Best Sellers from Reader's Digest Condensed Books: To Kill a Mockingbird / The Agony and the Ecstasy / The Winter of Our Discontent / Fate Is the Hunter

by Harper Lee, Irving Stone, John Steinbeck

Genres: Novels, Classics, Fiction

550 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Nelle Harper Lee was an American novelist whose 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Her second and final novel, Go Set a Watchman, was an earlier draft of Mockingbird, set at a later date, that was published in July 2015 as a sequel.
The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama, as well as a childhood event that occurred near her hometown in 1936. The novel deals with racist attitudes, the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
Lee received numerous accolades and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, which was awarded for her contribution to literature.

Reviews

[Jake Zalesny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird mesmerized me with its recollection of the past and how life was back then. This book gave a great glimpse into the past with the characters talking like they were from the past and the author talking like she was from the past really grabbed my interest as it pulled me along this ride that was To Kill a Mockingbird.
One of the themes of this book was definitely don't judge a book by it's cover and you could see that all through out the book. For instance when Boo Radley a so called "bad guy" saved Jeb Finch's life from Bob Euelle the real villain. The author of this book Harper Lee has a sort of retro style she talks like she was from the place in the book, as if she knew the main setting like the back of her hand.
Now about the characters, they were Jeb Finch, Scout Finch, Atticus Finch, and Calpurnia their servant. Atticus is the father of Jeb and Scout, Atticus is a defense lawyer in the case of Ned Robinson who supposedly raped Bob Euelle's daughter but, he already explained that he was somewhere else at the time that Bob Euelle's daughter was supposedly raped. The problem for Atticus is that Ned Robinson is black and at that time they were so mistreated that nobody was on Ned's side. Jeb and Scout are just starting school again and they are fatigued of moving up a grade and finding out who their new teacher is. Most of the plot is a surprise and I don't want to give it away but I will say that someone dies and the killer is not who you expect.
I really liked this book and I can see how it made such an impact on readers, it is a very blunt novel and it is often straight to the point on what it is saying. I definitely would recommend this book to someone who has a good vocabulary and someone who can understand how people talked back then.

[♡ Aliah ⸜( ˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the condensed version of To Kill a Mockingbird, 242 pages.

It was a nice read. Short but a tad tricky because there's a lot of unfamiliar vocabularies to me. I wish to read the full version soon!

[Lisa Pavlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I "read" this as an audio book and it is by far the best done audio book I have ever read. Sissy Spacek brilliantly portrayed each character.
The story itself was mesmerizing.... A place and time I can only imagine with characters both admirable and repugnant.
I am thrilled that our local high school still uses it in their freshman curriculum.

[Jason Ehlert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because it informed me more on racism and how it was to live in the 1930s. This book does a really good job of showing that racism was normal back then and it didn't ever mean you were a bad person it just meant you were normal. It also had a good story and did a good job of switching point of views from older scout to little scout.

[Navmi Naik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is definitely going to my favourites section. Harper Lee has managed to capture all little chunks of life in the book. Happiness, sorrow, love, injustice. Each and every feeling is portrayed beautifully. Written from the eyes of a little girl, Scout, it is a easily a must read one.

[Robert Boscarato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Carolynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading To Kill a Mockingbird

[Philip Kochan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book last year to get a better understanding of classic novels. i thought it was just okay, but i can see how this was groundbreaking back when it was written.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading before reading the new book. I always like reading this book. Maybe not a very realistic view of the times but a nice story.

[Rose Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is just the most wonderful book - wish i had read it soooo much earlier in my life

[Ann Boye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a re read as an adult.