[Book] To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee #TBR20

To Kill a Mockingbird is my fourth book read for the #TBR20 challenge!

From what I understand, To Kill a Mockingbird is part of the standard school reading curriculum in the United States. Being from Northern Ontario, it was never part of the required reading, and I therefore never read this book at any point in my scholastic career. It has been on my “to be read list”…what a perfect opportunity to read it for #TBR20!

To Kill a Mockingbird is a bittersweet story written from the point of view of young Scout, a tomboy, and her experiences with her older brother Jem. They live with their widower lawyer father, Atticus Finch in 1930s Alabama. Atticus has been assigned to a case defending a black man accused of raping a young white girl. Needless to say, while Scout concerns herself with fears only a six-year-old could preoccupy herself with; like the bogey man who supposedly lives in that shady house on the dark end of their street, or fearing she got in trouble again for schoolyard fighting, the town is up in arms against the accused black man and Atticus, the lawyer assigned to defend him.

This story is one that dates itself to a simpler time, with not-so-simple rules for life. One cannot ignore the strong socio-economic themes of racism, class and sexual mores in To Kill a Mockingbird. There are other themes not as obvious: relationships between siblings… the loss of innocence in the realization that life isn’t fair. But, one lesson to take away is that there is virtue in fighting for what you believe in. Many of these subtexts made for a very moving and engrossing read. There are pivotal plot twists to this story that will also make the hairs on your neck stand on end. But, don’t worry, I won’t get into them here because I want you to read this story.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel I won’t soon forget, and I only wish I had discovered it before now.

10/10

#TBR20 Project Participant!!

The “To Be Read 20″ Project, is created and hosted by Eva Stalker at evastalker.com. The goal of the project is to read through 20 books I own before buying any more books.

34 comments

    1. It was definitely not part of Sudbury Board of Ed curriculum when I was in school. But, we were ALL OVER the Margaret Laurence and Mordecai Richler…

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    1. Aha! So there were schools in Ontario that used this book in their curriculum…
      In one of my edits for this blogpost, I was going to say that instead of Harper Lee, we got Margaret Laurence (don’t remember liking A Jest of God at all!), but then I erased it. The reason: Many of the books I read in school I did not enjoy at all. But, that was a different time, and I wasn’t fully cooked. In fact, to my recollection, the only books that had their hooks in me were Heart of Darkness, the Little Prince and the Handmaid’s Tale (and 2/3 I read in independent study). But, I think if I re read some of them now I might actually “get” them and enjoy them.

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          1. Gotcha. I’m trying to remember my OAC English. I have the notebooks, believe it or not!

            I remember the teacher was Mr. Smith…aka Smithers…we used to sing the song “Thunderstuck” except with his name in it. “You been…SMITHERIZED!” He hated Coles notes, so if he caught you using them, he’d give you shit — Smitherize you! in front of the class.

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            1. I had my notes up until 2006 when we were packing up to move to Stouffville. I still have some of my writings though. [Should dig through them to see what I’d find!]
              I’d have to think about what we read for that class…I know a Jest of God for sure. Death of a Salesman? I could probably name books read in school but couldn’t tell you what grade. OAC was a blur…

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            2. English class is a blur for me…I know we would have had one Shakespeare but I can’t think of which. Must have been King Lear. Beyond that I remember very little! Towards the end of OAC I had the “IDGAF” syndrome that many students get. Transcripts were already in to the University, so I remember being extremely relaxed after Easter weekend.

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            5. I really wanted to go to Western, but you needed to have a high average, and I didn’t. So my OAC marks needed to kick rump. I managed to get in.
              I applied to Laurier (got in) and Laurentian (got in). The only place I didn’t get into was Waterloo which was my second choice. My marks weren’t high enough I guess. 😦

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            7. Hey, right on!
              Waterloo was my dad’s alma mater. They had a Visual Arts Co-op program that I wanted to get into, but obviously didn’t…competition was too fierce!

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  5. Hey, cingrats on reaching #4!!! I know Evaoverload finished hers already (she must have reading super powers!). I’m on #12, but I started back in December.

    We didn’t have to read that one in our high school either, not for class. Of course, I read it myself just because I read most of the books in their library… It’s been ages, I should really read it again. Thanks for the reminder!

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    1. Thanks! It’s taking me time to read, honestly. But, four books so far this year is more than I have read per year in a few years!
      You’ll love my next book…you inspired me to read it! 😉

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          3. Here’s my list so far!

            TBR 01: Samuel R. Delaney – The Einstein Intersection
            TBR 02: Nick McDonell – Twelve
            TBR 03: Dennis Lehane – Mystic River
            TBR 04: Douglas Coupland – Worst. Person. Ever.
            TBR 05: Andrew Pyper – The Demonologist
            TBR 06: Donald E. Westlake – Nobody’s Perfect
            TBR 07: Geoff Berner – Festival Man
            TBR 08: Tom Neely & Friends – Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever
            TBR09: Rainer Maria Rilke – Letters To A Young Poet
            TBR10: Marian Engel – Bear
            TBR11: Warren Ellis – Gun Machine
            TBR12: Sarah Sheard – The Swing Era

            And also it appears I’m on #13 now, not 12! (see previous comment about really old built-in OS)

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          4. Cool thanks! Those are just my TBR books – the full list is up at the top of the KMA page – all the library books too…

            Yeah, she may see the tweet/twitter/whatever. I don’t have one of those. But still, Great stuff!

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  6. I have a copy of this at home. In a box. My wife read it while at school. I don’t have any recollection of ever doing so. She’s told me I need to read it, though. Before it was in a box. One day I will unpack and give it a read.

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  7. I read this book for the first time while recovering from surgery last fall – Great flow and symbolism – made it a treat to be enlightened. Instant “Top 5”. I missed it in school because I was in England for primary and the U.S for high school (makes history class really interesting btw). It reads great as an old adult 🙂

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      1. The symbolism stays with me —- “that black dog on a hot day” stuff is delicious —- and I thought that it felt like Truman Capote before I knew the connection between them (I am a literary idiot).

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        1. It’s almost magical that Lee was only ever published once (soon to be twice). And the Capote connection makes me want to explore his stuff too, including the Hoffman film.

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