Go Set a Watchman in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 22, 2015 Renata rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, grownup, re-read, worst-bestsellers

Eh, okay, I read all the controversy about whether or not Harper Lee actually wanted to publish this or not. I know a lot of my librarian friends opted not to read this at all because of their discomfort with the whole process, which I understand. But ultimately I was too curious to resist and I threw myself onto the library's long waitlist for this.

When it came in for me, I was pleasantly surprised, because it's like... not terrible. It's funny and has some great dialogue. But, I'm also definit Eh, okay, I read all the controversy about whether or not Harper Lee actually wanted to publish this or not. I know a lot of my librarian friends opted not to read this at all because of their discomfort with the whole process, which I understand. But ultimately I was too curious to resist and I threw myself onto the library's long waitlist for this.

When it came in for me, I was pleasantly surprised, because it's like... not terrible. It's funny and has some great dialogue. But, I'm also definitely on board with the "feels like an unpolished draft of To Kill a Mockingbird that wasn't meant to be published in this form" crowd. There are weird vignettes that don't seem to go anywhere.. almost like a short story collection with a frame narrative, but not quite that. But those stories were very charming and full of Scout's strong narrative voice, which made TKAM so endearing. It also refers back to the events of TKAM but in a slightly different form.

Anyway, let's talk about the ~shocking reveal~ that Atticus is a racist. I... liked it? If you look back at Atticus in TKAM there is definitely a paternalistic quality there (um, I mean, not just because he's literally Scout's father). And his "oh I mean I don't think they should be LYNCHED anymore, no, but the NAACP is just taking things TOO FAR" attitude is pretty realistic for a 70-something white dude in the south in the 1950s.

(view spoiler)

anyway, no, this is not going to be the enduring classic that TKAM is, but there's some sharp character pieces here, and an interesting muddle of racial politics in the Jim Crow south. I would love for this to get the Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography treatment with annotations and whatnot, because I think it's most interesting as a weird artifact rather than a standalone novel.
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re-read for the pod:
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller... ...more

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Feb 03, 2015 Ashley added it

Shelves: fiction-novels-plays-stories, fun

I've decided not to provide a star rating for "Go Set A Watchman," not because I don't have an opinion about the quality of the book but because I simply don't know how to rate it!

As an historical document, it's easily worth five stars. I think that the newest Lee novel can tell us a lot about both Lee's political and personal perspective as she wrote "Mockingbird" and about the mid-1950s. That her publisher thought this book, a much more explicitly political book, was not sale-able is interest I've decided not to provide a star rating for "Go Set A Watchman," not because I don't have an opinion about the quality of the book but because I simply don't know how to rate it!

As an historical document, it's easily worth five stars. I think that the newest Lee novel can tell us a lot about both Lee's political and personal perspective as she wrote "Mockingbird" and about the mid-1950s. That her publisher thought this book, a much more explicitly political book, was not sale-able is interesting. I also think that, for readers unfamiliar with the 1950s American South, "Go Set A Watchman" does a nice job complicating the role of "good" liberal white people in the Civil Rights movement. Atticus' evolution into a racist is, in my opinion, neither surprising nor particularly inappropriate.

As a companion to "Mockingbird" it's also fascinating-- seeing how the story and characters evolved into the beloved crew we've all known for decades is also revealing. The Scout in "Go Set A Watchman" is angrier and less innocent (of course) than the child we know in "To Kill a Mockingbird." It tells us about the woman that Scout became and that in itself is interesting.

Finally, as a novel or piece of literature, "Go Set A Watchman" is uneven. It's clearly a first draft by a young author still finding her voice. There are parts of the book that are undeveloped and Lee's politics are muddy at times. It's hard to read Scout agree with Atticus that the 10th amendment is why southerners resisted Brown v. Board. I believe that Lee wanted to show people how even liberal white southerners could hold both these ideas in their heads at once: segregation is good but injustice (under law) is not. Had she been able to revise and revisit these political arguments, she might have produced a book very much of-its-time but one that wouldn't have held up for decades the way TKAM's childhood story does.

In all, I'm glad that I read it and thrilled that we get to see this more complex, less lovable version of the Finch family. If you loved TKAM, it's worth reading. Frankly, I think it's worth reading in light of the ongoing discussion of racism and how to be a white ally in the US. ...more

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Jul 15, 2015 Melle rated it really liked it

Shelves: small-town, fiction, southern, adult, racism, read-in-2015, copyright-2015, alabama, united-states-of-america, homecoming

This probably isn't going to be a very popular opinion, but, overall in terms of themes, I liked this just as much and maybe even a little better than To Kill a Mockingbird. It certainly isn't as crafted or as polished or as optimistic as TKaM, but GSaW is much more real, much more human, and it is a book that found me at the right place and time in my life. While TKaM is a book about aspiration and childhood, GSaW is about realism and adulthood, especially what is now termed "emerging adulthood ...more

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Jul 27, 2015 Kecia rated it liked it

Shelves: usa, book-riot-2015

This novel comes with all kinds of questions but I could not resist the biggest novel debut of the year.

I tried to pretend that I had never read To Kill a Mockingbird. It's one of those rare books where I like the movie better. I tried but it's had to pretend that I had never met Scout and Atticus and Jem etc. I tried to forget all of that I read this book on its own terms. And what I got was a good read but nothing great. It seemed preachy and in light of the election of President Obama and Bl This novel comes with all kinds of questions but I could not resist the biggest novel debut of the year.

I tried to pretend that I had never read To Kill a Mockingbird. It's one of those rare books where I like the movie better. I tried but it's had to pretend that I had never met Scout and Atticus and Jem etc. I tried to forget all of that I read this book on its own terms. And what I got was a good read but nothing great. It seemed preachy and in light of the election of President Obama and Black Lives Matter movement a bit dated. The best parts of the novel were the flashbacks to Scout's youth. I found her adult self difficult to connect with. I tried but it all sort of fell flat for me.

But when I thought about myself as Scout, as a person who was greatly influenced by Atticus Finch, who was coming back to these characters, to Maycomb, that's when I understood her better. Like Scout, the reader comes back after a long absence to find that things are not always what they seem, people are not always what they seem. Calpurna may have cooked her meals and wiped away her tears, but that didn't mean Calpurna was delighted about her role in life. Atticus, the all knowing and perfect father, only to learn that he is human and that his ideas are more nuanced that the reader or Scout ever knew. I know I certainly felt the same sort of betrayal that Scout felt. How in the world could Atticus say these things? Be a member of the Klan? How? I too wanted to lash out at him.

Then I thought the conversations I had with my own parents after the events in Ferguson. They were uncomfortable and generation differences were at play, but even though we disagreed they are still my parents and I still love them. Scout deals with this same dynamic. She loves Atticus even if she disagrees with his ideas. There is always that moment when we stop seeing our parents as perfect beings and have to face their humanness. So while Lee gives us a story of young woman who's ideas of who her father is gets shattered, love is still present.

Harper Lee was/is a woman who had something to say. I'm glad she rewrote these characters and gave us Mockingbird. Maybe she needed to write this to get to Mockingbird. Whatever, at least the Did Truman Capote write it? controversy went away. ...more

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Aug 08, 2015 Kristen rated it it was ok

NOTE: This review contains some spoilers. To be fair, I had no intention of reading this book, particularly after reading several reviews. But it was given to me by a loved one, who told me that I should form my own opinions about it. So I did. This book was written before Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, and wasn't an after-the-fact sequel. This fact is helpful when assessing the book. It also should be said that for 50+ years this book was not published while Lee was still of sound mind. Her s NOTE: This review contains some spoilers. To be fair, I had no intention of reading this book, particularly after reading several reviews. But it was given to me by a loved one, who told me that I should form my own opinions about it. So I did. This book was written before Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, and wasn't an after-the-fact sequel. This fact is helpful when assessing the book. It also should be said that for 50+ years this book was not published while Lee was still of sound mind. Her sister, who managed her affairs after Lee's mind gave way, fiercely protected her. And then her sister died, and someone else took over Lee's affairs. And I truly believe that if Lee were of sound mind this would not have been published. She had 50+ years to do it and she never did, and I think for good reason. To me, it seems the motivations to publish were purely financial (and not to benefit her), and it forever changes her legacy.

I believe I was given this book to read for the positives in it. Scout, now age 26 and living in New York, comes back to Maycomb on holiday and realizes for the first time how different her beliefs and values, particularly when it comes to racial equality, are from her lifelong friends and loved ones. Scout is a strong and passionate independent woman in the 1960s, and (one hopes) most readers will empathize with her struggle amidst the racism she sees around her, and her desire to have her own identity and own ideas and not just be someone's docile wife. And one could argue that the book paints a reasonably accurate picture of race relations and perceptions in the rural South in the 1960s, as awful as they were. It also becomes a story in which a child must recognize their parent as a flawed and imperfect human, and take them down from their pedestal. In those ways, this book has some merit.

But it is the complete and utter degradation of the character of Atticus Finch and his seemingly newfound libertarian/state's rights/benevolent child perception of racism and race equality that gnaws at me without end. For me, Atticus Finch was and has been one of the most noble characters in all of literature. He's the sort of character people name their child after, in the hope that their child can emulate some of his most noble virtues. To see him as an older and yes, racist man, is devastating and also out of character with who he is To Kill A Mockingbird. The trial and his actions as a younger man are mentioned in the book, and Scout clearly believes that the same person who represented a one-armed black child accused of raping a white girl couldn't be the same racist older man. I feel the same. I feel like Lee wrote this manuscript to get a feel for her characters, and she told the story she wanted to tell when she wrote To Kill A Mockingbird. She dropped the microphone and peaced out after writing one great masterpiece. This book completely tarnishes that, and that saddens things for me. I fully admit to being one of those readers who loves the Atticus Finch of To Kill A Mockingbird. That book had a profound and lasting impact on me, not the least of which because this was a good, just, and noble man, a quietly unremarkable everyday hero who did the right thing because it was simply that -- the right and noble thing. I am actively choosing to ignore this novel in the legacy of Finch, and for Lee somewhat, too. ...more

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Jul 13, 2015 Alvin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

This was an obligatory read; I love TKAM. I got caught in the hype in picking this one up. For being a draft, it might get 3 stars. There is a lot of potential in the book. The writing is clunky and awkward. There are whole sections that I feel are pointless. I can appreciate, however, to get a glimpse into the mind and writing process of Harper Lee. Crichton said, "Great books aren't written. They're rewritten." This is a good example of that. Edited, this could be a good book. ...more

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