Atticus nobly defends the man, Tom Robinson. ![]() Sitting between these two worlds is a trial that rocks the town - in which a black man is charged with raping a white woman. A time and place where some folks are clinging to outdated traditions and ideas while others are eagerly embracing a more just and egalitarian future. It so beautifully captures life in a small town in the middle of the 1930s Depression, with all the associated desperation. Everyone should read it, and more than once. It’s truly a brilliant book, one of a kind, full of humor, and reflects a significant chapter in this country’s history. Together, over a period of three years, these three spend their time testing limits and trying to make sense of all that goes on in their small Southern town. And the two siblings spend each summer with a neighbor’s relative, Dil - who is about Scout’s age and modeled on Harper Lee’s childhood friend, author Truman Capote. Scout’s older brother, Jem, is about 10 years old. She is a quintessential tomboy, just about to start school, though she doesn’t understand the need to go. If you are unfamiliar with the book, let me VERY briefly introduce you to some of the central characters:Īt the beginning of the novel, “Scout” (aka Jean Louise) Finch is the six-year-old daughter of a respected attorney, a widower Scout calls by his first name, Atticus. ![]() ![]() And for the first time, I understood one of the things the novel is known for - that is, how Harper Lee succeeds so perfectly in balancing Scout’s voice, as both a child living the events and as an adult looking back on them. Please stay with me – because what I’m about to write may seem contradictory at first glance.įirst, my decision was a good one! There is something about listening to the words, rather than reading them, that helped me pay closer attention to how this author put sentences together with such carefully chosen words. I have read this American classic (and winner of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize) before (awarded it five stars on Goodreads) and seen the 1962 movie with Gregory Peck many, many times (still a masterpiece after more than 55 years)!īut this time I decided to invest the 12 hours it took to listen to the audiobook – because I wanted to get a better appreciation of Harper Lee‘s storytelling voice.
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