To Kill A Mockingbird
This entry is about the book, not the movie.
Well I finally had the chance to read one of the most popular books in twentieth century. This book is ranked number one by the British librarians on “Which book should every adult read before they die?”. This is my first attempt to review a book, so please be gentle on critics. And as usual, my reviews are always spoiler free.
Theme
It’s very clear that this book talks about racial injustice. However I feel some kind of reluctance to give that as an answer if I were ever asked about this book’s theme. It is injustice to describe the book in a couple words. And it won’t cover all of good things in this book. So I add “family”, “coming out of age” and even “children education” just to make it broader. You will never know, maybe there is still a person who uses grep to choose his books.
Plot
I think the first half of the book focused on developing the characters and their backgrounds. I took a long time reading this part. It contains a pretty good amount of Middle English words so paying Merriem-Webster a visit was a must (or not). Added to that a history lesson about America and some Christians stuff I didn’t get. As soon as the main conflict started, it’s a downhill run.
Characters
The character were well developed throughout the book. Seeing the character interactions really gave you a warm feeling. Seriously. I guess I have to put some characters explanation here. First, our racial hero, Atticus Finch. This single father is a self-claimed bad parent. So he decided to teach his children by example. I don’t think there is a father in the history of fiction that can beat him (please forgive my melodramatic mood). Second, Jean Louise Finch (or Scout). This is a bright kid. At first I am kinda confused why a girl smart enough to deduct his brother motive by his sentence can not understand a simple matter. If you look at the start of the book, it is clear that the main character narrates the story as a flashback. So in the book, you will see two kind of her sentences of thought. One as a child (innocent), and one as a grown woman (omniscient).
Why (not) read this?
First, this book has a lot of moral lessons on a lot of subjects. And they are all well put. You will not feel like being preached. I frequently found myself smiling when finding a good lesson in the book. Second, it really moves your heart. Well this one is amazing. It did not move my heart by a descriptive sad scene spanned for pages. It simply tells you a story.
Conclusion
I must watch the movie now, there is no other way. It is simply a book every adult should read before they die.
December 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm using Firefox 3.0.4 on Windows Vista
I haven’t found the movie. I’m also curious about the movie.
I read the book in Indonesian and English.
I agree.. Atticus Finch is the best father in history of fiction. My favourite is when Atticus had to shot a rabies dog and we were exposed to the past of Atticus. He could choose to be ignorance like his people but he chose to be example for Jem and Scout.
Most idealist I knew in history (fiction and real) were more like Jem.
Btw, a little bit background. The book was published for the first time in 1960. The Civil Right Movement maybe first time gained their moment in 1955 when Rosa Parks boycott Montgomery Bus. I think there was a reference to her in To Kill A Mockingbird (somewhere about a woman refused to give up her seat on the bus).
Then in 1960s we saw two guys with different characteristic became a symbol of Civil Right Movement. One was Martin Luther King Jr. while another was Malcolm X.
The story of the book itself was put on 1930s, when US had Great Depression.
December 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm using GNU IceCat 3.0.1-g1 on gNewSense
Thanks for your comment (probably the best comment in history of this blog LOL).
I forgot to write about how bad black people treated in this book. Slavery was still there at that time right? If yes then you can not blame the author. Besides she pictured the majority of them good.
Bless me. I know a friend who has this movie :p
December 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pm using Opera 9.52 on Windows XP
IMHO the ‘message’ of this book is more about prejudice in general, while the main conflict is about racism, the treatment of Boo Radley shows another view about prejudice.
The line `it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird` speaks volumes about the danger of preconceived notion about something else, and about making rash judgement based on superficial knowledge :p
~anyhow
~justMy2Cents
~:p
December 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm using Firefox 2.0.0.20 on Windows XP
Ahh thanks.. thats a more appropriate theme for this. My senses were clouded by the amount of wisdom in this book :p
Do not forget the cola guy, the one who perpetrated fraud to himself :))
~kapanGwNontonFilmnyaYah?
December 30th, 2008 at 12:59 pm using Firefox 3.0.1 on Windows XP
Gara2 posting ini gw jadi browsing2 wiki sampe terdampar di kasus Emmett Till dan Scottsboro Boys. Ngaco banget tuh. Jadi inget Uncle Tom’s Cabin juga, terdampar di rak buku gw selama hampir 3 tahun. Belom dibaca karna Inggrisnya rada bikin gw pusing -.-”
Btw, list ‘must read’-nya kok klasik semua yak. Trus ada winnie the pooh pulak :? Yang sesuai selera gw cuman The Alchemist sama The Prophet sama Life of Pi.
* Perhaps this is the most unimportant comment in the history of this blog :P *
December 30th, 2008 at 9:11 pm using GNU IceCat 3.0.1-g1 on gNewSense
gw senang klo secara tidak langsung bisa membantu menambah wawasan lu :p
punya buku2 yg bisa gw pinjem ga syn?
*i can give you that title if you want :p*
December 31st, 2008 at 6:49 am using Firefox 3.0.4 on Windows Vista
Finally, I watched the movie with my friend’s fiancee and he, a lawyer who work for US Navy and Marine told me the movie was the one who inspired him.
The movie was more about the trial of Tom Robinson. In the first half of the movie, it focused about the children’s curiousity about Bo Radley. The music were between horror-like and fun-like. They cut most of the scenes in the school and Atticus’ family’s disagreement about how Atticus raised his children.
In the second part of the movie, it focused on the trial of Tom Robinson. It used less music and the absence of it really helped the atmosphere when the black community (plus Dill, Jem, and Scout) could not believed the jury’s verdict.
Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch reminded me of Clark Kent. No wonder, Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Justice, Marvel) used Gregory Peck as model of his Superman (and he used the young Gregory Peck as model of Bruce Wayne).
Calpurnia was slim on the movie. When I read the book, Calpurnia was fat on my imagination.
Scout on the movie was the girl on the cover of English version of “To Kill A Mockingbird” I had.
Bo Radley on the movie was exactly similar to what I had imagine: a shy and pale person.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:06 am using Firefox 3.0.1 on Windows XP
Ada, lu mo yang bertema apa?
Gw ada The Zahir, Eleven Minutes, Veronika Memutuskan Mati *not really recommended* by Paolo Coelho, Sang Nabi *yang ini second bible gw*, Jesus Son of Man by Kahlil Gibran. 1984 by George Orwell, Sophie’s World by Jostein Gardner. Yang gw inget itu aja.
Oh iya, ada 1 yang recomended banget, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Idenya keren abis, dijelaskan dengan kalimat sebab akibat sederhana yang logis tapi menghancurkan konsep peradaban sekaligus religius yang dipercaya hampir umat manusia sedunia. Padahal ratusan halaman isinya cuman percakapan antara seorang manusia dengan seekor gorila. Menurut gw buku ini masterpiece jika ditinjau dari segi ide. Must read!
Btw, gw pinjem buku elu yang ini yak :D
December 31st, 2008 at 10:35 pm using GNU IceCat 3.0.1-g1 on gNewSense
kun : thx again :D
syn : gw mo yg 1984 dong…sisanya gw wiki dulu :D
ga usah pinjem syn, gw kasih dengan tulus =))