WG 2010-26 celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
I read this book for the first time in August 2007, and this is what I had to say then:
We did this play in high school; I was called at the last minute to be an extra in the courtroom scene. I remember being struck by the quiet power of the dialogue. Now, over a decade later, I’ve finally read the novel on which it was based and rediscovered that feeling. I’ve found there are very few books that live up to so much hype – recently a group of librarians declared this to be the best book of the 20th century – but this is one of those rare exceptions. It’s thought-provoking and complex while remaining very readable and entertaining. I definitely recommend this book.
This sort of vagueness in a review is common when I am just blown away by a book. I have trouble articulating specific aspects when the whole thing is done so well.
Harper Lee herself no longer gives interviews, but CNN was talking to one of her friends not long ago and evidently her reason for never writing another book was because she could never top TKAM.
And she’s probably right.
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