Description
To kill a mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee which was published in 1960. This timeless classic explores human behavior and the collective conscience of the deep South in the early 20th century. Humor entwines the delicate strands of prejudice, hatred, hypocrisy, love, and innocence to create one of the best novels ever written. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors, and event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama in 1936, when she was ten.
The story is told by the six-year-old Jean Louise Finch, it takes place during three years (1933-35) of the Great Depression in the fictional 'tired old town' of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County. Jean Louise Finch nicknamed 'Scout' lives with her older brother Jeremy nicknamed 'Jem' and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill who visits and stays with his aunt every summer in Maycomb. Three children terrified yet fascinated by their reclusive neighbor Arthur Radley "Boo". People of the town hesitate to talk about Boo. Atticus was delegated to defend a black man Tom Robinson who has been accused of rape a white young woman. Although citizens of Maycomb disapprove, yet Atticus agrees to it. Jem and Scout were being taunted by other kids but Scout defends her dad and stood up with him. One day on Halloween Peagent Scout encounters Mr. Boo somehow but she never saw him again in her life.
Review
The novel was instantly successful, widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States. It is one of the most cherished stories of all time which has been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than forty million copies worldwide.
It has become a classic of modern American literature and won the Pulitzer Prize. It was voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read and best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the United States. The heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred was widely admired by Anti-racial groups and organizations.
Notwithstanding, dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its warmth and humor. Atticus Finch, The father of the narrator, served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. It views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a 6 years old girl, as her father, a crusading local lawyer, risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of raping a white young girl.
The historian Joseph Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."
Adaptation
The novel was adapted for a film in 1962, which was made with the same title, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. The film was a hit at the box office and won three Oscars: Best Actor for Gregory Peck, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White), and Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium). It was nominated for five more Oscars including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout.
The book has also been adapted as a play by Christopher Sergel. It debuted in 1990 in Monroeville, a town that labels itself 'The Literary Capital of Alabama'. The play runs every May on the county courthouse grounds and townspeople make up the cast. White people from the audience have been invited to be 'The Jury' for the play every year. The relationship of the town to the book is: "It becomes part of the town ritual, like the religious underpinning of Mardi Gras. The whole town crowded around the actual courthouse".
- About the Author
- Nelle Harper Lee (born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama) was an American novelist best known for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). It won her Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee only published two books, yet she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 for her contribution to literature. She also received numerous honorary degrees. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee's second book Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015. It was the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee continued to respond to her work's impact until her death in February 2016.
- Link to buy more books on amazon :Rating: 4.8/5
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (1960)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062420704
- ISBN-13: 978-0062420701
- Genre: Classic American Fiction, Classic Literature and Fiction, Satire
- Cost: $10.05
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