June 16, 2023

Looking Back - To Kill a Mockingbird

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Fiction/Classic
1960 J. B. Lippincott Company
Finished on December 23, 2001
Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Publisher's Blurb:

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

My Original Thoughts (2001):

I finally settled down and read this classic. It was wonderful! I should have read it much sooner--why wasn't it assigned to me in high school?? Such memorable characters, my favorite of whom are Scout and Atticus. Humorous and tender. 

Favorite lines:

"It's not time to worry." 
 
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

I highly recommend this book. It was a joy to read. 

My Current Thoughts:

Definitely time for a re-read!

9 comments:

  1. I'd love to reread this one, too. It's been decades!

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    1. JoAnn, I'll probably give it another read sometime this year. Time to visit your blog, now that I have a cell signal. I'm curious to see what you're thinking of Lonesome Dove!

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  2. This book, where the main character boldly does the right thing, despite the consequences for himself, is one of my favorites.

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    1. Deb, he's a great character, isn't he?!

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  3. Vicki, I think I enjoyed the book better than the movie, but Gregory Peck sure does a fine job!

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  4. This is such a good novel. I am not a classics person, but this one I like. And that photo is stunning!

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    1. Helen, I'm not much of a classics person, either.

      Took me a minute to figure out what photo you were talking about. Thought you meant the cover art for To Kill a Mockingbird. ;) Anyhow, thanks! That lake is incredibly beautiful. It's Moraine Lake, which is near Lake Louise. So far, it's my favorite spot.

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  5. I wasn't assigned this classic either! Then again, I feel like most of the classics I've read have been on my own. Anyway, I did finally read this with a book group back in the day. I should definitely re-read it.

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    1. Iliana, I feel like I didn't read that many classics in high school. Maybe I'm just remembering the ones I loved, like The Grapes of Wrath.

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