To Kill a Mockingbird

I really wish I liked this book. I wanted to...

I am a bit late on the uptake on this one, but I really liked the novel. A quick read, but there was so many lessons in this book. It is one that I can see coming back to and reading again.

I first read this book when I was 14 and had very fond memories of it. I decided it was time for a re-read and discovered that I remembered only a fraction of it. So it felt like I was reading it for the first time. I loved it all over again. Thank you Harper Lee for a true timeless classic.

I can't believe it took me so long to read this book - I think it is my new favorite!

If you were to ask me if I had read To Kill a Mockingbird before 2009, I would have replied "Of course." Of course I read it in high school. Honestly, I can't remember a thing about it, so obviously it didn't make an impression, but nonetheless I read it.

Now, I'm not so sure that I ever did.

Perhaps I skimmed it. Perhaps I saw the movie. Maybe it just didn't stick with me at that point in my life. Or, it could be, I just didn't read it. Whatever reason, reading it this time was like reading a new book.

Everyone has read the 1961 Pullizer-winning novel, so I won't go in to all the details. My impression: I really liked it. Initially, I loved it, but that began to wane in the last hundred pages as the story became bogged down by its preachiness and anticlimax. Equally, I was disappointed with the stereotypical characters, none of whom seem to have grown much by the end.

Despite my minor differences with the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is an impressive piece of writing, especially being the author's first. The child-like perspective is very well done and easy to relate to. The story itself is well constructed and beatiful, but not as profound as I had hoped.

Overrated? Perhaps a little, but I feel comfortable calling Lee's only novel a classic. Don't ask me about it in another 15 years, though; I may not remember having read it.

I can't believe I didn't read this when I was a kid. I've only read it now because my county chose it for our “Big Read” this year and I thought it was about time. It's a fine book, with a great structure, but a heavy-handed lesson. Which makes it a good book for teenagers, important even, but not great art.

One of my favorites!

Atticus Finch is my kind of human being! What an admirable character! I've read this book several times and I have never been disappointed.

Haven't read since high school but I remember it being wonderful.

I'm currently re-reading this wonderful book. Actually, I'm reading it aloud to a couple of residents where I work. Amazingly written, such wonderful characters...