To Kill a Mockingbird

niall mc cann

I found an old copy that my girlfriend read in school when we were moving house a few years back, and I was between reads at that point, so I tried it on a whim.

It blew me away; I just loved it. In retrospect, I suppose it may seem kind of slow, but that never occurred to me while I was reading it. It was Atticus that made it readable to me... all through the first half you get to see what an adoring little girl thinks of her Daddy, but as the book goes on you start to understand that it's not just the rose-tinted glasses of a child's love for her father, but that Atticus is (in a very unobtrusive, ordinary-daily-life kind of way) a man of genuine courage and real moral conviction.

It's like for the first half you see these shadowy, clouded glimpses of unassuming modesty and moral insight, and then in the second half the veil slips and you see just how commited and courageous an ordinary man can be. Then, of course, you see the other side of that, how little the world will bend for those qualities, and how little one man can do in the face of a society that isn't willing to live up to his example.

I just didn't have your experience with the book... I thought it was a rollercoaster ride, about the unexpected places you can find strength and courage and loyalty, about how little those qualities can achieve, and how tremendously, irreplaceably valuable they are despite that.

Great stuff.

funkey_monkey

Just finished reading the book. I thought it was really well written and I had clear visions in my mind of what was being written about by the author. However, I agree that the begining of the book was quite slow. There were times where I was wondering what the point of many subplots were.

A really good book, but not in my top 10. I feel bad and really disappointed about saying that

Dirty Dingus McGee

Great book.It definitely is slow moving at the beginning but everything before the trial is setting the scene for the main plot.You really get to know the town and without this the story as a whole wouldnt be as good .Its a beautiful book easy to read and very funny aswell.Its the ony book I read in secondary school that I enjoyed and I reread it last year and it was equally enjoyable.

Hrududu

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Well, either that or she dried up. Or the rumours about Truman Capote writing it were true, and he refused to do any more books for her.

I love the idea that Truman Capote would be able to keep his yap shut about that

To Kill a Mockingbird is a big favourite of mine. I never found the start of it slow as it builds its world and characters so well. And Atticus Finch is one of the great 'good' guys in literature.

I saw a British film a couple of months ago called Broken that seemed to borrow heavily from TKaMB. I enjoyed it but your mileage may vary.

Tom Joad

One of my favourite books of all time - it does take a while to build but didn't mind that as the scene was being set for the main act.

Ormus

I can never understand all this talk about the pace of a book. Some books are supposed to have pace, some aren't.

Some books aren't supposed to 'get going'.

To Kill a Mockingbird is not a thriller, although it has a few suspenseful moments and it moves quite fast in most of the second half.

In my opinion, it's a great story, brilliantly told, and Atticus is one of the truest heroes I've ever read.

Ormus

squeakyduck wrote: »

I was late reading it, my first year in college I had to read it for an assignment. I remember gasping out loud when I read "hey boo" people laughed at me!

I must pick it up again and reread!

Spoiler!

funkey_monkey

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Just finished reading the book. I thought it was really well written and I had clear visions in my mind of what was being written about by the author. However, I agree that the begining of the book was quite slow. There were times where I was wondering what the point of many subplots were.

A really good book, but not in my top 10. I feel bad and really disappointed about saying that

Watched the movie version last night and enjoyed it. Although I really didn't warm to the girl playing the part of Scout - she wasn't quite as endering as the character in the book, nor as prominant. Follows the book very closely though, which was nice.