Posted on 04/06/2007 5:32:09 AM PDT by urtax$@work
If there's one book you should read before you die, it's To Kill a Mockingbird. That's not my opinion. Apparently I was sick back in ninth grade when every other American kid read Harper Lee's novel of racism, moral courage and coming of age in 1930s Alabama. I read it for the first time only this week and have my misgivings.
But according to the Guardian newspaper's Web site, a 2006 poll of librarians — British librarians — put To Kill a Mockingbird atop the list of books every adult should read before they shuffle off. Ahead of the Bible. Ahead of Huckleberry Finn and Pride and Prejudice and even Harry "the Franchise" Potter.
Go to link to see rest of article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4691912.html
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
It’s simply interesting to think about. They were two very, very odd people who got thrown together by chance very young and produced some good books.
um...sure...I'll make certain I bush up on my reading skills.
Yes, “A Confederacy of Dunces,” home of the “United Fun.”
It's a good story, and Peck was excellent in the role. I saw the movie as a child, read the book in high school, and bought the DVD recently. I was surprised to see one of my favorite actors of all time, a young Robert Duvall, playing the role of Boo Radley.
Yes, they did.
It's a good story, and Peck was excellent in the role. I saw the movie as a child, read the book in high school, and bought the DVD recently. I was surprised to see one of my favorite actors of all time, a young Robert Duvall, playing the role of Boo Radley.
Doh! Sorry about the double post.
Touché! I may not be able to spell, but you still can’t read! ;<)
Problem is, you gotta read every line a few times over.
You shouldn't assume that everyone is as generous as you have made your pretend writer.
If there’s one book an American should read before heading for (hopefully) higher ground its David Horowitz’s “Radical Son.”
Not a novel, but The Merchant of Venice is excellent ninth grade reading.
The whole thing is fascinating and, like I said, interesting to think about. Why would a first time novelist produce sterling prose first time out? Why would a guy who was obsessed by high society start writing about crime in a small town? And why did both of them peak so early?
I read that in 9th grade. And Great Expectations.
I think a lot of the speculation about Capote writing Mockingbird comes from the fact that some folks just can’t believe that a small-town Southern woman...
I also think that some people assume Capote had a hand in it is that it is very much early Capote territory - “The Grass Harp,” etc.
Of course, scuttlebutt has it that Lee wrote “In Cold Blood”!
...and while I’m at it, why did she pay rent on that apartment in NYC for forty years that she never visited?
Capote was always fascinated by “true” crime. “Handcarved Coffins” is one of his best along with his spooky interviews with various Mansonites. He didn’t start out being obsessed with high society. His early novels and short stories are all about eccentric, small town southerners.
Handcarved Coffins was after In Cold Blood. I believe it was even after the Answered Prayers excerpt in Esquire that more or less banned him from high society.
Yes, it’s a must-read. One of the greatest American novels ever written, IMO. From every perspective. It captures a time and place with perfection. It deals with the devotion of family, the complexities of childhood, fear of the unknown, racism, the law, man’s cruelty to man, and the dignity of man, in a compelling and heart-rending manner. Yet it has a simplicity of style that can draw in a child reader as well as an adult. To me it’s a quintessentially American novel. It also happens to be a great novel that became an equally great film. A rarity. I am a great fan of Southern writers, and this novel is among the finest of that genre, IMO.
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