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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060935467
ISBN: 0060935464
Label: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2002-03
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Product Release Date: 2002-03-05
Studio: Harper Perennial Modern Classics

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.

Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix Wilber

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Not all that great
Review: Must have been the times in which it was first released because this book did nothing for me. I just don't get why people rave about this book. This is one of those rare cases where you should watch the movie and forget the book.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Amazing Novel!!!!!
Review: The novel is simply amazing! An amazing storyline to go along with a tremendous theme in human equality and rights. A must read for everyone who grew up in the south....actually a must read for every American period!!

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A classic even among classics
Review: Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, narrates this tale that covers roughly 2 years of her childhood starting from shortly before she started the 1st grade. The story is a mixture of many elements including a mysterious neighbor named Boo Radley, various coming of age issues regarding Scout and her brother Jem, and her father, Atticus, defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. As the story is set in Alabama in the 1930s, the rape case is particularly incendiary.

To Kill a Mockingbird is such a classic piece of American literature that most people read it in high school. I somehow missed that experience and curiosity prompted me to pick it up and give it a try. While there were a few descriptions of rural southern life that ran on a bit long for my taste, the novel was well worth reading. For sheer entertainment value, I enjoyed the Boo Radley subplot the most as it is both mildly suspenseful and immensely interesting.

Of course, the novel is most famous for the rape trial and this is also compelling in a fairly horrifying and very sad way. Harper Lee paints a vivid portrait of the extent to which African Americans were relegated to a status far below even second class in that place and time. Atticus Finch does a masterful job of defending the accused, but he knows that the all-white jury has practically cast their votes before ever entering the courtyard. The author uses the narrative voice of the children to highlight the blatant injustices and the outrage that any decent person would feel as a result. The technique is highly effective if not exactly subtle.

To Kill a Mockingbird is easy to recommend. The story is interesting, the characters substantial, and the subject is still relevant today. It's a shame that Harper Lee has not published a second novel but this single book is likely to ensure that her voice will continue to be heard fro many years to come.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A inspiring book to read it will touch your heart
Review: Embrace The Light; a women's story through poetry to touch your heartThis book touched my heart. I highly reccommend it. A real classic. To foster peace and open the minds for others.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: No, It Doesn't Teach You How To Kill a Mockingbird
Review: This timeless novel by Harper Lee is a semi-autobiographical story about a girl named Scout Finch growing up in 1930's Alabama. When her father, Atticus, is assigned to defend a black man on trial for rape, Scout must learn to keep her head high in spite of the taunting and threats of a town gone "stark raving mad". Scout's brother, Jem, represents adolescence and its uncertainty, while her friend, Dill, provides a more naïve and straightforward point-of-view; with Scout's tenacity they form a balanced perspective on the discord that surrounds them. Their distant communication and friendship with the hermit Boo Radley teaches Scout that people are not always who they appear to be.

The first-person narration by Scout as an adult is effective in making the reader feel like he or she has truly lived the story, and in allowing adults, as well as kids, to relate to the theme of growing up while facing adversity. Atticus, truly the model father, shows through example the values of courage, honesty, and respect. The different ways that Scout, Jem, and Dill, respond to the injustices they witness allow for great insight into the human character. To Kill a Mockingbird is known as a high-school staple for its message of courage and tolerance, but readers of all ages have been and will continue to be impacted by this poignant narrative.

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