Reviews with content warning for Classism - Ne tirez pas sur l'oiseau moqueur

Wonderfully vivid depiction of a small Southern town, and of its inhabitants. I adore Scout's voice, and the way she is occasionally too young to understand the events she is narrating. Lee handles that so skillfully.

It's funny that this book has the reputation of being about race. Summaries tend to center on the trial. It's certainly dramatic and memorable, but it doesn't come along until about halfway through the book.

Other reviews here criticize the book for not doing a good job as a book about race: there aren't black POV characters, and the entire first half feels irrelevant, since it's just about a little white girl and her brother.

I think maybe these are signs that Harper Lee didn't set out to write a book about race. For better or worse, it's a coming of age story about a little white Southern girl. The trial is just one of the learning experiences that she and her brother and their friend go through, as they gradually grow up and lose their innocence. Not to take anything away from the book; on the contrary, it's better and more coherent if you think about it this way. My two cents.

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ccoral's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I found it very interesting, though a slower read. Probably didn’t help that I read it a little at a time over several months as I was busy. However, it is impactful and seen through the eyes of the young Scout really conveys how ridiculous prejudice is and how we often make mountains out of molehills.

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lmconway_ak's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Knowing the subject is often triggering, I was prepared and really enjoyed this read. I also really enjoyed this as an audiobook read by Sissy Spacek. The characters are the thing that carry this book, and the writing really brings you into the south of the 1930s. My one dissappointment was the way the sub-plots jumped around, although they make sense in the end and with the POV.

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ieotter13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I see why this book is a classic! It’s good - and picked up in the middle. I enjoyed the court case and found the discussion of race to be particularly interesting when read over 50 years later. As someone who’s trying to cover the “classics,” this one was worth it.

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katewhite77's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Why Is It Such A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird?

Told over two years through the eyes of three children who are part of a close-knit neighbourhood in Alabama in the early 1930s.

The novel opens by introducing a bit of neighbourhood legend, which helps set the scene and how socially conservative the community really is.

Aticus Finch, single Dad to Gem and Scout, two of the aforementioned children, is a progressive parent and lawyer, which becomes more and more important as we move the novel.

The absolute genius of this novel ìs that it is told through the eyes of three ìnocet children as it drives home to the reader quite how ridiculous the adult world can be sometimes.

It's funny as I was pretty sure I had read this book as a teenager and I remembered the beginning but there was a large swathe of the plot I had completely forgotten, so much so that I assumed I must not have finished the book but then I remembered the end, so I must have completed it.

I can imagine teenage me not really appreciating the more nuanced aspects of the plot, particularly when it came to Atticus' willingness not to follow the conversations of the time. So, I am really glad I read it again as an adult.

I think this really deserves its classic status.

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dionysius_miller's review against another edition

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reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mdal26's review against another edition

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challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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