Escape the Ordinary - Week 8

[New Providence]

As promised, this week's topic concerns To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in honor of the publication of her old new book written before To Kill but that takes place 20 years after.

I am still reading To Kill although from the reviews and info about the book I've read, I now know all the plot points so it's just a question of how Ms. Lee reveals them and the enjoyment of her straightforward storytelling style.

Now, I know from last week's discussion that not everybody has read the book. Ahem. So, I'm not going to ask specific questions about it because I don't want to leave anybody out.

Instead, I will ask a silly question concerning if you've ever engaged in "literary travel"? Ms. Lee's town of Monroeville, AL is the model for Maycomb where the book takes place. If you've read the book, you know that it is the most uncommercial story imaginable and publicizing a book where the outcome is so wrong is hardly anybody's idea of a a tourist destination. But nevertheless, there is an ice cream stand on the spot where Ms. Lee and her family grew up. And the coursthouse where her father practiced law is now a museum and shrine to the book. When the movie came out, the local movie theatre even offered $10 to the first 5 people who showed up with mockingbirds. What they did with them during the movie is another story....

Anyway, I have not specifically traveled for literature although I certainly summoned the ghost of Jane Austen while in Batch and enjoyed driving by Salem, MA on a road trip while listening to The Heretic's Daughter.

What about you? Have you followed in Stephen Bloom's footsteps in Dublin or perhaps you've driven along with On the Road?

[Judy]

No I haven't traveled either but there is a book on my shelf waiting to be read called "Off the Beaten Page" by Terri Peterson Smith that highlights sights connected to books.
I've read To Kill a Mockingbird and now reading "The Mockingbird Next Door" by Marja Mills. Interesting to read about Harper Lee and her sister Alice.

[Marie]

Hi! I've read TKAMB and can honestly say I can relate extremely well to it. My family is from Alabama and my Dad grew up in Ga.(1912) and Mom LA(1913) so I know the treatment of the blacks better than most. I lived summers in Sparta, Macon and Morgan County and I know first hand what it was like. Stores were designated for whites only or for colored. The N word was used my the whites more than the blacks. We had cooks, maids and pool and yard workers that refused to come in for water, and would say they would take it on the porch. I was smacked by my father and uncle for refusing to make 2 black women move out of the line in front of me to buy medicine at the ONLY drug store. Blacks were trained to leave the line if a white person got in it.
My Cousin was the youngest of 2 doctors and the waiting room had a black door and a white door. They painted it that way after the NAACP insisted they take the signs down. The second time I got smacked I was 16 and was going to Milledgeville and saw a sign for BBQ and I stopped and was refused service because I was a white female and they were afraid of my cousin and told him they did right by me and made me leave. White women were not allowed to buy BBQ from the blacks even if a black women was near by. IT WAS THE BEST made ever, but black men could not be near a white women at any time. The definitions of colored and nigger was simple. The colored KNEW their place, the nigger did not and had to be taught or punished. This was more common than anyone in the North knew.
I was making a roast beef sandwich and cut it in half and handed the other half to our maid and she refused to take it. I told her I washed my hands and she said no, it was not that, it was a white person MAKING HER a sandwich. I said if she did not eat it, I would bring it to her house. She also had a coke and said it was the best lunch she had had. We did this all the time when my uncle and aunt were gone and laughed about it as OUR secret. I also smoked cigarettes with her and had a glass of sherry on her birthday and she thought it was great. THIS was in 1972, and things were still so racially skewed. The kicker is she was only 5 years older than I was and went to the black HS and could barely read. So I got books and read with her when she was ironing or doing any mending. When her nephew came and cut the grass, he was not permitted to come into a white women's house and had to take his cold drink outside. I gave him a package of oreo's and he was afraid to take them because he could be accused of stealing them. I use to tell my family I must be a white nigger because I obviously didn't know my place. THAT did not go over well and they called my father in NJ and told him I was causing trouble and needed to be straightened out. So I got sent over to my family's dairy farm to help out the rest of the summer and was not allowed to use the car to go into town unless my Aunt came with me and kept me in my place.
I am reluctant to read Lee's new book because it paints Atticus as a racist and potential Klan supporter. I think Ms. Lee suffers from dementia and does not understand she hid the book for a reason and I think this could possibly taint the powerful message Mockingbird tells. Also, TKAMB is told from the eyes of Scout as a young girl and the impression it made on her. NOT as a older person as I believe Watchmen does.
Perhap's Ms. Lee rethought this out and change the dialog and perspective to make Mockingbird the powerful story that it is. I do not know, but there had to be a reason she never wanted it published and I do not think she understand now the effect it could have.
With SO MUCH going on now with the church shootings in the South and Police shooting blacks making headlines almost every week, I am concerned if Watchmen will resurrect the true nature of the South during that time and the effect it will have as a white wash (sorry) of the true nature of racial relations at that time. Could Watchmen be the real true nature of Atticus Finch and destroy the legend it has created in literature all over the world? It will be something to watch and see if this just falls by the wayside or creates literary havoc.

[Phyllis Conrad]

One of my favorite authors was Eugenia Price. The majority of her novels took place in Savannah, GA or on St. Simon's Island, GA. Driving back from Disney World in 1995, I detoured to St. Simon's Island to see the places she mentioned in her books. My children weren't thrilled, but I enjoyed the detour very much.

[New Providence]

Marie,
thanks for your fascinating if disturbing comments on the South you grew up in. I think we all have questions about the timing of the release of this book given the fact that for so very many years Ms. Lee did not want the book printed. I hope things don't work out as you fear but we'll just have to see.

So far, I am not quite understanding how Atticus could turn out to be a racist b/c right here on pg. 108 he responds to Scout's question about whether or not he's a "nigger-lover" as people say with:

"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody"

He also says about the ugly term, "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything...ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves....It's slipped into usage with some people...when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody."

Doesn't sound like a racist to me.

[Marie]

Thanks for the feedback Lisa. The concern about Harper Lee's "new book" is she wrote it and was turned down 2 years before Mockingbird. When you read Mockingbird, Atticus is seen as the man we have all come to know and love. In Watchman, he is very clear the Negro is an inferior race and will never reach the level of the Southern White Man. In Watchman he is also clear the only white trash would married inter racially and that will continue the inferior position of the Negro so he had no concern over inter-racial issues. WHICH is the whole point of Mockingbird. The fact a black man is on trial for the (false) rape of a white women is the very Springboard that has been used to lynch a lot of blacks in the South. The general thoughts about white & black was, white trash women married a black man and it would keep the race inferior. If a white man "had" relations with his "black" help and a baby came from that, then it would add to the strength of their race, but not enough for them to rise to another level. THIS was the common mentality of the Southern male. Of course you heard of the "one drop" theory in the South.
Many people are now asking how Harper Lee's disjoined, racially slurred and clumsy dialog became the Spring Board of TKMB when he was so far from the Atticus Finch we love and admire. Many have said they are very unhappy with Watchman and want to know where Mockingbird really came from is Watchman is the true first manuscript. The Atticus in Mockingbird and Watchmen are almost 2 completely different people. The Watchmen being more like her father that was also a lawyer, and Atticus almost being his alter ego in Mockingbird. It has also been pointed out on several reviews, that if read side by side, Mockingbird and Watchman are almost 2 completely different writers. So what happened in those 2 years that turned into a Pulitzer Prize author? She must have had one hell if an editor or an epiphany that turned her around and polished her writing skills.
Harper Lee friends said she was adamant she did NOT want Watchmen Published. She suffers from dementia and her friends and family have been clear, she would never agree to this. Obviously, her lawyer says different.

[Marie]

My first "road trip" to visit an author's home was Joel Chandler Harris, who was from Eatontown, Georgia and wrote the Uncle Remus and Br'er Rabbit stories we all loved as children. I just loved the little bridge that went over the river to his log cabin and the way they kept it up since his death in early 1900's. I also thought he was black because of the picture book and Disney's movies of the older black man with the snow white beard telling his stories to group of white children. Disney also made Br'er Wolf and his not so smart side kick Br'er Bear with black faces and Br'er Rabbit with a tan face. I bet Disney has some issues himself. Tar Baby speaks for itself. I wanted to write a paper years ago in college directing the focus on Disney as a racist and homophobe, but my Prof said I would probably get tarred and feathered if I did. lol

[Marie]

Finally, of the 10 selected audios without reading the story line, I found one that does work. D.R. MacDonald's The Ice Bridge may have finally done it.
I will say, I recommend. Story line starts out, oh NO another one of those, "50 plus something leaves CA to flee a dying marriage when husband finds 30 something. Pursing her artistic career she rents a house in Cape Breton. AND THATS IS WHERE you are asking? Nova Scotia that I know nothing about. But obvious the author has strong Scottish roots and this here lays the story. Anna Starling is emotionally bruised and rightly so. Her husband Chet of many years yearns for emotionally excitement-is that a nice way of mid-life crises? and leaves her for 30 something, which by the way, he doesn't get she doesn't share his emotional break through to get more from life. YOU do NOT want to hear my take on this one. However, emotionally battered and bruised, she begins to focus on her art and really look at the person she is. It is a very small village and she is forced to met and know some of the long time and not so long time residents and she begins to realize, she is not the lone ranger. They each have a story and she begins to see the strength in each one of them as she begins to see her own. She begins to paint the animals, landscapes and village and finds she is really a good artist after all! AND people like her art and want more. However, nothing is quite so simple and as she meets and gets to know the cast of characters, they each have their story to tell and she sees, we may all be different, but we are the same. The story takes many clever twists, and of course there is a man, Red Murdock that has isolated himself in this small indigenous village after the long illness of his wife, to live with her ghost and memories of their life together in this NOT so modern small village. Then Anna is out on her midnight moon light nights to paint the shadows of the village by the sea, a dog is tossed off an icy bridge by a angry owner and in trying to rescue the dog, she in turn has to be rescued. But now, this is where it all begins.

[Becky]

Sounds good! I just finished the book that the PBS series Grantchester was based on; Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death--a good, very low key collection of related stories.

On the subject of pilgimages to writers' houses. I once went to Pearl Buck's house in Pennsylvania. I remember someone in our group commenting "For an interesting person, she had a boring house." Sometimes it's like that. Another time I was in Canada in an area that was the setting for a series of children's books (Susannah by Muriel Denison) and it was a wonderful blast from the past of books I loved as a child.

[Marie]

LOL I remember we went to the Tempe Wick House outside of Morristown for a class field trip to learn about her and how she hid her horse in her house so the British would not steal him. Being a horse owner and major horse nut, I was excited to see this. They do historical re-enactments there and women dress in costume and spin yard, cook in caldrons and quilt. I realize she was not an author, but the story is well known because she then rode off to Washington's Soldiers and told them were the bad guys were and they mounted up and captured them and saved Morristown. The guides are extremely well versed in the history and the events. However, do not ask them what side of the bed the horse slept on, they have no sense of humor.

[Becky]

Go Tempe

[K]

I'm not a big traveler to begin with, and mostly read fiction, so, no, haven't gone anywhere associated with my reading. I can say I do sometimes look up places/historical references that seem to be based in fact, but can't say I've been there.
As to Mockingbird/Watchman - never read either, and still no plans for doing so, despite all the hype and controversy.

[Eileen]

Marie wrote: "Hi! I've read TKAMB and can honestly say I can relate extremely well to it. My family is from Alabama and my Dad grew up in Ga.(1912) and Mom LA(1913) so I know the treatment of the blacks better..."

Marie- thank you so much for sharing your memoires- truly enlightening.

[Eileen]

Many years ago I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. After visiting Savannah last year, I re-read it. Savannah tours frequently reference locations from the book. It was cool reading it and knowing exactly what the author was referencing.

Following reading Manhunt by James Swanson, a record of the hunt and capture of the Lincoln assassins, my husband and I sought out a few of those locations as we were driving back from Washington one year.

AND I've visited Hannibal, MO driving back from Kansas City- got to pretend I was Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence :)

Also visited Luisa May Alcott's house.

Haven't traveled often in relation to things I've read but I've enjoyed it when we have.

[Marilyn]

Just now saw this new thread. I've not been getting the email notices about new posts in any consistent form lately.

No time to actually read all the posts and am just marking my place to come back later and read and comment.

Only thing I can post 'off the top of my head' is being in Rome and talking to my brother about "The DaVinci Code" as we looked at the various things mentioned in the book. And, wishing I had a copy of the book so I could hold it in front of us in a picture at the bottom of the pyramid at the Louvre.

And, walking around Bath and thinking of Jane Austen.

And, while reading the various books in Beverly Swerling's series about Old New York (City of Nieuw Amsterdam, Dreams, etc.) and 'seeing' some of the places and streets in downtown Manhattan, taking me back to when I was young, living in that area.

[Helene]

I have done very little reading related travel. The only book that comes to mind where I visited the setting where the book took place was "Anne Frank". Yes I have been to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It made the book come to life.

[New Providence]

Yes, I experienced the same while reading City of Dreams, etc. And yes, I did think of Jane Austen while drinking that horrible tasting water in the very elegant Pump Room in Bath.

But really now, nobody is owning up to doing the Sound of Music tour in Austria? No, it's not a book but it is a pretty well-traveled route. I visited Austria quite a few years ago w/ a close friend who is a huge fan of that movie and although she couldn't get me to take the tour, she tortured me by singing Climb Every Mountain all through the trip....;-)

[Rosanne]

Read Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie while in India, (as well as another book about India that I can't remember the name of) and it really added to the experience, especially since I was outside Mumbai, near where the protagonist grows up. I was lucky enough to be able to spend 7 weeks there, and it gave me a greater appreciation of life there for many Indians.

I recently was in Tanzania and read "A Guide to the Birds of East Africa" while there, which was fun as the plot revolved around people who were bird watchers and while on safari we saw so many beautiful birds! It's an easy read, which was good as I was too tired at night to read more than a few pages of anything.

[Karen]

I lived in Chicago for several years and made a trip to NYC before we moved to this area permanently. I really wanted to go to the Met to see the fountain mentioned in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I almost cried when they told me it wasn't there anymore.

I also stood outside the building that Camille Claudel lived in in Paris. The doors opened and I had to fully resist the urge to run in.

I do have every intention of running in the Moors in a long white nightgown like Cathy did in Wuthering Heights. Someday. :)

[Sangeeta]

Marie
what an interesting life you have lived ! thank you for sharing some personal stories. i greatly admire your conviction for doing the right thing in all those circumstances. not everyone has that courage.

although i've traveled around the US and the world , and as much as i read, "literary travel" was never on the agenda, though the idea is wonderful.

To Kill a Mockingbird is on my all-time favorite books for its simplicity, purity and honorable messages. but with the revelations about Go Set a Watchman, the "sequel" (though written first) i have decided to leave my memories of Atticus Finch and Harper Lee untainted, and will not read it after all. It is telling that her friends say she doesn't want the book written (she is alive, but apparently has some neurological/dementia issues.) her sister, who was also her lawyer, and had her best interests in mind, refused to reveal its existence. but a few months after the sister's death, suddenly the manuscript was found (!)

[New Providence]

Wow...sounds as if you really taken some great trips. Maybe we should do a program here on armchair travel in books - we'd have you speak!

[New Providence]

I'm sure that the Brits would love the site of a batty American running around, Karen. I have been to Dartmoor NP and the site of signs that warn of the dangers of the moors - disorientation, dehydration, etc. - are rather sobering. They may warn about practical footwear, also. No slippers!

[Helene]

As we are into admitting we have never read certain classics: I am reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" now. Another classic that I missed so far is a movie: "Cassablanca". As my husband and I are planning to go to Morocco in September, I think my week home alone in August will be the perfect time to finally watch it. Reading the reviews about the prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, I decided to not bring that to read during my plane ride. I like the characters as they are developing now and do not want to disturb that.

[New Providence]

Good for you, Helene. Of course, you did not go to HS in this country so I'm sure that you have read many, many classics. Just not all the ones taught here, perhaps. fyi: this year, the required movie for NPHS seniors is - you guessed it - Casablanca. We showed it twice in July and it's back on the shelf now if you want to check it out.