To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Sissy Spacek. I don't know what to say about the book, other than, if you haven't read it, go, read. Absolutely worth the time.
There was a scene where Scout is in school and the teacher is talking about what Hitler was doing to the Jews. The teacher was denouncing Hitler and praising the Jewish people, not realizing how hypocritical she was being because everything she said about Jews was just as true for the black people that she hated. Scout's feeling of something not being quite right about what she was saying, and her gradual awakening to racism was superbly done.
Jim's confidence in the outcome of the trial, seeing only what was right and wrong, made me want to weep for his innocence.
To Kill A Mockingbird is just as pertinent now, as when it was first written. There is so much social injustice going on in the world right now, and it's difficult not to scream at the top of my lungs, "We should be past all of this hate!" But when our political leaders make comments about there being "good people on both sides" when speaking about people protesting peacefully and the neo-Nazi's carrying torches and weapons; when a person running for Senator says the last time America was great was before slavery was abolished, and then not being immediately disqualified to be elected. It feels like we're being dragged in the absolute wrong direction, and this book just shines a spotlight on that fact.
Great writing aside, I would encourage people to read this book and then take a good, hard look at the world today and decide which side of history they want to be standing on.
View all my reviews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Sissy Spacek. I don't know what to say about the book, other than, if you haven't read it, go, read. Absolutely worth the time.
There was a scene where Scout is in school and the teacher is talking about what Hitler was doing to the Jews. The teacher was denouncing Hitler and praising the Jewish people, not realizing how hypocritical she was being because everything she said about Jews was just as true for the black people that she hated. Scout's feeling of something not being quite right about what she was saying, and her gradual awakening to racism was superbly done.
Jim's confidence in the outcome of the trial, seeing only what was right and wrong, made me want to weep for his innocence.
To Kill A Mockingbird is just as pertinent now, as when it was first written. There is so much social injustice going on in the world right now, and it's difficult not to scream at the top of my lungs, "We should be past all of this hate!" But when our political leaders make comments about there being "good people on both sides" when speaking about people protesting peacefully and the neo-Nazi's carrying torches and weapons; when a person running for Senator says the last time America was great was before slavery was abolished, and then not being immediately disqualified to be elected. It feels like we're being dragged in the absolute wrong direction, and this book just shines a spotlight on that fact.
Great writing aside, I would encourage people to read this book and then take a good, hard look at the world today and decide which side of history they want to be standing on.
View all my reviews