Tomorrow marks the day that the sequel to Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, gets released for publication. The controversy concerning this sequel is being addressed all over the internet, including this Neal Simon blog that is on our Times-Reporter website.
To be honest, this news meant very little to me up until a few weeks ago when I read my fellow T-R blogger Jim Gill’s article, Lessons From Atticus Finch.
I had very little familiarity with the novel, other than it was considered a classic. One thing that I distinctly remember from my high school and college days is that the title, literary classic, often does not equal literary enjoyment. I’m talking to you, Kafka’s The Trial. And you, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Don’t try to hide, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
And you know who else doesn’t get a free pass from me: Billy Shakespeare! I would say Shakespeare is kind of like maple syrup: sweet and smooth in small doses, but too much makes for a sticky mess! Reading Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet was pretty much like reading a foreign language. I had to use the side notes to translate just about every line into something I understand. And that’s coming from a student that loved reading and was the son of an English teacher!
My knowledge of To Kill a Mockingbird was very limited. I knew that it involved racism and a court trial. Years back, I had watched the American Film Institute special, AFI’s 100 YEARS, 100 HEROES AND VILLIANS. Guess who edged out James Bond and Indiana Jones for the #1 spot…
Atticus Finch. Considering lawyer got the #1 hero spot, I put watching the movie on my to-do list. And it stayed on the way-back-burner of that list for years. Mr. Gill’s blog was perfect timing though, as I was heading for a beach vacation the next week. I needed a book to read in the shade (I am a burner), so I bummed a copy off of a fellow teacher and headed to Florida with the family.
My verdict? I am proud to say that To Kill a Mockingbird is a true American classic in every sense of the word. Not only is it a brilliant take on the evils of racism and the courage to stand up to it. It also paints a beautiful, vibrant portrait of childhood through the eyes of its ornery, adorable narrator, Scout. It is a story that I will always cherish and look forward to introducing to my own children.
So thanks, Jim Gill, for sharing your passion for this beautiful novel with me along with the rest of your readers! Now I need a recommendation for my upcoming 20-year anniversary trip with my beautiful wife. And remember, no Shakespeare!
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