To Kill a Mockingbird

English language

Published June 10, 2011

ISBN:: 978-1-921411-68-7

(2 reviews)

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten. Despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its warmth and humor. Atticus Finch, the narrator's father, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. The historian Joseph Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in …

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten. Despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its warmth and humor. Atticus Finch, the narrator's father, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. The historian Joseph Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism." As a Southern Gothic and Bildungsroman novel, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Scholars have noted that Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the Deep South. The book is widely taught in schools in the United States with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets. In 2006, British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should read before they die".Reaction to the novel varied widely upon publication. Despite the number of copies sold and its widespread use in education, literary analysis of it is sparse. Author Mary McDonough Murphy, who collected individual impressions of To Kill a Mockingbird by several authors and public figures, calls the book "an astonishing phenomenon". It was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1962 by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote. Since 1990, a play based on the novel has been performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown. To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee's only published book until Go Set a Watchman, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, was published on July 14, 2015. Lee continued to respond to her work's impact until her death in February 2016, although she had refused any personal publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.

21 editions

Scott reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird, #1) by Harper Lee

A prortrait of the US-south

5 stars

This is a book dripping in US-southern aspects. But also paints a much more complex picture of this region. One that is not of a monolith of attitudes. It still has the bad behaviors the region is known for. But shows them to be bad behaviors that one can be guilty of anywhere. It also shows those that dont engage in said behaviors. And even for those that do, to show them as more than just ill tempered people. But complete humans, rather than 2D cartoons that are easy to hate and insult.

I grew up in the US-south, and it was eerie to encounter some of this. Most of which I managed to get away from. But still odd to revisit. And to see how long it has existed.

This was written in the 50s, and works to show an accurate picture of how people spoke in the 30s …

This is a book dripping in US-southern aspects. But also paints a much more complex picture of this region. One that is not of a monolith of attitudes. It still has the bad behaviors the region is known for. But shows them to be bad behaviors that one can be guilty of anywhere. It also shows those that dont engage in said behaviors. And even for those that do, to show them as more than just ill tempered people. But complete humans, rather than 2D cartoons that are easy to hate and insult.

I grew up in the US-south, and it was eerie to encounter some of this. Most of which I managed to get away from. But still odd to revisit. And to see how long it has existed.

This was written in the 50s, and works to show an accurate picture of how people spoke in the 30s in the US-south. So there are frequent uses of the n-slur, by even the main characters. Other characters use harsh or hateful language and actions that are anti-black. However, the black community within the setting are treated sympathetically. The main plot of the book is in support of a black man. It is worth knowing, and preparing for racist moments, which seem to be ways of exposing racism and its effects.

CW: anti-black racism, frequent n-slur, harm to children, abuse

Scott reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird, #1) by Harper Lee

A prortrait of the US-south

5 stars

This is a book dripping in US-southern aspects. But also paints a much more complex picture of this region. One that is not of a monolith of attitudes. It still has the bad behaviors the region is known for. But shows them to be bad behaviors that one can be guilty of anywhere. It also shows those that dont engage in said behaviors. And even for those that do, to show them as more than just ill tempered people. But complete humans, rather than 2D cartoons that are easy to hate and insult.

I grew up in the US-south, and it was eerie to encounter some of this. Most of which I managed to get away from. But still odd to revisit. And to see how long it has existed.

This was written in the 50s, and works to show an accurate picture of how people spoke in the 30s …

This is a book dripping in US-southern aspects. But also paints a much more complex picture of this region. One that is not of a monolith of attitudes. It still has the bad behaviors the region is known for. But shows them to be bad behaviors that one can be guilty of anywhere. It also shows those that dont engage in said behaviors. And even for those that do, to show them as more than just ill tempered people. But complete humans, rather than 2D cartoons that are easy to hate and insult.

I grew up in the US-south, and it was eerie to encounter some of this. Most of which I managed to get away from. But still odd to revisit. And to see how long it has existed.

This was written in the 50s, and works to show an accurate picture of how people spoke in the 30s in the US-south. So there are frequent uses of the n-slur, by even the main characters. Other characters use harsh or hateful language and actions that are anti-black. However, the black community within the setting are treated sympathetically. The main plot of the book is in support of a black man. It is worth knowing, and preparing for racist moments, which seem to be ways of exposing racism and its effects.

CW: anti-black racism, frequent n-slur, harm to children, abuse

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