAN we should all realize that we're dealing with one hell of a revisionist, or her editor was another Maxwell Perkins.
The problems start when twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise returns from New York City to Maycomb for a two-week visit, as she does every year. The real Scout, Harper Lee, actually worked in New York as an airline clerk before her success as a novelist. The Supreme Court has just ruled on Brown vs. The Board of Education, and her relatives, including Atticus are not acting like they did when she was growing up. The Tom Robinson case is even mentioned, and that Atticus is not this Atticus. Uncle Jack is more of a featured character in this novel; he's a retired doctor who lives in his own world. He tries to explain to Jean Louise what is going on.
No only does the story need editing, but the writing could use some work. In one scene Scout is attending his first dance. Henry Clinton, a senior has asked her. She thinks it was Jem's idea, but he already has a crush on her. Anyway, Scout refers to the principal as Miss Muffett; she's really referring to Mr. Tuffett. Either that or she got confused during the first draft. We have all had nicknames for our principal, but Miss Muffett just doesn't work. Perhaps Old Lady Tuffett would have made her intentions more clear.
Calpurnia makes a brief appearance as well. At times she's the same old house keeper and substitute mother for Scout and Jem. She still calls Jean Lousie “Baby,” but at other times she looks straight through Jean Louise as if she's not there. You see, her grandson, Frank, is in trouble with the law. He ran over the town drunk and was arrested for manslaughter. Henry Clinton, Atticus's law partner, doesn't want to take the case. Atticus does want the job, to convince him to plead guilty and keep the NAACP lawyers from getting him off. Doesn't sound like Atticus, does it?
The ending is another disappointment. Not only is the Frank conflict go unresolved, but we get a bunch of hooey about how Jean Louise must learn to stand up to Atticus, and he's proud of her when she does. But the race question goes unanswered. I just thought it was unrealistic.
I have taught TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD sixteen times over my teaching career and never got sick of it. I was even criticized for not switching to another book. But I never found one that was half as good, and that includes some of the classics. After reading GOD SET A WATCHMAN we should all realize that we're dealing with one hell of a revisionist, or her editor was another Maxwell Perkins.
Furious Hours
Before TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was published, Nelle Harper Lee, helped Truman Capote research his true crime book, IN COLD BLOOD. Author Casey Cep outlines Lee's contributions. For one thing, the people in the town where the Clutter family were murdered, didn't like Truman, but they would talk to the likable Nelle.
The question has always been why Harper Lee never wrote a follow-up to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. One reason was that it zoomed to the top of the best seller list, and reporters and fans wouldn't leave her alone. But after her work researching Capote's book, she realized she was good at compiling the material and interviews necessary to write true crime, and she had a handy case to work on. Serial murderer Reverend Willie Maxwell lived close to her home town of Monroeville. Life insurance was cheap in those days and Maxwell insured just about all of his relatives. His first two wives were found dead in their cars parked on lonely country roads.
Casey Cep divides her book into four parts. First, we learn about Maxwell and his motivation. Then we get a look at Tom Radney, his lawyer, democratic super lawyer who based his style on Clarence Darrow, homespun lawyer whose clients were never guilty. Unbelievably, Radney got Maxwell off. The people of Alexandria City and nearby small towns were scared to death of Maxwell. They were worried he might have a life insurance policy on them. Often there wasn't any evidence of what killed the victim. That's when superstition took over. He was thought by some to be a voodoo priest. This really bugged Nelle Lee. She knew that Truman Capote fictionalized part of his book. She wasn't about to do that, so superstition was a roadblock.
Then Shirley Anne Ellington is found murdered. She was living with Maxwell and his third wife. During her funeral Maxwell was shot three times in the forehead by a relative, Robert Burns. Ironically Radney agreed to defend him. That's when we get to the third section. We get a brief bio of Nelle and how she finally got published. And finally we see Harper Lee in the courtroom during the Burns case,, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She had a devil of a time researching the case, but eventually attorney Tom Radney gave her a briefcase full of evidence and files, and she paid clerk Mary Anne Karr a thousand dollars for a transcript of the case.
She worked on the book for years. Her older sister said she read it, and it was better than IN COLD BLOOD. Then Truman Capote died of an apparent drug overdose and she apparently lost interest. Truman had always been jealous of Harper Lee's dumbfounding success, and she played no small part in the success of IN COLD BLOOD. They were childhood friends. She didn't deny Dill, Scout's next door neighbor, was based on Truman. So there was some competition, and now the competition was dead. Another factor was that everybody who helped her with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was dead: her original agent and her editor at Lippencourt who convinced her to feature the kids, even her agent's wife who had become a bosom friend.
Whatever the case, the book was never published and her literary assets are under seal. Her new agent claims Lee was very happy GO SET A WATCHMAN was published, apparently because she was trying to show that not every Southerner who opposed integration supported the KKK.
I don't believe any of the excuses for not publishing THE REVEREND, Lee's working title for the Maxwell book. I don't think she thought it was good enough. There just wasn't an Atticus she could use as a protagonist to be the voice of the book. The closest she got was Radney, but he defended an obvious serial killer.
The question has always been why Harper Lee never wrote a follow-up to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. One reason was that it zoomed to the top of the best seller list, and reporters and fans wouldn't leave her alone. But after her work researching Capote's book, she realized she was good at compiling the material and interviews necessary to write true crime, and she had a handy case to work on. Serial murderer Reverend Willie Maxwell lived close to her home town of Monroeville. Life insurance was cheap in those days and Maxwell insured just about all of his relatives. His first two wives were found dead in their cars parked on lonely country roads.
Casey Cep divides her book into four parts. First, we learn about Maxwell and his motivation. Then we get a look at Tom Radney, his lawyer, democratic super lawyer who based his style on Clarence Darrow, homespun lawyer whose clients were never guilty. Unbelievably, Radney got Maxwell off. The people of Alexandria City and nearby small towns were scared to death of Maxwell. They were worried he might have a life insurance policy on them. Often there wasn't any evidence of what killed the victim. That's when superstition took over. He was thought by some to be a voodoo priest. This really bugged Nelle Lee. She knew that Truman Capote fictionalized part of his book. She wasn't about to do that, so superstition was a roadblock.
Then Shirley Anne Ellington is found murdered. She was living with Maxwell and his third wife. During her funeral Maxwell was shot three times in the forehead by a relative, Robert Burns. Ironically Radney agreed to defend him. That's when we get to the third section. We get a brief bio of Nelle and how she finally got published. And finally we see Harper Lee in the courtroom during the Burns case,, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She had a devil of a time researching the case, but eventually attorney Tom Radney gave her a briefcase full of evidence and files, and she paid clerk Mary Anne Karr a thousand dollars for a transcript of the case.
She worked on the book for years. Her older sister said she read it, and it was better than IN COLD BLOOD. Then Truman Capote died of an apparent drug overdose and she apparently lost interest. Truman had always been jealous of Harper Lee's dumbfounding success, and she played no small part in the success of IN COLD BLOOD. They were childhood friends. She didn't deny Dill, Scout's next door neighbor, was based on Truman. So there was some competition, and now the competition was dead. Another factor was that everybody who helped her with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was dead: her original agent and her editor at Lippencourt who convinced her to feature the kids, even her agent's wife who had become a bosom friend.
Whatever the case, the book was never published and her literary assets are under seal. Her new agent claims Lee was very happy GO SET A WATCHMAN was published, apparently because she was trying to show that not every Southerner who opposed integration supported the KKK.
I don't believe any of the excuses for not publishing THE REVEREND, Lee's working title for the Maxwell book. I don't think she thought it was good enough. There just wasn't an Atticus she could use as a protagonist to be the voice of the book. The closest she got was Radney, but he defended an obvious serial killer.
