Discussion for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: *SPOILERS*!

[Chrissie]

Hmmm, you guys don't know how lucky you are to be able to get such films so easily. Diane did you rent a video? Borrowing films is so much more advanced in the US. Here we have to go to a shop and borrow a film that they have sitting there...... I have tried asking the shop to get a famous film so I could borrow it (even if they are in French), but even that was impossible. Computer-wise you are so much more ahead than in Europe...... You lucky-duck!!!!

[Kathy]

Diane D. wrote: "I was just at Borders where my favorite bookseller told me he has an AUTOGRAPHED copy of To Kill A Mockingbird!! I almost fainted!"

Wow, now that's one book I'd love to have autographed! Lucky man indeed!

[Kathy]

Chrissie wrote: "I wish I could better understand those who DON'T like this book. What would they change? What bores them? How can it be perceived as flat? I just don't understand, but maybe it is fruitless to deba..."

I was in another group where we were considering reading this book as a group read. I posted, along with others, how much I loved this book and some guy verbally blasted me and the book, dismissing the book as historically inaccurate and me as someone who must believe in fairytales. He was such a jerk and thankfully left the group after being admonished by the group moderators. He must have known little to nothing about the South to call it inaccurate. I mean, really, Harper Lee lived this stuff. I think some people just think it's clever to be against a book that has become an icon of American literature. Of course, his comments bothered me mainly because I know that there is so much to love about TKAM and learn from it.

[Chrissie]

Kathy wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I wish I could better understand those who DON'T like this book. What would they change? What bores them? How can it be perceived as flat? I just don't understand, but maybe it is ..."

That must have been terribly upsetting.......... Why isn't it possible to be a sensible discussion?! Why isn't it possible to express your views point by point and reach a common ground? In school one learned how to carry on a debate, has that technique been totally forgotten? How depressing...... Kathy, I would like to cheer you up by sending a big friendly (((HUG))).

[Diane]

Kathy, I can't believe someone blasted you! For starters, everyone should be able to talk about differences of opinion respectfully. Not everyone feels the same and that is perfectly fine! The good news is that he left the group :) The fact that he said this was an inaccruate description of Alabama in the 1930s tells me he is the one who believes in fairytales!!

Chrissie - I am SO sorry you can't get this movie. I got it from my local library. Gregory Peck as Atticus was fantastic and he did win the Best Actor for the role (in 1962 I think).

I hope that folks don't just see the movie. In my opinion, it is a great "companion" to the book, but should not replace reading the book.

[Lisa]

Kathy, Sorry you had that happen. it's so jarring when something like that takes place. Luckily, it doesn't happen that often at Goodreads, especially considering there are now close to 4 million members. Most people here are civil in their disagreements.

The YA Books Club is reading TKAM this month, and it shocks me that many don't like it. I don't understand either, Chrissie. Maybe if you're used to only books with non-stop action????

[Manybooks]

Chrissie wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I wish I could better understand those who DON'T like this book. What would they change? What bores them? How can it be perceived as flat? I just don't understand, bu..."

Man, that kind of thing really gets me riled. Kathy, don't worry too much about it, stupid is as stupid writes. I just picked up my copy from the library and hopefully, I will be able to start reading it today or tomorrow. You know, I always get a kick out of those people who would want to ban or restrict "To Kill a Mockingbird." And, what is so frustrating is that there are individuals who want to ban the book because it paints Alabama in a bad light, and then there are those who want to ban the book because it supposedly is racist (this unenlightenedness, this idiocy can drive you crazy). Hope to join in the discussion soon.

[Kathy]

Thanks for the hug, Chrissie and all the other great comments and support. I forgot to add that in this guy's departing shot he said for we ladies to enjoy our little sewing club book group. I laughed and laughed at this childish retort. Oh, Gundula, don't get me started on book banning and censorship. Talk about idiocy, whew! In my library media masters, I did a lot of work on book censorship. What amazes me is that so many people who challenge a book haven't even read it. Oh, and I did a PowerPoint on TKAM that I so enjoyed doing. If I can ever get myself going on posting pics, I will post a cartoon that I used (Shoe) that features TKAM.

[Chrissie]

Gundula - ENJOY - suck up each word! I almost feel like putting down the book I am reading and starting TKAM again.........

[Don]

I know this is an old thread, but I just finished reading TKAM and I had to comment on how much I loved the book. I’d always heard it was a timeless classic; I just didn’t realize how funny it was. Harper Lee writes in this sort of Mark Twain tongue-in-cheek kind of humor that I thoroughly enjoyed. She has a way of relating a child’s perspective of things in the language of an educated grown-up that is at times very comical.

I loved the characters, each with their own unique personality and charm and depth. By the end of the book you feel like you’ve made a friend or two along the way. I loved the story telling. Lee makes the most mundane things interesting. The descriptions of going to school, of sneaking around Boo Radley’s place, of going to Calpurnia’s church, of rescuing Atticus at the jail, of sitting in the courtroom, of Scout’s flashback scene from Boo Radley’s front porch, they’re all so vivid and so real. You’re drawn in by the imagery; you feel as though you’re actually there.

Somehow I missed out on reading TKAM in my youth. It has been my privilege to read this book for the first time as an adult. I found it thoroughly entertaining and would recommend it to anyone. It is definitely among my all-time favorites.

[Lisa]

Don, Glad you loved it. It's been in my top favorites since I was 12 and, yes, it's very funny, as well as serious. I adore Scout and Atticus, etc. etc. and this last reading appreciated Jem more than I ever have before, though I suspect I've always liked the name Jeremy because of Jem.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Don, what a great review. I felt just the same reading the book as an adult for the first time. It's gone on my favourites shelf too.

[Ivan]

I just re-read this last month. It's got to be (at least one of) the great American novel.

I especially enjoyed (and didn't remember) the humor. For instance: the sequence with the elderly deaf twins having all their furniture relocated to their basement during the night by mischievous neighborhood children was hysterical.

I just wished she had written other books.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Yes, I wish she had too. I wonder if she felt enormous pressure to produce another masterpiece with the success of TKAM?

[Ivan]

I'm sure that had something to with it. I'll bet all the gossip that Capote "helped" write it hurt as well. I've read most everything by Capote, I don't hear his voice in this at all. They were great friends; did he proof read and give opinions and suggestions? It's very likely, but he didn't write it. But, the pressure to produce another masterpiece must have been, as you say, enormous. I'm wondering if we'll see some books come out after her death - like Ralph Ellison and even Capote. Things she'd worked on and thought not ready for publication. Who knows and only time will tell.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

That's an interesting thought Ivan. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she did have some manuscripts but was unwilling to publish or submit during her lifetime.

[Ivan]

It's certainly inside the realm of possibility.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

That it is! :-)

[Kathy]

Ivan wrote: "I'm sure that had something to with it. I'll bet all the gossip that Capote "helped" write it hurt as well. I've read most everything by Capote, I don't hear his voice in this at all. They were ..."

I think the nonsense about Truman Capote helping to write the book might have been especially hurtful to Harper Lee in view of how helpful she was to him with his book In Cold Blood, for which she got no mention. Of course, maybe she didn't care, but I think Capote should have acknowledged her in some way.

[Ivan]

Oh, I think she cared. I think Lee loved him as brother/cousin and so it hurt all the more when silly people thought he must have ghost-written her novel, and that years later he didn't acknowledge her contributions to "In Cold Blood."

He was a GREAT writer (my favorite) but a rather tragic little man. He was a pathological liar (even as a child - look at the stories Dill tells - whoppers - Capote never got over that). His soul was damaged from neglect - he wasn't particularly wanted by either parent and was often sent to stay with relatives and then boarding schools. When his mother remarried and he moved back in - she berated him and openly condemned him for being homosexual and a sissy and queer. She was a monster and unstable and killed herself in the end. I think that no matter how successful he was he resented the success of friends because that would cause attention to be focused on them and not him and their attention on things other than him. Perhaps I'm not being clear; I don't excuse his behavior, but I think I might undertsand it. Would he have been so wonderful a writer had he had a happy childhood? Who knows?

[Lisa]

Ivan, I think you got it precisely correct. I loved In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences and other Truman Capote books, but To Kill a Mockingbird is probably my favorite book, certainly in my top 10, and Harper Lee definitely wrote it.

[Diane]

I went to the post office and got forever stamps -- Gregoy Peck! I thought it appropriate to post here...maybe I should say I got Atticus Finch stamps.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

What are forever stamps? Collectible stamps?

[Diane]

Lee, they are first class mail stamps, without a denomination on the face of the stamp, so no matter what the price of a first-class stamps costs, you can use the forever stamp. It's great when the po puts through the price increases.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Neat!

[Lisa]

Diane D. wrote: "I went to the post office and got forever stamps -- Gregoy Peck! I thought it appropriate to post here...maybe I should say I got Atticus Finch stamps."

Oh, I have to get some of those.

Lee and Diane, A very nice friend of mine bought all my old stamps and all I have now (for mailing within the U.S.) are forever stamps. It's so nice not to have to buy 1¢ and 2¢, etc. stamps to make up for outdated old stamps. And it's nice to be able to lock in the price by buying stamps you like and being able to use them forever. Hopefully, the post office will do this forever.

[Brian]

I'm wondering what people felt about the movie version of TKAM? For me it's a perfect adaptation - it even adds an emotional heart about the death of Scout and Jem's mother that is very much in the background in the book. I know that now I can't read TKAM without picturing Gregory Peck as Atticus.

[Lisa]

Brian, I feel the same way. It's a wonderful movie. I saw the movie when it first came out. I was 9. I didn't read the book until I was 12, or 11. So, I always saw the characters as they are in the movie. I think both book and movie are superb.

[Tracey]

I couldn't agree more. I love that movie - it does everything right as a movie and an adaptation. And every actor is just magnificent, especially Gregory Peck.

[Diane]

Lisa wrote: "Brian, I feel the same way. It's a wonderful movie. I saw the movie when it first came out. I was 9. I didn't read the book until I was 12, or 11. So, I always saw the characters as they are in the..."

Agree. When I read the book the first time (embarrassed to say 2 years ago!) all the movie characters were in my mind. Boo Radley - Robert Duvall!

[Brian]

Robert Duval only appears for five minutes max in the movie, but he makes such a huge impression that he will always be Boo.
My best friend's son is autistic and she always says that she thinks Boo is autistic - that he is in his own world, separate yet hyper sensitive to the world around him.

[╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥]

I just read this book for the very first time (I know, it's kind of shocking!) a few weeks ago and adored it. Somehow, I had never been exposed to the plot, movie, absolutely anything about the book. Except, the name 'Atticus Finch' of which I knew nothing about.

It must have been a mighty fine rock I was living under for 20 years, haha! Reading through these posts, I feel like I already need to re-read the book and watch the movie, perhaps. It appears that the movie is almost as beloved as the book; it's always refreshing when a movie holds a candle to the book.

[Kim]

Tiffani wrote: "I just read this book for the very first time (I know, it's kind of shocking!) a few weeks ago and adored it. Somehow, I had never been exposed to the plot, movie, absolutely anything about the boo..."

That's great, Tiffani. I hadn't read TKAM for years, but I recently listened to the audiobook narrated by Sissy Spacek, which is just wonderful. And I'm re-watching the movie as I write this post. A friend who manages a cinema chain here says that they'll be showing the digitally re-mastered film on the big screen soon. I'm really looking forward to that, because I've only ever seen it on video and dvd.

[Lisa]

Tiffani, It's so satisfying to read a great book for the first time. I'm embarrassed at my list of books that "everybody has read" that I haven't read. I was very fortunate to be exposed to the To Kill a Mockingbird movie and then book while still a child. My many readings of this book and other books made a difficult adolescence easier. I'm so glad you adored this book.

[Lisa]

Oh, and the movie is excellent, maybe the best book adaptation ever, so I highly recommend it!

[╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥]

Kim & Lisa, well you have both definitely convinced me that I need to get my hands on a copy of the film to watch. I cannot pass up the opportunity to see a great book adapted to film!

I've also got quite an embarrassing list of books I should have read ages ago but somehow never got around to. I've dedicated the last few months to trying to get through some of them. Maybe my goal for the upcoming year will be to cut the list down by 25% minimum of unread "must-reads". ;)

[Lisa]

Tiffani, Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. I think you'll enjoy it. There is one place in the film when I always cry, and I don't think I do at that place in the book, though I do in others.

And, that's a great goal.

Me too, re the books I want to/should read that I haven't. In my case, it's the rest of the Jane Austen books and many more.

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

This was a wonderful book back when I read it in high school, and now that "Go Set a Watchman" has been released, I really should revisit it.