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Cannonball Read III: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

By jim of the lowercase | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (10)

mockingbird.jpg

I purchased this novel while taking my younger sister to the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill for a BBC TV showing. It was pre-Christmas and this was purely a whim purchase. All I knew about this novel was it concerned a principled Southern lawyer named Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck in the film) defending a black man from a rape charge. So many times have I seen Atticus Finch referenced in pop-culture, that I have no idea if the stereotype of the principled compassionate Southern lawyer came from this novel.

Happily though, the novel was far and away from being this limited or tightly focused. It was a stunning vignette-based look into an old Southern American town and its economic and social issues. Told through the eyes of Atticus’ tom-boy daughter, Scout, this is a deeply moving and affecting account of their town and the people in it. It covers everything from the story of the kids, Jem and Scout Finch reading stories to an old racist lady to help her beat her addiction to morphine before she dies; to the night when Atticus guards his client, Tom Robinson, in the county jail as locals come to lynch him. It is only the advent of Atticus’ children sneaking out of his house and running up to their father that shame the mob into relenting.

The novel paints a believable and layered depiction of this town with depth and vigour. All through the eyes of a precocious young girl. This is Harper Lee’s only novel and it arrives as a fully formed slice of life. I particularly enjoyed the depictions of school life. For example, how some children turned up to school for a day, then went to work their parents fields. An example of playing the system that existed in Simon & Burns’ Life on the Corner but with the American fields being changed to “the corner” and the drug trade. The obsession with the minutiae of childhood are rendered immaculately. Even though I have never lived in the deep south of America in the nineteen thirties, there is still a sense of connection to the childhood Lee created. It sparked memories of a world of being scared of certain dark footpaths because someone had got in a fight there or where obsessions with nooks and hidey-holes are a daily occurence.

After reading this, the novel did the rounds of my family, all of whom had not read it before and all were surprised and moved by the depictions. It was a far less courtroom-lead piece than many had suspected and it had a greater range and impact for that. This is not a classic that is too inaccessible or long, it is the type of novel that superlatives were made for.


For more of jim of the lowercase’s reviews, check out his blog, Everyone’s Favorite Nobody.

This review is part of Cannonball Read III. For more information, click here.









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Comments

it is the type of novel that superlatives were made for.

Indeed! This is one of my favorite books, and I'm so happy you liked it and shared it with your family.

Posted by: mswas at December 5, 2011 11:56 AM

I read this book ages ago and dismissed it as overrated (I know, I know). I recently reread it for a book club. Absolutely loved it this time around. What a fantastic vantage point from Scout on an overworked, underappreciated advocate. It's probably because I'm an attorney that I loved it much more as an adult than as a teenager. Also, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'." TEARS, I tell you. Tears.

Posted by: samantha t at December 5, 2011 3:18 PM

You guys reviewed a book that most American teenagers are required to read before they graduate high school? How exciting! What's next, Huck Finn or The Great Gatsby?

Posted by: Keikoero at December 5, 2011 3:26 PM

Always puzzled me people saying they read a book in high school and wondering why other people haven't read it. Here in the UK we didn't have as concrete a list of books to read as that. People in the same year at me as school didn't even read the same books. For example some of my friends read Animal Farm in our final year whereas I read Lord of the Flies. But surely the role of class reading in a school is to give students a taster rather than an all ecompassing background.

But admittedly one of the reasons I read it was because it's a pulitzer prize winning book that people often said they read at school.

Posted by: jim of the lower case at December 5, 2011 3:33 PM

Keikoero - I don't understand your point. Can we not revisit oft-read books? Is, say, Hamlet lowbrow because one often reads it in high school? It's not like they reviewed Superfudge, for God's sake.

Posted by: samantha t at December 5, 2011 3:37 PM

What's wrong with Superfudge? I loved Judy Blume when I was a kid!

In all seriousness, though, well-done, jim. This is one of my favorite books, and your review made me want to re-read it.

Posted by: Jelinas at December 5, 2011 5:06 PM

Keikoero - I don't think you understand how Cannonball Read works.

As the coordinator of CBR-III, I was surprised to see that a review of this book *hadn't* been posted as part of one of the previous Cannonballs. It's a great book, which *many* Americans (let alone folks from other countries) haven't actually read. And reminding folks that they just might want to check it out is only a good thing.

Furthermore, if you were paying attention to previous Cannonball Read III posts, you would have noticed that, in general, the posts that get the most comments and have the best discussions are for books that people have already read.

On top of all that, I liked that jim, as a non-American, had reviewed this book, because his perspective had the potential to be a bit different.

So, for all these reasons, this book review was an excellent choice as a CBR review posted on Pajiba.

Posted by: tamatha at December 5, 2011 9:35 PM

Posted by: tamatha at December 5, 2011 9:35 PM

Good stuff, Tamatha. Thank you.

Posted by: Uriah Creep at December 5, 2011 9:53 PM

I also love Superfudge!!

Anyway, TKAM is one of my all time favorite books of all time.

SPOILER

The kids experience after the Halloween pageant makes my heart race every time I read it. And I've read the book upwards of 25 times...

Posted by: Bodhi at December 6, 2011 12:50 AM

"The kids experience after the Halloween pageant makes my heart race every time I read it. And I've read the book upwards of 25 times..."

You think that's bad? I've read it at least as many times, and I still get tense reading up to the verdict every time, like there's a chance the book's events will have changed this time.

Posted by: Craig at December 6, 2011 9:38 AM