First thoughts on reading Go Set a Watchman

[Leonard]

I finished reading Go Set a Watchman last night.. I am still thinking about it on many levels. The simplest is to imagine that it is really a sequel, which will be upsetting to many readers and fans of Atticus. On another, think of it in terms of the development of the author, both in her skill as a writer and her treatment of race. Some may think Lee's first book, Watchman, is more accurate and Mockingbird wishful thinking, but I think there is more to it than that.
In these times as we battle over the Confederate Flag, "Scout's" attempt to understand her father and her battle with him may shed some light in helping to understand attitudes that are still present, not only in the South.
This is an important, if very flawed, book for our times.

[Betsy]

I thought GO SET A WATCHMAN was a wonderful book, and to me, it did read like a sequel to MOCKINGBIRD.
I would like to say that all the negative pre- hype about Atticus being a racist, a Negro-hater, a participating member of the Ku Klux Klan was proven unfounded/ untrue when you read the book, and by Atticus's words/ actions himself. I liked how Scout/Jean Louise confronted her feelings toward Atticus and finally became her own person and how he allowed her to do so and.... with love.
I'm glad that TKAM was the first book released as it gave us one of the greatest male characters in contemporary literature and that book will always endure, but GSAW is an equally great book in its own way.

[Konna]

I found Go Set A Watchman an excellent read. I thought about it in unison with To Kill A Mockingbird and the evolution of characters was great. I also found it more mature. As far as Atticus is concerned he wasn't the one I'd love to encounter, but he was the one that the novel needed. I most certainly didn't regret reading it.

[Asma]

I pre-ordered the book, read it in a day and dismissed it instantly. This book has nothing to do with either To kill a mocking bird or with Atticus. It is totally different book where two characters (Jean Louise and Atticus) happen to have the same names as the characters in TKAMB.
However, if this was the draft that Harper Lee wrote from which came TKAMB, hats off to her editor for seeing a whole new wonderful book in this rambling junk....

[Petergiaquinta]

Betsy wrote: "all the negative pre- hype about Atticus being a racist, a Negro-hater, a participating member of the Ku Klux Klan was proven unfounded/ untrue when you read the book, and by Atticus's words/ actions himself"

For example? Feel free to offer some support there, but I don't know where you'll find it in the text, if you actually read the book.

There's nothing "equally great" here about Watchman. It's an unfortunate money grab by unprincipled people, and it's a crime to have published this rough manuscript in the manner that it has been released to the public.

[Petergiaquinta]

Asma wrote: "However, if this was the draft that Harper Lee wrote from which came TKAMB, hats off to her editor for seeing a whole new wonderful book in this rambling junk.... "

You're absolutely right about how this publishing fiasco (of Watchman) shows us the way a skilled editor can direct an author with some good ideas toward shaping those ideas into a great work of literature. Sadly with electronic self-publishing and vanity press, too many "writers" think they don't need editors, and result is garbage being sold as books.

It's just so sad that an author like Harper Lee can be treated this way and her own garbage gets marketed to readers like it's a book she intended to be read.

[joepr]

My interpretation of the novel is that Atticus represents the United States wich many people idealize but ignore the faults. That doesnt mean you shouldnt love your country but one should accept and recognize the good and bad qualities in order to move foward. I love the airplane analogy at the end of the book.