Originally Posted By alexbook >>August works for me. In response to 17 I actually did come in to see what DAR would pick. I was expecting it to be a political minded book. I guess in a slight way, it is after all.<< I was expecting a comic book. (J/K!)
Originally Posted By DAR Okay time to bump up this bad boy. I don't have any real specific items other than what did you think of the book? I loved it. Out of any book out there it depicts what it's like to be a child best. It takes you back when you were around that age. And I'm sure if you grew up in the south even more. It has very vivid characters starting with Atticus Finch where I've read that was the basis of Harper Lee's father. A very noble character in all of literature. Just a great book and hopefully everyone enjoyed it.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I love it too!! I'm so glad I had a reason to pick this one up again. I listened to an audio version narrated by Sissy Spacek. Her slow southern drawl kept putting ElderP to sleep, so I had to be careful when I listened to it. Atticus was truely a noble man. His obtuseness at the end, concerning Jim's role in the death of Bob Ewell was a little funny. I was amazed by Scout's genuine sensitivity in her efforts to show good manners. (When speaking to the lady's tea, and again when dealing with Boo Radley.) I'm glad that Harper Lee shows that the Finch values do win out in the end. Their inate goodness creates more protection for them than the danger that the world creates. I couldn't help but imagine a Jean Louise Finch in her mid 40s living though the civil rights movement of the 60s and her possible courage in that situation. That was the power of this book, that fictional characters became so real that I could imagine them growing up!!
Originally Posted By alexbook Sorry I'm late responding. Yes, an excellent book. Highly engrossing, and really well told. Because it was "required reading" in high school, I was expecting something dry, but I just whipped right through it. Makes me wonder what else I missed. I vaguely remember having seen the movie at some point as a kid, but didn't really remember the plot. (As I was reading, I did keep having flashes of Gregory Peck's voice sometimes when Atticus spoke.) One thing that may mark me as weird was that I kept thinking about John Grisham. It struck me that Grisham's early books (the ones set in Ford County) are attempts to write something in the vein of TKAM. I found myself thinking about how he'd write this story--for one thing, it'd be told from Atticus's perspective instead of Scout's. Anyway, thanks to DAR for picking this. I really enjoyed it.
Originally Posted By The IRONMAN I had to read this in highschool. I think Atticus Fench is one of the best characters in all of literature. He is kind of like my old man used to be. Hard nosed on always doing what he thought was "the right thing" in any given situation. As for Boo Radley I am glad that they didn't go forward with exposing him as that would have been like killing a Mockingbird. I think the book really gets into teaching us that sometimes the situation really can determine what is right and what is wrong. Thats all i can remember of my highschool book report.
