On "Go Set a Watchman."
My dad was a staunch libertarian. He had a great mistrust of politicians, and he hated paying taxes of any amount and for any reason. He hardly paid any attention to current events, save what would affect the stock market, and he was proud of the fact that he never voted for anybody.
At the end of his life, as dementia set in, he became more gentle and child-like. This, incidentally, made him much easier for my mother to manage him. Less than a year before he died, he decided he wanted to vote. He registered, for the first time in his life, and cast a single vote (ignoring all of the other issues on the 2012 ballot), for Barack Obama.
This was a harmless exercise, and his vote was by no means decisive. But, it showed me the great changes that dementia can do to a person. Dad never would have voted for a Democrat had he been in full command of his faculties. It pointed out to me, too, how vulnerable the elderly can be in the last years of their lives.
Today, anticipation is building for the release of Harper Lee's book "Go Set a Watchman." Booksellers like Barnes and Noble are pre-selling copies at a pace not seen since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This "long lost" manuscript will be a sure hit, the sequel to a universally beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird.
When the story first broke, there was a quiet backlash. There were doubts that publishing "Watchman" was what Harper Lee really wanted. Some said Lee's guardian, who had recently died, would never have allowed it. If this book was any good, if Lee had wanted it published, it would have come out long ago.
These concerns have been swept under the rug by the wave of hype over this book. (It even warranted a mention, last night, on Entertainment Tonight!) We live in a Capitalist society, after all. The First and Only Law of Capitalism is "Make Money," and this book will definitely do that.
As the first reviews hit the internet, I'm more and more convinced that this manuscript should never have seen the light of day. NPR's Maureen Corrigan calls it "kind of a mess." Certainly not the polished work of an author who has penned one of the great works of American Literature.
When I see video of the elderly Harper Lee, with her childlike smiling face, I think of my dad. I fear that the detractors were correct, that this old woman has been exploited, for personal gain, by people who do not have her best interests, or the interests of her legacy, at heart.
At the end of his life, as dementia set in, he became more gentle and child-like. This, incidentally, made him much easier for my mother to manage him. Less than a year before he died, he decided he wanted to vote. He registered, for the first time in his life, and cast a single vote (ignoring all of the other issues on the 2012 ballot), for Barack Obama.
This was a harmless exercise, and his vote was by no means decisive. But, it showed me the great changes that dementia can do to a person. Dad never would have voted for a Democrat had he been in full command of his faculties. It pointed out to me, too, how vulnerable the elderly can be in the last years of their lives.
Today, anticipation is building for the release of Harper Lee's book "Go Set a Watchman." Booksellers like Barnes and Noble are pre-selling copies at a pace not seen since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This "long lost" manuscript will be a sure hit, the sequel to a universally beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird.
When the story first broke, there was a quiet backlash. There were doubts that publishing "Watchman" was what Harper Lee really wanted. Some said Lee's guardian, who had recently died, would never have allowed it. If this book was any good, if Lee had wanted it published, it would have come out long ago.
These concerns have been swept under the rug by the wave of hype over this book. (It even warranted a mention, last night, on Entertainment Tonight!) We live in a Capitalist society, after all. The First and Only Law of Capitalism is "Make Money," and this book will definitely do that.
As the first reviews hit the internet, I'm more and more convinced that this manuscript should never have seen the light of day. NPR's Maureen Corrigan calls it "kind of a mess." Certainly not the polished work of an author who has penned one of the great works of American Literature.
When I see video of the elderly Harper Lee, with her childlike smiling face, I think of my dad. I fear that the detractors were correct, that this old woman has been exploited, for personal gain, by people who do not have her best interests, or the interests of her legacy, at heart.
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