To Kill a Mockingbird
Ratings2,495
Average rating4.2
The saddest part of any re-reading of this story is that it continues to be relevant today.
I went into this not knowing what it was about and i kinda liked it that way.
I was never made to read this in school because we didn't study American history bc why would we?
I'm australian so we were made to read books about the Aboriginal dream time, history and equally depressing stuff.
anyways, the book had great characters and it was super sad, idk what else to say other than you need to read it for yourself
Key takeaways:
- It was fun to re-experience the world through the eyes of a child. That aspect felt very nostalgic.
- I like Atticus. While at first he didn't appear to be much, his integrity and character shone through at the end of the day. It was a good reminder of what counts in a person, even if they don't seem all that special at first.
- Just because you disagree with a person, or just because a person does something you disagree with, it doesn't mean you need to treat them any different. Atticus does a great job separating the person from the beliefs/actions (Mrs. Dubose, Ewells, etc.)
I've paired reading this paperback edition with listening to the Audible audiobook narrated by Sissy Spacek.
Я не могу оценить объективно, потому что не осилил. Там вроде главное на суде начинается, но меня не хватило до суда. Слишком много всякой детской фигни, которая не такая интересная как у скандинавских авторов, например.
Скажите только откуда в дупле были вещи? Сорока приносила, да?
One of my favorite books. So rich and full of detail. And such a wonderful portrayal of the power of empathy.
Me quiere sonar que leí este libro por primera vez con 10 u 11 años poco después de que mi padre me pusiera la película. (¿Se puede amar más esta adaptación y a Gregory Peck? Lo dudo la verdad)
Mis recuerdos tanto del libro como del film estaban impregnados de nostalgia y de aquel olor a verano tan especial... y ya se quedó entre mis libros favoritos de la historia.
Siempre he tenido en mente darle una relectura y pero nunca he encontrado el momento... hasta ahora, en el parón lector más largo que he tenido en años, me dio el ramalazo por las historias del Sur del Estados Unidos Profundo, y cuando voy a buscar listas de libros..., sorpresa, sorpresa sorpresa, dentro de la categoría del “Southern Gothic”, que se podría traducir como Gótico Sureño o Gótico Americano, aparecía Matar a un Ruiseñor, así que aproveché y me lancé de lleno a esta relectura de confort.
Ha sido una aventura reencontrarme con los protagonistas de esta historia, tanto Scout, que no deja de parecerme increíble la imagen de una niña tan moderna, independiente y creíble en plenos años 30. Y como no, Atticus Finch. Cuando mi padre me introdujo en la historia me presentó a Atticus Finch como lo que es, el ejemplo de hombre recto y consecuente con sus ideas en todos los ámbitos de su vida y el profesional que todos los abogados deberían aspirar a ser. Es imposible no admirarlo y adorarlo. Si alguna vez te encuentras en un dilema, pregúntate ¿Que haría Atticus? Y acertarás.
La historia ha envejecido de lujo para mí; cuando la leí por primera vez me sorprendió ver que se parecía casi más a una novela de Los Cinco que a un libro de personas mayores, y me sentí muy orgullosa de comprender la parte del juicio muy bien. (Siendo justos ya había visto la peli unos meses antes con mis padres al lado explicándome las partes difíciles, pero oye el esfuerzo estaba ahí).
Revisitar desde un punto de vista adulto estas anécdotas de los niños ha sido muy divertido y me han sorprendido partes que no recordaba o que directamente no entendí, tanto del día a día de los niños como del conflicto principal de la novela.
Como ya me ha pasado con algunos clásicos, alucinas con lo adelantada que estaba la visión de la autora respecto al racismo y a la sociedad sureña actual de EEUU de aquel momento. Se nota que toda la revolución de los derechos civiles estaba ya ahí, pero como Lee pone palabras en la boca de Atticus y los propios niños, sobre la igualdad de derechos entre seres humanos, es estremecedor.
A ojos de hoy choca la naturalidad con la que se convivía y ejercía el racismo (y el clasismo) y como se despreciaba a cualquier estrato de la sociedad que no fuera el tuyo, incluyendo a las personas de raza negra, la clase trabajadora y la famosa basura blanca.
La crítica a la doble moral sin sentido de la sociedad americana sigue vigente, aunque está claro que no a la misma escala, es triste ver que se ha evolucionado muy poco en algunos sentidos.
Pero esta novela es un rayo de esperanza para aquellos que creemos que merece la pena luchar para conseguir un cambio que todos seamos un poco más iguales que que hace unos años.
En momentos oscuros creo que merece la pena recordad la cita del gran Atticus:
“El hecho de que hayamos perdido cien años antes de empezar no es motivo para que no intentemos vencer”
Whenever I read classics and actually think they deserve their accolades, I am surprised. “The people! They chose correctly this time!”. Anyways, I'm sixty years late to this party but I think Harper Lee has a future in this business.
oh man oh man, where do i start? this book went from feeling a little meandering in the first half, to being just so unpleasant to read in the second. i couldn't stop thinking: this was set in 1935, written in the 1960s, but also still so relevant in 2021? :(
overall, it had very relevant things to say about the racism that pervades some segments of American society back in the 30s, probably still does in the 60s, and sadly still persists till now. it does it pretty neatly for a book written in the 60s, but i think it could've done it better now. for a book about racism, we didn't get to know any of the Black characters in it except Calpurnia, who still espoused some kind of white superiority ideas when Scout and Jem asked her why she spoke like the other Black church-goers even though she “knew better”. i wish we knew more about Tom and Helen Robinson. in the end, Tom was never cleared of his crime either and the truth about the Ewells never came out, even if Bob Ewell died.
Atticus's way of fighting the system may have seemed revolutionary back then, but right now it comes across as a little half-hearted. but perhaps the inertia of changing such widespread systemic issues can be incredibly great for an individual to overcome, especially if they are so far entrenched in it.
i'm also a little confused about this whole fixation with Boo Radley???? idk if i missed something but he seemed to be the hook of a mystery in the first half of the book, then completely forgotten about in the second half in lieu of the Tom Robinson trial, and then later pops up again right at the end but there didn't seem to be a point to all of that. the whole Boo Radley thing almost seemed like a different story to that of the Tom Robinson trial. for a character mentioned in the blurb of the book, and to have had an entire first half of the book revolving around him, it kinda fell a little flat for me. i expected him to have popped up as a pivotal last witness for Atticus in the Tom Robinson trial, or at least to have been a half-Black person forcibly kept in hiding by his family but emerges to do something heroic like save the kids from Bob Ewell. but... he wasn't? so i'm still bewildered by his purpose in the story.
i also kinda wish that the pacing and structure of the book was better. it felt a little draggy to me in the first half because it just meandered and there was nothing much about the racism it would tackle in the second half, and then the second half felt too rushed and we didn't have time to really get into the meat of things, or to investigate more about the story between the Ewells and Tom Robinson. it almost felt a bit tacked on somehow.
Like literally every other child in the United States (maybe elsewhere?), I had to read this for school and I don't think I really appreciated it or understood a lot of what was going on behind the scenes when I did so. I remember liking the book a lot when I read it, but before revisiting it I'm not sure I could point to exactly why that was. I read the chapters, checked the boxes, took the quiz, and apparently walked away with a memory of really enjoying the book.
I'm incredibly glad I revisited it as an adult, because there was just so much I didn't pick up on as a kid, I'm sure. I really appreciated reading about the complex racial issues here through the literal eyes of a child, especially as we got to follow them growing up in years and in maturity. I liked that the writing was simultaneously easy to follow and also hiding a lot between the lines and left unsaid.I'm glad I revisited this as an adult with my book club, and would be open to tackling other notable books I read for school in order to give them a fair shake. Except for Ethan Frome, I won't go back to that one willingly.
read the graphic novel kinda version pretty fun book just would rather not read it again or something like that something veers me away from this book
It took me a long time to get into this book. The writing is very good. Very leisurely too. I did enjoy it. But I didn't find it enthralling.
There is profanity in this book, but not vulgar and constant. It is though, frequently—if not entirely—from the kids. It also mentions topics of death and rape, but not in depth.
The underlying message about racism and prejudice is done very admirably.
Read and reviewed: Aug 17, 2021
Chapter 1-2: The story intrigued me from the very first page, as I wanted to know what was the cause of the elbow incident, and who had been part of it. I love how vivid her descriptions of the town are, and how easy it is to visualize each street already. Wow, that teacher has such an inferiority complex and really loves asserting her power over ‘weaker' people than her! Also, I only realized at the end of chapter 3 that the narrator was a girl! So impressive that she learned to read and write mostly on her own!
Final thoughts after finishing the book: I loved it so so much! 5 stars! One of the best reads of the year. I couldn't find anything to change, this book is just excellent. It's interesting how her draft for this book was so different from the final version. (this is the synopsis for the sequel, and a spoiler if you intend to read it blindly): with Scout as an adult coming back to her home town and trying to reconcile with her father who is actually a racist in this version. But to come back to To Kill a Mockingbird, I don't even know what to say! It's always easier for me to write pages and pages for the books I disliked, than for the books I liked. The book had a good moral at the end, that most people are nice, and you need to take the time to get to know them.Somehow, I thought that the character of Dill would be more explored, as he somehow disappeared from the last part of the book, but it still makes sense. It was good to keep the final events enclosed in themselves. Scout, Jem, Atticus and Boo, I am going to remember these characters for a long time. I wonder if there is a slight chance that Jem or Boo killed Bob Ewell...
Una novela llena de aventuras infantiles, todo se relata a través de niños, pero al mismo tiempo toca temas sociales aún vigentes. Es muy amena y más que recomendable para los jóvenes y adultos, pues les dejará huella en el corazón.
It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.
I've had this book in my shelf for the longest time and never got around to reading it. I'm so glad i finally did. The first half of the book was pretty slow and took me a while to read, but the brilliant prose makes up for the pace. Looking at the world through six year old Scout's eyes was an absolute delight. As a child, Scout doesn't understand the full implication of the things happening around her, making her an objective observer and a reporter in the truest sense. We see things exactly the way they happen which makes it so different from the usual adult pov. However, it's important to understand that the narrator is two Scouts: the little girl experiencing the story and the adult Jean Louise who tells the story. The adult Jean Louise can better understand the impact of various events while Scout as a child was simply living through them.
My favourite part about this book is how unflinchingly honest it is. Scout isn't afraid to ask questions. She looks up to her father (Atticus) and views him as a voice of reason and somebody who would answer her questions truthfully. Her relationship with Atticus stands out throughout the book.
SY75
“They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”
Final Thoughts
SY75
“Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.”
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. (pg. 20)
We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad. (pg. 320)
This has just become one of my favorite books. So good. I just love Scout. What a little firecracker she is.
This will be one that will go on the re-read shelf for sure.
This is one of those books which touches not just your heart but your soul. It becomes a part of you. Throughout the book, you live through the characters' lives and when it finally ends, you want to know more, you yearn for more.
For someone unfamiliar with life in a small southern town, I loved this book. I somehow had assumed that it would portray the lives of the children passing into adulthood, but by avoiding that, Harper used the innocence of children to juxtapose and highlight the “corruption” of adults.
I understand why this is a classic, and honestly, it's still as significant and important today, as it was then.
My first classic of 2020 and I loved it. This was a different time and life overall was nothing like it is today. However, some things rarely fully change and there is much still relevant within these pages that fit today's society.
