To Kill a Mockingbird
Ratings2,501
Average rating4.2
I actually read this story years ago. I was very young. I remembered the part about not shooting a mockingbird, but not really much about the main story. As I am now much older now, when I read it again, I found it so real and yet so sad. It is sad that still today there is so much prejudice in this world. Although the story was good, I still feel three stars is enough.
What a fabulous classic! I have really enjoyed reading “To kill a mockingbird”. Even though I have to say I managed only on my second approach. At first I felt misplaced by the unfamiliar setting and, somehow difficult to me as a non-native, language. However, the further I went, the more familiar the characters, places and situations became. What I found particularly astonishing is how seemingly foreign world and problems started more and more to resemble the world I lived in before and the one I live in right now. How through a very specific issues the author was able to transmit universal truths about life, society, how it shapes us and how it numbs us. This book teaches us something, which we really need nowadays (and I am sure we always needed and will need) - the world is not just black and white. It is neither good or bad. Situations without its proper context can be misleading or even meaningless. Judging people based on prejudices or emotions will mostly do harm to them and to ourselves. Most of the deeply humanistic soul of this book is transmitted through one of the main characters. A man who stands firmly behind his beliefs, even if these beliefs stand in a stark contrast to most of the world around him. He shows us that basic human rights are a principal value and how even good people behave erratically or confrontational because of emotions and certain social pressures. And that sometimes we should judge them because of it. Fear mingles with with our behaviour and treatment of others in a nasty way. One sentence, however banal it sounds, he repeats a number of times is “Do not worry, it is not time to worry yet.” I know that it seems like nothing really outstanding, but in a specific context it shows the core of the stoic philosophy and an approach which can save us many unwanted and unjust situations.
This book is told thru the eyes of a 6 yr old girl. It's about a trial of a black man for rape, however it mostly tells about life in a small southern town in 1935! It won the Pulitzer prize in 1960, bit of a long read for me, good characters and great book. Glad I took the time to read it. I've been reading 2 classics a month and 2 recent award winning books each month!! Read this if you like classics! David
I'm a little ambivalent about this.
Pros:
the best parts are really good and intense. The book does cause a strong emotional response.
The writing is really smooth and fluid
Cons:
way overlong. I consider the build up excessive. I kept reading it hoping for the book to pick up my interest but that didn't happen until half of the book.
I don't regret reading this book, but I wasn't blown away.
It was really a great read. The beginning does not really seem so great but as the reader progresses towards the end of the book, they find all the parts of the book to be finally coming together and make an awesome book.
The way the acquaints were insulting Atticus, the treatment with the accused, Tom Robinson and setting all these with a different, rather unbiased perspective made this an awesome book.
To view the situations through the eyes of an innocent yet brilliant minded tween makes it all the more reason to read it!
With a slow start I wasn't expecting much, but man I was so wrong. This book takes you in a childish world and teaches you so many lessons. Teach you that every man is equal, makes you think twice before questioning a kid. This book is the perfect example of “not all heroes wear capes”. A must read book. I enjoyed every bit of it.
Fun. Heartbreaking. True picture of life in a small town in the Old South. It's one of those books I likely won't read again because I'll remember it so vividly.
This is such a loved classic that I can't believe I've never read it in full before now. I enjoyed the story and found the main characters so endearing that they were a pleasure to read about, and I especially loved the story being told from Scout's perspective, she is a wonderful character.
Really not my kind of book, but so well written. It is a boring story, but told in an interesting way, through the eyes of a 1st grade prodigious girl.
Maybe 5% of the book is about how bad we used to treat back people, which is somewhat the main part of the book. Instead, the author focus on the lives of the people in this Southern, religious American town.
What sets this book apart for me is how intelligent the main characters are. Nothing cerebral compared to Dune, but they are very real and relatable. It is very endearing to hear Jean Louise tell this story.
Anyway, not a great book, but a real pearl among the classics, which I'm currently reading and giving up on most of them.
Loved this book. Wished I had actually read it in high school. Truly magnificent writing. Can't wait to watch the film and maybe ready Go Set A Watchman.
I finally got around to reading this classic novel!! I had to read it for school, that's why it took so long. It was really great. I almost cried because it was really beautiful. I have never felt this way about a book, like it wasn't just good, it was heartfelt and old so it smelled good and was written different from what I'm used to, like back-in-the-60's style. I love, love, loved To Kill a Mockingbird and I'm so happy. It really was great.
Я прекрасно понимаю причины успеха этой книги. Здесь простым языком восьмилетнего ребенка говорится о вещах, гораздо более сложных, чем проблемы повседневности. Поднимаются вопросы чести, благородства, взросления, равенства людей, лицемерия и зависимости от общественного мнения, вопросы воспитания... Маленькая девочка из маленького американского городка сталкивается с большими проблемами целого мира, под их влиянием взрослеет и понимает как важны в жизни каждого порядочность, честность и справедливость.
Сказать об этой книге больше и нельзя, не раскрыв ненароком ее соли. Вся история - на поверхности, открывается читателю страница за страницей, позволяя самостоятельно сформировать картину. Эту историю нужно прожить, увидеть глазами Джин Луизы Финч; задать вопросы с простодушием восьмилетней девочки и получить на них исчерпывающие ответы, и тогда красота и печаль этой истории обрушится вам на голову.
“Почти все люди хорошие, когда их в конце концов поймешь”.
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Harper Lee at her best! A must read!
I had no idea what the story was about before reading, just that it was a classic book.
It certainly not the story I expected, especially considering the actually meat of the story doesn't start until halfway through.
I guess it's a good book. I mean, technically it is, yes and it's a good story - Good in the sense of the message it portrays.
It was amazing! After picking it up so many times and never finishing this novel, I was determined to finish this book.
Though at the beginning it is a bit of a bore, but you can see that Scout and her family are actually quite quirky, yet wise. I admire Scout's ability on an emotional and intellectual level. She is smart, but she is able to morally live her life as she follows in her father's footsteps.
It was a joy for me to see how a trial would end up affecting the Finch family. Thiugh they live in a small town, never-changing place, that only helped create a stable setting to focus on more important matters.
Lee highlights, using moral sense, the difference between what is good and what is bad and she puts it into beautiful writing. The only downpart in my opinion is the slow moving pace in the beginning of the book. However, I think it only contributes to building up to the climax so that the impact of the true message will be planted in the reader's brains.
Aw. I'm happy I reread this. I definitely didn't grasp much back when this was required reading.
This book is a perfect “feel-good” book. If you're ever doubt the goodness of humanity, read To Kill A Mockingbird. You will feel better.
Finally gave audio-books a try and simply blasted through this one. Falling in love with the story and most likely, audio-books as well. These characters - Scout, Jem, Atticus - stick with you, don't they?
I loved this book and I couldn't say why. The plot wasn't that original (I understand it may have been at the time) but it was written beautifully and by telling the story through the eyes of innocent Scout the revelations hit twice as hard.