Tuesday, March 10, 2015

“A Book You Were Supposed to Read in School, But Didn’t” 2015 Challenge; TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret.  Growing up… I hated reading books.  There, I said it! *shock* *gasp*.  Then – yes, I know, it’s a little cliché – I read the first Twilight book because others at my work were.  Then the one after that, and after that, until I had read all four.  I was amazed that I actually enjoyed reading.  This was uncharted territory for me.  Next thing I knew, my mom handed me another book by an author she liked, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and I was hooked for life.  That means that there were numerous books in school that I only skimmed through or never even read.  This was one of those books.

 
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee




BOOK DESCRIPTION
 
Did you know that there is not a published synopsis anywhere for this book that I can find?  This is what I found.
 
"Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos."
 
Not so much a summary, so here’s my go at it…
 
Reflecting on a time span of three years, this book centers on the life of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, or as mostly everyone called her, Scout.  Between her and her older brother Jem, their imaginations stretch on forever.  That same imagination gave them much entertainment, but also got them into a few binds as well.
 
Life in the South in the 1930’s was simpler, slower paced, but the fear of the unknown could make people do crazy things.  Whether it be peering in windows at night to catch a glimpse of a recluse neighbor, or trying a black man in court with no evidence for presumably raping a young white girl.  Prejudices run deep, and while Scout keenly observes everything happening around her, with an open mind and being full of questions, she tries to understand the many different opinions of people around her.     
 
 
MY REVIEW
2.5 out of 5 *Stars*
 
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” – Atticus Finch
 
Ok, here’s the test.  How many loyal fans and followers am I going to lose after this review?  I did NOT like this book.  It took me months to read it, and finally the threat of library late fees made me finish it.  If it wasn’t for this challenge, I probably wouldn’t have, but I refuse to use a DNF for the challenge.  There’s a catch.  This book… There’s something about this book.  I started reading it, hated it, and thought I would be giving it a 1 star.  Then, as it progressed, I moved more to dislike the book rather than “hate” it, so I was going to give it 2 stars.  Then there was the ending that was somewhat appealing.  Appealing enough to bump it up to 2.5 stars.  Who knows, after I dwell on the book for a year, I might bump it up to a 4.  Yeah… That’s more than likely not going to happen. 
 
The reader spends countless pages going through the motions of everyday life.  It takes us through the children’s school days, evenings, and even summers when their best friend Dill comes to visit.  They have a fascination with their next door neighbor that never comes out and the majority of the book is focused on fueling their imaginations.  Then comes the trial, and the book turns a tad bit more interesting and starts to build up hope where there is an almost impossibility to have any.  This book shows the importance of treating innocent people with kindness, kind of like the importance not to harm a mockingbird that does nothing but “sing their hearts out for us”.  Are things clicking together for you yet?
 
Another thing…  Who is Atticus, really?  An alien?  Is he on drugs to keep him so calm and mellow all the time?  I understand it’s the south and back then life was slower and more relaxed, but COME ON!  Show me that you’re not a drone!  Nothing bothered him, and if it did, he hardly showed anything.  I understand chaos brings chaos and he was trying to instill peace so his children would become level headed people, but when push comes to shove, you are a single parent.  You are allowed to get mad and show it once in a while.  Finally!  Finally, at page 152 Atticus loses his cool… almost.  He “nearly” slammed a door!  Wow, I was in shock. <This is me rolling my eyes.>
 
I know this book has a powerful and important meaning that everyone should understand.  People are afraid of what they don’t know, and we should all do our best to be kind to the people that deserve it the most.  I get it, and understand the message, but the book was so boring that it was hard for me to finish.  I was waiting for a big climax. <Get your head out of the gutter.lol> Finally, at the end there was something small, but not enough for me to get excited about reading the book.  I hated that when I had a chance to read, I didn’t WANT to pick up the book.  Ever since I started reading books for fun, that had never happened, and I didn’t like it.
 
 
Here’s what I didn’t hate about the book.
 
The message.  I see why they have kids read this in schools.  The whole concept of learning from our past mistakes, and all…  Prejudice is shitty.  Pardon my language, but IT IS.  What Tom, the black man on trial for rape, had to go through was horrible, and the reader got to see it all from the point of view of a child.  The wise Atticus said it all when he claimed he wasn’t going to win defending Tom,
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” 
 
That statement, to me, was so sad.  It was as if there was no hope, and it is gut wrenching to know that there wasn’t back then.     
 
Dill got sick from the mistreatment of a colored person, and then a man, Mr. Raymond, says something, and another reality check slams into you. 
“Let him get a little older and he won’t get sick and cry.  Maybe things will strike him as being- not quite right, say, but he won’t cry, not when he gets a few years on him.” 
 
It’s basically saying, “Oh, he’ll get used to “the simple hell people give other people – without thinking, about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too.””  What makes it so sad, is that it is completely true, then and sometimes now.    
 
Here’s the tricky part.  How do I recommend a book that was so hard for me to get through?  What’s that even say about me, that I disliked a Pulitzer Prize winning books that teachers have students read all over the country?  I’m not sure on that one.  This is what I’m going to do…  I can’t tell you to go out and read the book, but I can tell you that there is no harm in giving it a try.  I have talked to many people that enjoyed the book, so that just might be you as well.  Remember, I am only 1 opinion out of many.  Even though I like to think that I am right the majority of the time.  ;-)
 
13 book books down, 39 to go!!
Happy Reading, Everyone!!
 
 

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