I did it! I finally sat down and read To Kill a Mockingbird and found myself thoroughly immersed in the world of Scout, Jem, Atticus and the many varied characters within the book. Instead of writing a “review” because there must be thousands of reviews written about this American classic already (and I always feel quite underqualified to actually review a classic) I’ve decided to just write down some of my thoughts about To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) for all of you (WARNING – may contain spoilers in this semi-review)!

What surprised me the most about TKAM?

I really had very little to go on when I opened the first page. I knew the book was about racism and prejudice, but that was all the information I had. So I was kind of surprised that the book wasn’t this epic story that I’ve sometimes associated with a classic. Instead of spanning generations or a lifetime, TKAM focuses on just a few years in the life of Scout and her older brother Jem. It was really a very simple, quiet book. Having said that, Harper Lee didn’t have to write this epic drama to get her point across. It was a very powerful book, all neatly packed in just over three hundred pages.

What did I love best about TKAM?

I have to say I really enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout the novel. Scout of course had some of the best lines and I particularly loved it when she started swearing, in the hopes that her father would take her out of school:

“Aw, that’s a damn story,” I (Scout) said.
“I beg your pardon?”
Atticus said, “Don’t pay any attention to her, Jack. She’s trying you out. Cal says she’s been cussing fluently for a week, now.”
Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows and said nothing. I was proceeding on the dim theory, aside from the innate attractiveness of such words, that if Atticus discovered I had picked them up at school he wouldn’t make me go. But at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn ham, please, Uncle Jack pointed at me. “See me afterwards, young lady,” he said

Who was my favorite character?

I have to say Scout because I loved that she was spunky, intelligent and wise beyond her years.

What was my best discovery about TKAM?

I really loved how the author tied in the title of the book to the entire story. When Scout says to her father “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” a few pages short of the end of the story is really a beautiful moment. I also felt the theme of “putting yourself in another man’s shoes” was a powerful one. At the end of the book there is a very scene where Scout is looking at her street from Boo Radley’s front porch and realizes that her father’s advice to always look at a situation from another person’s perspective is spot on. It’s given me a lot to think about since finishing the book.

What is my biggest regret when it comes to TKAM?

Probably the fact that unlike a lot of Americans, I didn’t have the opportunity to read TKAM while young and in school. I would love to have read and studied TKAM with my peers at a young age.  Check out this guest post over at She Is Too Fond Of Books to see how one teacher has come up with a very creative and interactive way to teach teenagers directly from the pages of TKAM. How awesome and interesting would that assignment be? But unfortunately I didn’t read this book as a teenager and wish that I had, not only to have been able to learn about TKAM while still a kid, but to have been able to re-read it as an adult to see how or if my perceptions of TKAM changed with time.  

Check out this website that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of TKAM (plus you can listen to Sissy Spacek’s audio recording of the book). Thank you Harper Collins for sending me this book for me to read and review!

Lastly, I found this HILARIOUS video put together by Cat over at Beyond Books which includes her thoughts on the first eight chapters of TKAM.

Thank you Cat for allowing me to share your video on my blog (make sure you all watch the video until the end – it’s worth it)!!  I hope Cat that you continue with the video series as you read TKAM (and no, the Mockingbird is not named Frank)!