Saturday, October 2, 2010

Review: To Kill a Mocking Bird

Title: To Kill A Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Published: 1960, J.B. Lippincott Company
Genre: Modern Classic, Literary Fiction
Accolades: 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Radcliff Publishing Course: 100 Best Novels of the Century, National Endowment for the Arts - The Big Read List and on and on and on...

Most of us have either read the book, seen the movie, or at least heard of this 1960 modern classic. I remember watching the movie years ago with my mom and listening to her tell me that I just had to read the book - "it's one of the best books out there, Jayme." Well mom, it only took 35 years, but I did finally read it and once again you were right.

The story about how one man stood up against the convictions of a small southern town in the 1930s to do what was right is insight fully told through the eyes of his daughter. Her voice is fresh and distinct and pulls you in from the first sentence. But it's the little nuggets of wisdom through out the book that holds you-

"but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." (page 120, To Kill A Mockingbird

The writing is clever and the topic captures a time in America's history that as painful as it is the story needs to be told. This book is literary art.

My Rating: 5 out of 5
Note: I read the 2010 50th Anniversary edition from Harper Perennial Modern Classics