Hatrack River Forum: to kill a mocking bird

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Posted by gwan (Member # 6194) on :

I was just reading the required reading thread, and I asked myself... Why do people catorigize "TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD" with great books? It really wasn't that great of a book. I didn't like it. Let alone love it. So what is this fasination? Harper Lee wasn't even all that talented. It was the only book she ever wrote and, obviouslty she had no imagination because it is based upon her childhood. so what is the deal? [Confused]

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

Hmmm. I'd be more likely to argue that what one did with an idea was more important than where it came from. Everyone has ideas, be they from one's own childhood or what have you -- but the real grinding work is in the telling of that story.

For me, the beauty of TKAM was in the dialogue and in the unfolding of the plot from a child's perspective. Both are hard to do convincingly, and Harper Lee did well in both aspects.

Posted by screechowl (Member # 2651) on :

As I recall, there is a substantial nest of Mockingbird supporters here.

So she wrote only one great book? This is a valid critical point?

edited for sticky key

[ April 27, 2004, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: screechowl ]

Posted by Yebor1 (Member # 1380) on :

Puuuhhhleeeeese

Sounds like somebody is just trying to start an argument or just did not pay attention in class when the book was discussed.

It is poignant told story with suspense, humor, symbolism, and a study of the human condition.

[Hat]

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

quote:
For me, the beauty of TKAM was in the dialogue and in the unfolding of the plot from a child's perspective. Both are hard to do convincingly, and Harper Lee did well in both aspects.

I totally agree, CT. TKAM is a beautiful story, well-told, and one of my favorites.

Posted by LockeTreaty (Member # 5627) on :

I had a lot of experience with that book, and in my opinion I wouldn't place it as one of the best books. From reading it in english and helping students from Argentina understand the book, I honestly can say that I didn't find a lot of depth to the book. And sense that is probably one the top thing that I look for in a book, I wouldn't be able to classify it as great.

I'm not saying that the story wasn't well told or intriguing, because it was. The character of Boo Radley(sp?) was interesting at the very least. But, in the end when I read again a couple of years ago, I noticed that it just couldn't hold my attention. John Locke's Second Treatise of Government held my attention far better than that, and so did Hobbes' Leviathan back in high school.

Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :

I understand what you mean about depth of the book, I thought so too. It was going all well, when then the thought came to me. The Robinson trial was it. That was the climax. It needed to develop more. The climax wasn't all that great, something was missing. I guess its just that the trial itself was just not a topic that could pass out as a climax...Trials in stories are just not strong enough to sustain all the events in the story unless its got a more important sense to it. If you think about it, humans are on trial for their life every day, you see that on TV and hear it on the radio, its not such a big deal to the world anymore. I'm not saying that it doesn't matter, but we really don't feel the absence of someone who died unless we knew her or him. And even though the reader did know Tom Robinson, he is still just a fictional character so naturally he's not that much of an impresion...

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

Anyone else thinking of a particularly sardonic mapgie from the title?

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

Yep. One of those wizened old sailor-parrots with a really foul mouth:

"Arr, yah old wattled biddy ..."

Posted by Yebor1 (Member # 1380) on :

The Climax of the book was not the trial.

It was one of the events that led up to the climax.

The climax was the night of the Halloween party.

Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :

To Mock a Mockingbird by Raymond Smullyan was pretty good, though.

Posted by Yebor1 (Member # 1380) on :

To mock a killingbird can be dangerous though...