Book info

• Title To Kill a Mockingbird
• Author Harper Lee
• Year 1960
• Genre Classic

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man falsely charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

Thoughts

I’d always wondered about this book but had never really been inclined to read it until the kerfuffle kicked up over the sequel/first draft that was published last year. With my interested piqued, I finally got round to reading it, and what a wonderful book it was. I understand the fuss now, I really do.

What’s great about the book is that it’s dealing with such horrible subjects, such traumatic events, but with the subtlety and humour of a child being brought up in a really good household. You can’t control the era that you are brought up in, but you can control how you react to the prejudices of the time, and it’s fascinating to read this from a nine year old’s point of view.

It’s also nice to have a strong father figure, a single parent indeed, who isn’t perfect but is about as close to it as you can get. A heroic lawyer, fighting the good fight and taking care of his kids at the same time. Despite the horrible situations dealt with in the book, you can’t help but come away with a warm feeling inside.

Rating: 5 / 5