Challenge: 50 Books discussion
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To Kill A Mockingbird
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Any idea what the reading schedule will be?
I just read To Kill a Mockingbird this year so I won't be reading it again. But for those of you who haven't read it- you have a treat in store for you. : )
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I probably won't be joining in, as I re-read the book a couple of years ago. However, I agree with Irene - those of you who haven't read it before are in for a treat. And those of you who are re-reading it will probably have forgotten just how GOOD it is!
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I started yesterday, but I'm going slowly until there's an actual schedule in place -- I don't want to get too far ahead of the group read. When we did The Great Gatsby, I was ahead of the group since I'd already started the book; this time around, I want to be able to be on the same pace as everyone else, so I can comment in a timely manner and not either have to hold off on comments or try to remember what I was thinking back at such-and-such a chapter.
Ann wrote: "And those of you who are re-reading it will probably have forgotten just how GOOD it is!"
I'm seeing this as I'm reading. I knew it was a good book, but I'm stunned by how beautiful and engaging the writing is. I don't know if the 15-year-old me couldn't appreciate it, or if the 15-year-old me was so long ago, that I just don't remember how great it was.
Tiffany wrote: "Faye wrote: "Hopefully, my copy should arrive tomorrow. Anyone got started on this?"I started yesterday, but I'm going slowly until there's an actual schedule in place -- I don't want to get too ..."
I agree with your view - I had the same feeling with 'Gatsby'. That's why I feel it is important to return to some books later in life - you pick up on different themes, different characters make bigger impressions, and the writing can become so much more beautiful.
I'm finishing up my current book tonight & starting this tomorrow. I don't know about the taking my time part. I distinctly recall having it finished way before the rest of the class back in the day. Like the next day finished. Ahhh, the lovely, long, responsibilty free days of adolescence.......
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August 19- 26 Chapters 1 - 10
August 27- Sept 2 Chapters 11 - 21
Sept 3 – Sept 9 Chapters 22- 31
Please post how this working for you, because if we all get through it faster than this, we may as well discuss it. Cheers.
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Please spare Mockingbird an Introduction. As a reader I loathe Introductions. To novels, I associate Introductions with long-gone authors and works that are being brought back into print after decades of interment. Although Mockingbird will be 33 this year, it has never been out of print and I am still alive, although very quiet. Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipations, they frustrate curiosity. The only good thing about Introductions is that in some cases they delay the dose to come. Mockingbird still says what it has to say; it has managed to survive the years without preamble.
Harper Lee
12 February 1993
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One has to look no further than Jem's description of what Boo Radley looks like than to be catapulted back into a childhood memory where you are are the youngest amongst siblings or cousins. How they egg each other on and exploit fears and let themselves be carried away by their imaginations.
I also love the small town aspect where a family's history is known to everyone and biology seems inescapable - also a timeless and global experience for us that live rurally.
Harper Lee paints a picture of the south that seems to come alive off the pages.
One of the book club questions I often see coming up is a request to comment on Atticus' parenting style. So far I'm in awe of his skills, but I don't know if the patience and excellent role modeling continues throughout the book.
Actually the bedrock nature of Atticus' parenting never seems to falter, and it informs his role in the community that takes presidence in the later part of the book. Early evidence of this is the rabid dog.
What amazes me about this book is the way it seems to just slow me down. It takes me immediately to the little southern town where Atticus, Jem, and Scout in Maycomb County. Harper Lee takes me to that time where it is slower and to a child's point of view. Her writing is evocative, vivid. Full of empathy, with a keen of description and humor. I like the slowing down.As for Atticus' parenting style - he does seem too good to be true, BUT, he is consistent throughout the story. AND it is noted that he is older than most parents. Scout, at one point says he is 'ancient'. Donna's comment about the rabid dog - is a good example of his unfaltering nature.
I agree Paula. This a place that calls for a long lingering stay. I've been trying not to devour it the way I did all those years ago, but everytime I pick it up, I just can't stop. So, maybe I can get the lingering read in after gourging on it over the weekend.
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As for Atticus, I've always thought that he was the model parent. He talks to his children like adults, but is very patient if there are things they don't understand, yet he is strong and disciplines them when needed. Atticus is wonderful.
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While I haven't been having this problem, I can understand how you might feel that way. Maybe it would help to consider that the kids are ageing throughout the book. If Scout's in grade 2, she's probably 7.
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We know that the Civil War is still pretty big in peoples' minds -- references are made to Generals, the guns, the fighting, the former soldiers -- like in a lot of Southern fiction (Faulkner, for example); Scout mentions near the beginning that Maycomb County (and the entire country, even though she doesn't say that) had recently been told they had nothing to fear but fear itself (from FDR's 1933 inaugural address, just in case anyone doesn't know where, exactly, that comes from); and in chapter 12, Scout mentions strikes and poverty in the country; but other than a few places where events are implied, it doesn't seem like Scout-the-narrator really spends time on them, or talks about how they affect Maycomb or her family. After the mentions of strikes and poverty in chapter 12, she even says "But these were events remote from the world of Jem and me."
I kind of like that. It adds to the story's backwoodsy feel, like Big City issues don't hit them as hard as they do in those Big Cities. And it also reminds you that the narrator is a child, and when you're a child (especially one who has a pretty happy life, a good family, and a good home), world issues don't really mean much to you (or not as much as they do to the adults). It's sort of like "Yeah, the president said this thing, but I had Dill," or "The adults were dealing with the bad economy, but let me tell you about our Boo Radley plays, because *those* are what's important."
Tiffany wrote: "One thing I find interesting, which also relates to Paula's comment about the writing taking you to a slower time, is that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a pretty well-charged time and a pretty we..."This is what makes Harper Lee's characters trustworthy narrators of the story: the older Scout looks back knowing what was going on in the world - but she doesn't add that to what happened to her, Jem, and Dill as children.
A lot of times - events effect adults much more than children - only as adults do they look back and say ' i grew up during the depression and realize what they went with out' and it is the adults who realize what is missing during that time frame - what they are doing without. Kids just tend to go on and accept what is, as 'is'.
Tiffany wrote: "I think one thing that confused me about To Kill a Mockingbird when I read it in high school is that Scout and Dill don't sound like five- and six-year-olds, respectively. There are definitely time..."when Scout starts school, Jem is in the fifth grade, so there is more than a one-year difference in their ages. and there is a span of time in the book, because when Jem's arm is broken he is 13. Scout was already reading before she started school, and Atticus doesn't talk to them like children, so they have been exposed to adult language all their lives. that plus the fact that the story is told by Scout later in life would account for them not sounding like children.
one of my favorite lines in the book (when they are waiting anxiously for Atticus to come home and punish Jem for wrecking Mrs. Dubose's flowers) "Two geological ages later, we heard the soles of Atticus's shoes scrape the front steps..." it's such a perfect description of how it feels to wait when you're a kid. it seems like *forever*
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Exactly! Well-put!
Well, y'all have been having a fine conversation while I've bee gone! I don't think I can add much to this. I do have to make the observation that you can improve on a great book by reading it curled up on a patio lounger on a breezy Sunday afternoon, glass of rum laced rhubarb lemonade in hand.
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What a trial, eh? The trial arguments almost brought me to tears. This book is an opus. Atticus is my hero
I keep thinking to the writer's advice that one should write what they know. Harper Lee was born in Alabama and studies law, so this concept has worked well for her.
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My two (or maybe three) thoughts: 1) Disgrace. Atticus' children run wild and have lives that are "unacceptable" (that is, the girl doesn't wear dresses and live a well-mannered, proper [boring] life, and the boy ... well, Jem might be okay, since "boys will be boys."), and since the children are Atticus' children, and Atticus is her brother, that means that the disgracefulness of those two children is actually a disgrace to her family. We can't have people thinking we let our children run wild and play imaginative games, and teach our children to read when they're small tots and have minds of their own! No no! They must be acceptable and do what they're told, and not question adults. Anything else is a disgrace to our family name.
2) I sometimes feel like it's sort of an "I know better than you do" or feeling like she *must* know better than he does. Maybe she's just one of those people who always thinks they're right and knows more than others, or maybe (and this is where my third thought comes in) because Atticus is a single father, and Alexandra feels like a woman is needed to raise children "properly." Since she's a woman, she would know better (in her mind) how to raise children correctly than he would, thus she's overly critical of the parenting he has done to this point.
(Rambling, and sentences not written well. Sorry)
Faye wrote: "So what do you think of Aunt Alexandra? Why is she so concerned with Atticus' parenting style?"She is definitely concerned about 'what people will think' - mainly that she isn't concerned with helping her brother raise his motherless children. Common opinion of the day (and of this day, too) would be that the women of the family are neglecting the children or they wouldn't be running wild. She could volunteer until she is blue in the face, and Atticus could still say 'thank you, but no' and she would take some of the 'blame' if the kids were wild.
Public opinion can be so harsh. I always loved the expression "Until you walked in another man's moccasins, don't voice an opinion."
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The knee jerk would be to say Atticus. How can he not be? Except he's a hard act to follow or emulate. It wouldn't be the story it is without the brave & intrepid Scout. She delights me.
Faye wrote: "Who is your favorite character and why?"i love Atticus. when i read the book (and saw the movie) i always wished that Atticus was my dad. so quiet, steady, confident, good-hearted, moral.
even more, tho, i love Scout. she is so curious, fearless, and intelligent. she works to hard to increase her understanding of the things that are going on around her, and she's not afraid to speak her mind. one of the great characters in fiction.
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I tried thinking about this for a few days, but I think my initial answer of "Scout and Atticus" (okay, *two* characters, not one) still holds.
Scout is fun, and kind of wild (She doesn't want to be a Lady; that's my kind of girl), and has a very good head for such a young girl. Atticus, as we've said before, seems to be the ideal father. He's raised his kids to have level heads (as level-headed as young children can be), he's always open to questions, he generally doesn't think they're "too young" for the truth, he tells them "It's not time to worry yet" to calm them in scary times, he taught Scout to read at a very young age... Atticus is just near-perfect. Can anyone think of a time when he wasn't practically perfect? Any time when you thought, "Ooh, as a parent, I wouldn't have done that"? So, I'm going with Scout and Atticus.
Having already stated my preference, I must also say how much I enjoy Miss Maudie. We had neighbors like this when I was little. Their yards were ours as much as theirs. They were beyond patient and attentive to children not their own. I try my best to be Miss Maudie-like when the great-nephews of my upstairs neighbors show up. And since they've drenched my patio - with my hose - and burned down my lounge chair with a sparkler, you can imagine the fortitude.
Donna wrote: "Having already stated my preference, I must also say how much I enjoy Miss Maudie. We had neighbors like this when I was little. Their yards were ours as much as theirs. They were beyond patient an..."Bless you, Miss Donna. I know how you feel. I live in a neighborhood where I could be every child's grandma.
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I LOVE Miss Maudie, too. She seems like such a great neighbor! I wish I'd had a neighbor like her when I was growing up.
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Faye wrote: "Who is your favorite character and why?"Overall, I would have to say Scout. She sees and questions things. and makes the readers questions things. But, for a second fave - I would have to say Dill. He just seems to pop up with a story - whether true or not, he adds something exotic to the story but not so exotic. Dill is another motherless child. Someone who is passed around. Unlike Jem and Scout who has stability with Atticus and Calpurnia.
Faye wrote: "So what's Boo Radley's story? I know from the beginning of the book that he got mixed up with the wrong crowd as a youngster, but what do you think explains his way of living since then?"I think that the part that might be inferred, but not stated, is that Boo might have developed some form of mental illness. I don't think this is something Scout, as a narrator, would've come right out and said. It's not how a child would perceive an adult. Boo disappears at about the age schizophrenia starts to manifest. It would explain why he allows his father to basically incarcerate him and why he doesn't leave home as his brother did. I always see him as someone who never quite grew up, still a little innocent in his manner. He reminds me of my godson, inherently kind, but very unpredictable.
Spoiler Alert!! or is it when the material is so well known?
The thing that usually preys on my mind is that Boo apparently kills someone, yes, to protect the children, but still... Or maybe Tom Ewell did fall on his own knife....
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Sure, ask this when I don't have the book handy. I'll be back.....
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I'd forgotten, "Pass the damn ham, please."
— Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
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"She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl."
— Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
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— Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Dang! Seems every quote I read is a winner.
Harper Lee truly had a way with language. I've always liked this one about Uncle Jack:"He and aunty looked alike, but Uncle Jack made better use of his face; we were never wary of his sharp nose and chin."
or this one:
"Miss Maudie's diction was deadly."
one that makes me laugh:
"Miss Stephanie, that English Channel of gossip."
or this one from the Reverend Avery that says everything:
"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'"
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I made note of these two while reading:
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read."
"Why, he [Atticus] couldn't get along a day without me. Even Calpurnia couldn't get along unless I was there. They needed me."
I think that last one is so sweet and so innocent :)
'"Put on your coat," said Atticus dreamily, so I didn't hear him.'love that - it's so true to how kids act
Miss Maudie says: "There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one..."
Atticus:Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
To Kill a Mockingbird (other topics)The Great Gatsby (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Harper Lee (other topics)Harper Lee (other topics)
We'll probably have comments regarding certain chapters during certain weeks to avoid any spoilers.
** Yeah - The Timeline is**
August 19- 26 Chapters 1 - 10
August 27- Sept 2 Chapters 11 - 21
Sept 3 – Sept 9 Chapters 22- 31
This is shorter than Gatsby, but I have a feeling we'll have no problem ripping through this book,and, if we want to make that 50 goal, we got a lotta reading to do anyway, right?