All About Books discussion

Hales and Terry will be reading Go Set a Watchman in July/August. Anyone else interested is free to join them.

Thanks Greg!
I am on chapter 5 and it is just like visiting Scout again, but in the future. I have not gotten that far, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the feeling and dialog seem the same as in "To Kill A Mockingbird".

Terry wrote: "I have not gotten that far, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the feeling and dialog seem the same as in "To Kill A Mockingbird". ..."

That's very good to hear Terry!

I was starting to get worried it was akin to juvenalia from some of the comments I've seen flying around!

I will be reading it soon to draw my own conclusions. I don't need to shut my eyes to preserve either a fictional hero or an author. Greg, I hate the publicity and trust nothing of what we are being told.

Hales and Terry, I have it on my Ipod. I cannot read it immediately, but soon. I have other commitments and they must take precedence.

Looking forward to your thoughts Chrissie!

Some of the things I have been hearing make me worry the book won't be to my taste, but of course I can't know until I read it. I will probably read it someday,though I have too many commitments to do so now.

I'd like it, but I have to find the book and I don't think that in Italy it will be so easy to find so soon. I'll come as soon as I fnid it!

Looks like I need to get a copy and get started :)

I am reading this now so will be happy to join in the discussion.

I actually got my copy (from Amazon) on Monday. I read 50 pages then and read another 50 pages yesterday. I've learned so much about Harper Lee and TKAM in recent months that I'm having trouble pushing aside all that (and Gregory Peck's image) to focus on the point of GTAW. So far, the writing is delightful, though the plot is slow. One-third of the way into the book, I'm not sure where it's heading. Does anyone else have this concern?

It is slow but it does pick up and become more interesting. Still the writing and the her descriptions are nice. Her sense of time and place is easy to see.

I will definitely keep reading. Harper Lee is an institution. I agree with you about her sense of time and place. That was one of the great things about TKAM.

I am currently reading it so would love to join.

I started the book today and have reached page 107. It is slower paced than TKAM, but that is fine for me because Lee just needs time to set up her scenes. I read lots of classics, so I am accustomed to a slower paced novel. I love the revival scene! It is laugh out loud funny. So far, I am enjoying this book; however, I think things are about to get dark in Chapter 8.

Depending on when you set up the discussion, I would like to try to join in if the dates line up for me.

@Barbara msg#9: after Chapter 8 (view spoiler)[I am halfway through chapter 8, and it seems that there will be a conflict involving race, which will have a direct impact on the Finches. (hide spoiler)]

Yes, I loved that part too.

I am on chapter 17 and took a break. Just sat there, said "Whoah" and had chills going up my arms.

I didn't see Chapter 17 coming at all! It made me wonder how much of this was autobiographical. For many years, Harper Lee lived part-time in New York. Do we know how she and her father got on when she was back?

I will be starting this tomorrow. What will I think??????

Chrissie wrote: "I will be starting this tomorrow. What will I think??????"

Looking forward to your thoughts Chrissie!

Greg, thanks. I am very curious how I will react..... I gave To Kill a Mockingbird five stars, but I am NOT afraid of Atticus loosing his hero qualities.

Different thoughts are circling in my head before I even pick the book up. This is about Atticus in the years after TKAM. However, since GSAW was written first and the two were not originally intended as a "series", is it fair for the reader to judge the books together, as a unit, as more information about the same characters? I think I have to see the books as separate. Will this be possible? I must not look for answers in one book to questions that arise in another. I am trying to go into this book with fresh eyes.

Chrissie wrote: "Greg, thanks. I am very curious how I will react..... I gave To Kill a Mockingbird five stars, but I am NOT afraid of Atticus loosing his hero qualities.

Different thoughts are circli..."

Fresh eyes is the way to go, Chrissie, and not only about the characters. About the purpose of the book itself. I spent the first 100 pages expecting another TKAM. It was only when I realized that this book was something else entirely that I saw its beauty. I've now had to reread those first 100 pages. I, too, look forward to your thoughts.

Barbara, well I never expected the same book....and I am not looking for that either! I don't like series. What I want is good writing, an interesting story and a message that speaks to me.
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So far, I like the Southern dialect. I like how I feel the atmosphere of the South. (Strange b/c I am not from the South!)I feel comfortable with how people express themselves. I recognize Lee's writing and like it. It just hits a chord within me. I have only reached Part III and have started chapter 7. I don't understand why there are different parts. On the negative side, I cannot say I love how it flips back to earlier times on and off. I never like that, and not here either.

I'm not from the South either, Chrissie. I wonder if that affects my appreciation for this book. Or not?

Barbara wrote: "I'm not from the South either, Chrissie. I wonder if that affects my appreciation for this book. Or not?"

Don't know!

☔Diane S. wrote: "It is slow but it does pick up and become more interesting. Still the writing and the her descriptions are nice. Her sense of time and place is easy to see."

You felt too the time and place!

I think when reading this book that is what you need to keep in mind. She does a wonderful job reflecting the time and place, and the reader needs to go back to that time period with her.

I love Calpurnia!

I've found it!!!
I'll start it in a day or two!

I have completed Go Set a Watchman.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Chrissie, you said everything I wanted to say, only better!

Terry, you are too kind.

I've read it and I did enjoy it. I agree that it should be looked at separately from TKAM. I listened to it narrated by Reese Witherspoon -- quite well done! One reviewer said it was like TKAM was the childhood dream view of life and GSAW is an adult child seeing a more realistic view of a parent and I think that's an apt statement about the two books, especially keeping in mind that Harper Lee's editor was the one that pulled out the idea of TKAM from the original book.

Terry wrote: "Chrissie, you said everything I wanted to say, only better!"

Agreed! Excellent review, Chrissie!

I haven't read the book but I have just read your review, Chrissie. It's answered a few of my questions. I think I will read it when I am back

Thanks to those of you who have appreciated my review. I like helping others figure out if a book is for them.

Thanks everyone for posting your thoughts and reviews. I am so glad many of you enjoyed Go Set a Watchman and it allows me to feel more comfortable in my decision to read it during Aug/Sep.

I'm half way through and liking it quite; I've now read your review Chrissie and agree up to the point I've read: I cant' say anything for the ending before I finish the novel!
What I think - and what you've said - is that the themes of the two books are strongly different: this one is more centred on family relations, also on love relations - am I in love? Will he be the right one? etc, while TKAMB os more on "Do the right thing".
I'll finish it soon and write more after the ending

Laura, don't you think the flashbacks where she is a kid sparkle? You can see so clearly why the publisher recommended that she do MORE with that.

I think it is so clear how you see one book growing from the other.

It is interesting also that she was younger when she wrote this one. Just a couple of years make a difference in maturity.

They are indeed! ANd yes, I appreciated to see how TKAMB comes out of this one

You both make such good points, Laura and Chrissie. Add to these the factor of working with an editor. "Go Set A Watchman" was rejected by numerous editors until one saw the potential in those flashbacks. From what I read, that editor worked closely with Harper Lee for 2+ years to help her craft the kind of story that readers would buy.

This is what editors do. It isn't easy for the author, and, as a writer, I speak from experience. It's painful, time-consuming, and often demoralizing. For a writer to put her heart and soul into a book, then stand back and see it torn apart -- it's devastating. Many people have suggested that GSAW would have benefited from editing, but I'm guessing that, at 89, Harper Lee just didn't have the strength.

Yes. I'm one of those people who do believe she was of sound enough mind to have agreed to the publication of this book. For all those years, her sister Alice was the watchman (no pun intended) at her door, protecting her from the kind of publicity she didn't like. Alice died three years ago, so the watchman was gone.

If Harper Lee had indeed worked with an editor on this book, what would you have had her do first?

Barbara wrote: "If Harper Lee had indeed worked with an editor on this book, what would you have had her do first?
"

Fix the ending.

The ending actually didn't bother me. I had tears in my eyes. What concerned me more were the first 100 pages. I kept asking myself where she was headed. Had those 100 been cut to, say 75, pages, the conflict would have been revealed sooner.

The story ended too abruptly for me. I didn't think it convincing that Jean Louise accepted the whole thing so quickly, after she was so distraught and shocked the day before. I was listening to Reese Witherspoon narrating the book, so I really wasn't prepared for it to end when I heard the Audible voice say "thank you" for listening.

Wow. So interesting. I had the physical book and lingered over those last pages, actually re-read them several times, which drew the ending out even more. But I'll bet Reese Witherspoon was awesome. Yes?

Yes, her performance was quite good. I'm no Southerner, but to me, she really got the dialect well!

I listened too.Reese Witherspoon was fantastic.

I'm liking even better than TKAMB sometimes; I've still got 80 pages to go, but I find the description of racial tension in the south USA much more pregnant and to the point than than sometimes in her other book. I really want now to see the ending you talk of!!!

Laura, Terry and I both think it is too quick. Read Terry's message 42, that is exactly how I think. A changed (view spoiler)[view can occur, but it takes time to mature and soften one's views toward parents. (hide spoiler)]