I’m sure
there are a lot of posts up about the loss of Harper Lee right now, and I
decided to add my own. To Kill a Mockingbird is my all-time favorite book. I
even named a dog Scout and a business The Mockingbird. That says a lot in
itself.
I first read
the book when I was young, and it was new. I’ve read that To Kill a Mockingbird
is a controversial story. It wasn’t to me. To me, at the time, it was the story
of a little girl and her brother, and the adventures they had as children. It
was the demonstration of a wise and wonderful father who just happened to be a
lawyer. I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t want the story to end.
I finished
the book and put it on the shelf, knowing I’d read it again one day. Five or
six readings later, it’s still my favorite book. Each time I read it I take
away something different.
To me, the
characters were real. Ms. Harper’s writing made me feel as though I was right
there with them, watching what happened first hand. There were characters I
adored, and there were those whom I detested. There were people in the story
whom I pitied, and others who simply made me feel good.
Let’s not
forget Boo Radley. The mystery surrounding him in the children’s eyes
fascinated me. Dill was an inspired character with all the flaws of his age and
lifestyle. Tom Robinson was a good man whose circumstances would change the
lives of many.
The
storyline? I learned a lot from it. Having been born and raised on the West Coast,
the story covered things I didn’t know about at the time of the first reading.
It was an eye-opener, but somehow not shocking.
Most of us
have probably read a book that has this appeal – a book we won’t soon forget.
There are a few others for me, but To Kill a Mockingbird is still Number One on
my Hit Parade.
Harper Lee’s
writing inspired me in many ways, but the fact that her characters came across
as so down-to-earth and real was the biggest inspiration.
I waited for
years for her to write another book that would entertain me the way the first
one did, as did many other people. It didn’t happen until Go Set a Watchman
came out recently. I just started reading it last night. So far it’s not
grabbing me the way the first book did, but I’m only into it a few chapters.
I will say
that from discussions with my family and older people I knew in my youth, I
believe the story represented the era fairly realistically. While we can’t
change the way things were, we can learn from them.
Good-bye,
Harper Lee, and thank you!
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