Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

We are reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in preparation for the Goodreads Choice Awards Fiction winner, Go Set a Watchman.



The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior—to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

It is so strange for me to see this as a series read, as it was a standalone novel for so many years.

I have never read this book that I recall. I don't believe it was assigned reading for me in school and I never picked it up on my own. I am looking forward to finally reading it. This is one of those classics that I feel I should have read years ago.

(view spoiler)[Go Set a Watchmanhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
(view spoiler)[To Kill a Mockingbirdhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I read this in high school and loved it. My son recently just read it for his high school!
I am going to reread it this month.

Glad you'll be reading with us, Vicki! What did your son think of it. I always like books better when they are not assigned. lol

I didn't read this until I had been out of school over 20 years! I loved it!

I reread this book about 3 weeks ago and i still love it as much as the first time. I was not as fond as Go Set a Watchman though.

Kristie wrote: "Glad you'll be reading with us, Vicki! What did your son think of it. I always like books better when they are not assigned. lol"

He said he didn't like it and it was just a story about a couple of kids.
I asked if he didnt like it because it wasn't a good story or because he had to read it and he said it was because he was forced to read it.

I have had the experience that books you read as a kid if you read it 10 or 20 years later you have a completely different experience.

For instance, I read the Grapes of Wrath as a teenager and hated it. Read it again in 2008 after the Lehman Bros collapse, and had a whole different expeience!

Vicki wrote: "I asked if he didnt like it because it wasn't a good story or because he had to read it and he said it was because he was forced to read it."

Exactly! He may have liked it more, had it not been assigned. Though, he probably wouldn't have picked it up on his own either, at least not at his age.

Kirsten - I agree. Reading as an adult what you take away is so different from what you got out of the book when you were younger. I think this is partly just do to reading the books more literally as a teen and partly (mostly) due to just having so many more life experiences to be able to relate better.

I have never read this (not growing up in an English speaking country never put this on a reading list for me). So, I tried to read this, but I'm now 20% in and partly completely bored and partly highly annoyed by the level of naivety of what I've read so far. I tend to dislike stories told from a kids point of view or focusing on kids adventures because they are either stories for kids and I'm not one or because they use the point of view to illustrate innocence or inexperience. Especially, in older books or films, this leads to a very simplistic world view of good people vs bad people with the innocent kids learning about good vs bad and thereby growing up and becoming good people (because being bad is just super bad).
Anyways, that's the vibe I'm getting from the book so far. I prefer more depth. Less morals and more gritt because not even kids are innocent (which is a great thing) and there's nothing wrong with that or with being neither good nor bad. I often feel that many of the more modern classics (being younger than say 100 years) are trying to teach a lesson which makes me disinclined to want to read them.

I don't think I'll continue reading this. I don't like it one bit so far. I'll read a summary and see what I think about it then. Though I remember not being all that impressed by the film either back when I saw it about 50 years ago ;)

Or maybe 20% is too early to judge?... Still by that time, the author should have been able to present real deep characters instead of just cliché figures...

So... Having read the wiki entry, I've decided not to continue reading the book. I can't stand Bildungsromane or people taking the moral high ground which is how I perceived the first 20% and how it's characterized on wiki.
I also won't read Go set a watchman. Especially since it seems like it was published against the authors wishes while she was still sound of mind. That does seem highly amoral to me now and bizarre giving that she and this book are known for their focus on morality.

Janina, I'm sorry you don't like it. However, it is a very important book in this country.

Second, there is a great controversy with Go Set A Watchman. Was she taken advantage after her previous attorney passed? Was she compos mentis when she agreed? I have heard both cases. I will read GSAW just to see what the fuss is about... but will check it out of the library.

I agree that it certainly was a very important book and maybe still is for its historical and cultural value. I just don't feel like that's enough for me to read it and I don't think it has aged all that well. But, I might just not get it due to being from a different culture.

I loved this book in my teens, and still would rate it in my top ten favourite reads. I was so excited to read Go Set A Watchman, but unfortunately the sequel (come prequel) didn't meet my expectations. The development of the main characters left me so disappointed. Where did Scout go????? I found both stories to be quite independent of each other, so in hindsight I wish now that I'd left TKAM as a stand-alone read! I'd rather have the Scout and Atticus in To Kill A Mockingbird left preserved in those pages!

I also fall in the read-it-in-highschool category. This book had an immense impact on my life's foundation. I've pondered on To Kill a Mockingbird for years and still do sometimes. Will read it again.

I finished this one today. I am sticking with my original 5* rating. I enjoyed it and the beautifulness ( is that a word?) of children always warms my heart.

I finally started this one! I am hoping to finish before the end of the month. I'm only 8% in, so I have no idea what it's really about, but I like the beginning. :)

Vicki wrote: "I finished this one today. I am sticking with my original 5* rating. I enjoyed it and the beautifulness ( is that a word?) of children always warms my heart."

I think the word you want is "beauty" lol :) I do that all the time. I'm constantly asking my husband, "What's the word I want here?" or "Is this even a word?" It happens more frequently when I'm tired, which is pretty much always. :)

I'm at about 35% and I have a feeling that something might happen. It is something sad.... I hope I'm wrong.

Kristie wrote: "I'm at about 35% and I have a feeling that something might happen. It is something sad.... I hope I'm wrong."

How are you finding it Kristie? I can't decide whether to try it or not.

I'm liking it, Lynn. I usually have a difficult time with classics, but so far this one is fine. I'm going to try to plug through most of it today, so I'll update again later if I succeed.

Kristie wrote: "I usually have a difficult time with classics"

Yeah, me too. Hence why I can't make up my mind.

It doesn't really read like a classic. The language is pretty simple and clear. I haven't once felt like I was trying to figure it out or waiting for it to get to the point. It is certainly dated as to the expectations of gender and racially charged, but it completely fits the time period and location it was set in.

What? What does a classic read like? A book doesn't need to be difficult to be a classic.

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "What? What does a classic read like? A book doesn't need to be difficult to be a classic."

No, that's not the definition of a classic but I personally (and obviously Kristie does do) find a lot of them are difficult to read.

Whether that be because of the language used, obviously in use at the time but isn't any more or the style of writing which is very detailed and descriptive. These characteristics can be found a lot in classics, which I find difficult to read and enjoy.

Hmm.... more details = less comprehension? Sound strange. I agree about some. Many are written in earlier centuries and that can make them difficult.

(Hello, Lorna Doone! I'm talking to you here!)

Then again, I could never understand why people have trouble understanding Fawlty Towers.

I agree with Lynn. I often find the writing overly descriptive or "flowery" and want them to get to the point. Plus, the language is dated, which I don't enjoy. I often lose interest and don't feel engaged with the older writing styles. Plus, sometimes the stories are just dated and it is difficult to relate.

That is just me though. Obviously, many people love them and that is why they became and remain classics. I just don't typically enjoy them. I do keep trying them though and have found a couple that I enjoyed. I still have quite a few on my TBR too.

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "Hmm.... more details = less comprehension? "

We're not finding classics difficult to understand, we're finding classics difficult to read i.e. enjoyment

I think it depends on the classic. I'm in the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die book club. I'm surprised at some I couldn't stand and some I really enjoyed.

For instance, I really expected The Count of Monte Cristo to be hard to get into, but it really flowed and was a great adventure!

That's one I have on my TBR, Kirsten.

I don't think it's a matter of understanding for me. Most classics are telling a very simple story (some just seem intent on making it appear more difficult/complex than it truly is). But, the language is outdated and on top of that the story itself is simply on the boring side. That's just me of course. I read because I love to be transported into a different world. And there are some classics which I've truly enjoyed (I love Lolita e.g). Many stories simply don't age well even if they were once remarkable and that's especially true when they concern topics of society (most classics do). I generally feel that there are often much more powerful and important recent novels dealing with those topics.

I very much enjoyed the count of monte Cristo as well :)

I finished this one today. I thought it was great. Easy to read and become engaged in the story. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters.