To Kill A Mockingbird: Enhanced Edition

A classic work of literature. I'm not sure it was intended as a children's book, I don't think YA really existed back then, but there is a naivete to having the story told through the eyes of a child, which makes this really easy to read, but at the same time dealing with the complex layering of issues of race at that time. It lays bare the stupidity and hypocrisy that underpins racism. In contemporary literature we would object to notions of white saviours, but at the time this was written, it required those white saviours to make the changes in the law.

It is quite daunting coming to review a classic book as loved as this one. What can I possibly say that hasn't said before? All I can really do is review it as I see it.The plot first then. This book is told by 'Scout' Finch and tells of a few years of her childhood in the South of the USA in the 1930s. She is something of a tomboy, having always followed the lead of older brother Jem. Her father Atticus Finch is a rather good father, allowing her to express herself and not be forced to be feminine. Atticus is a lawyer and becomes embroiled in a case where he needs to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl. It's clear the man is innocent but the community's inherent racism means he will almost certainly lose the case.The case is the main plot of the book. It is a fairly simple idea which works really well. The point is that no black man is going to be believed over a white family in the community. But it's clear that the white family are the worse people and it is made clear had stupid and illogical racism is. Atticus feels it is his duty to defend the man and it causes real trouble for him and his family. He's one exception to the norm and a model of how we ought to behave. I hope that more and more people are like Atticus Finch.Lee's real genius is narrating from the point of view of a nine-year-old girl. No child is born racist, they are brought up that way, and Scout has no understanding of why the black community are shunned and different to the rest of the town. She begins to discover the way the world works, although I'm not sure she ever understands why. I'm not sure anyone ever did.Although the book is largely about the court case, it's also a story of growing up. Rarely is a story of a child beginning to develop into an adult so well told. It deals with larger issues of equality than race as Scout tries to understand the strange creatures that are human beings.I can't believe 23 years of my life passed by before I read this book. I think when a book is a classic, so often studied in English classes, it becomes a little daunting. But it shouldn't be because this book stands up incredibly well all these years later and is one of the best books I have ever read.

Unusually written with a child as the narrator this may not be a thriller or one to excite some modern readers but it is so well written with well developed characters and a gentle meaningful pace that I would recommend everyone, young and old, to read it.

Without a single doubt one of the most beautifully written novels, with an original and exceptionally gripping narrative, exploring not just the prejudice and social stigma against the black population, but also how these ideals are rooted in us through nurture. The exploration of the bigotry and discriminating treatments of social outcasts could not have been more powerfully and perfectly told than through the eyes of an undefiled 6 year old child, symbolising exquisitely the innocence of the mockingbird.

Outstanding prose weaving through dark and traumatic times where class and race were clearly disinguished through gradients of poverty. There are stark descriptions of loss with rascist language clearly used to set the tone and ignorance of the time. Yet despite the friction a family set into the core narrative from the eyes of a young child with very well drawn character are illustrated with love kindness and hope. Always heard good things even growing up with a band named after one of the more exceptional characters in my own childhood. Read the start of another book... The reading list, which thankfully brought me here. Highly recommended. A tale everyone should explore at some point. Enjoy if you choose to pick this up, well worth the investment.

Now I see what all the fuss is about, why it sells a million copies a year 40 years after it was written.The sad truth is that when you read the headlines of how African Americans are still treated by police not much has changed. If only everyone was like Atticus Finch and Scout.

Embarrassed to say in my late 40s this was my first reading of "To Kill". No wonder this book is on so many exam curriculum but I do wonder, if more adults chose to read this, rather than children being made to read it, would we all be just that bit more like Atticus Finch and the world in turn, be marginally, a better place.

A book you can read multiple times and still find new things to make you think.I first read this a teenager and have reread it at least eight times and am now 60. Each reading gives me something new that I never thought before; maybe because age and experience gives you a different understanding of what the story tells. And few books I've read offer much to think of of human nature as this one.

Couldn't stop reading. Harper Lee is an excellent author, pulls you right in. Highly recommend this book, makes you think.

Un livre qui mérite sa réputation.Même si on connaît l’histoire (vu le film), on fait une meilleure connaissance de tous les personnages.De plus on apprend énormément sur l’histoire et la société américaine des années 30.Un livre passionnant et merveilleux

I've meant to read this for years and years and I NEVER got to it until now! I'm glad I did!

Great book, lived up to its Hype, great characters, excellent story line, thought provoking

As readers we often unconsciously take on the role of a critic. And then judge a book against our expectations and within the confines of our biases and the limitations of our intellectual and imaginative capabilities.Every once in a while there comes along a piece of work that shakes your foundation and moves you someplace else. It's a work wherein the author has pushed the entire pile of envelopes and challenged many senses. The narrative is so compelling and multi-faceted, weaving anecdote with literary excellence, history, culture and creating a wonderful lesson in morality without a hint of preachiness.This book will endure and I hope my grandchildren get to experience it and that it moves them in a way it has me. And that they're stronger in character through that experience.