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kabbw's review against another edition
3.0
While I don't think this one will stick with me nearly as long as Mockingbird, it was an interesting story. Jean Louise still exhibits a lot of the same types of behavior as she did when a young girl. I wish this one had been written AFTER Mockingbird, so that the details of what had happened in the interim were presented more in depth. All in all, not a bad read. Just NOT Mockingbird.
jeconn71's review against another edition
3.0
Couple things I want to note to put my review in perspective. I reread To Kill a Mockingbird immediately prior to reading this to help get me in the mood/setting for this book (still very much a classic). I understand this book had many controversies when it was released, but I didn’t dig too deep into any of them when I read this to keep my mind relatively clear of them. This all being said, while I do enjoy these characters, this book feels more like a draft than a finished product to me. I enjoyed coming back to these characters, and while parts worked for me in ways that made Mockingbird so endearing, it didn’t feel all that connected. I had less a problem with the character arcs that took place (though slight spoiler, they did Jem DIRTY), I just felt some parts were not as well earned or executed properly to their fullest potential. Part of it could be I would’ve liked a book between this and Mockingbird (there are some big jumps and character additions that felt forced or could’ve been stretched out more), but honestly this book again just lacked in really feeling a complete, polished book. I really enjoy Harper Lee’s storytelling abilities, they really draw you in and make you want to stay and listen to her characters spin yarn. Though we only had Mockingbird for so long, I’m happy to return to that because it’s so accessible and enjoyable. I appreciate where she was wanting to take these characters, it definitely doesn’t feel out of left field where they go. I just feel This book just feels a few drafts away, and is probably why we didn’t get it until we did. I’d really only recommend this books to Mockingbird fans who are curious. I don’t feel this book is essential, nor will it tarnish the legacy of the Finch’s. That all being said, their is stuff to like about this book, but I was left wanting more.
eclipse888's review against another edition
3.0
Go Set a Watchman is set during the mid-1950s and features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus. She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.
To Kill a Mockingbird (dt. Wer die Nachtigall stört) ist für mich ein besonderes Buch. Es ist eines der ersten (und wenigen) Klassiker, die ich von mir aus gelesen habe und das Buch hat mir gezeigt, dass es eben doch Klassiker gibt, die ich mag und dass ich sie nicht nach den ganzen Schullektüren beurteilt in einen Topf schmeißen kann. Deshalb stand für mich seit ich von Go Set a Watchman erfahren habe fest, dass ich es auch lesen werde.
Ich bin... ja, doch, ich bin enttäuscht. Meine Erwartungen waren hoch und ich sage es mal so: Die Lektorin, die Harper dazu brachte, das Buch doch lieber während Scouts Kindheit zu schreiben, hat alles richtig gemacht. Ich denke mal, niemand ist überrascht, dass die Rückblicke in die Vergangenheit meine liebsten Stellen waren. Besonders die Ereignisse, die nach Mockingbird und vor Watchman spielen, habe ich total gerne gelesen. Mein persönlicher Favorit ist die Abschlussfeier von ihrem Bruder Jem und ihrem gemeinsamen Freund Henry. ^^
Ich liebe Scout bzw. Jean Louise. Sie ist sich selbst treu geblieben und hat sich gleichzeitig weiter entwickelt. Ich finde, da hat die Autorin die Figur wirklich verstanden und perfekt in das andere Buch übertragen.
Der Punkt, der mich wirklich gestört hat, ist der Rassismus. Die meisten Bürger in Maycomb hatten schon immer etwas gegen Schwarzhäutige, aber nicht alle, besonders Atticus nicht. Er war in Mockingbird der eine Mensch, der sich auf die Seite eines Schwarzen stellte, weil er es für richtig hielt, und seinen Kindern beibrachte, dass alle Menschen gleich seien. Meinetwegen hätte er seine Meinung nach einem Anschlag oder sowas gerne ändern können, aber den gab es nicht. Es gibt keinen wirklichen Grund dazu, wieso Atticus seine Ansichten plötzlich so grundlegend verändert hat. Er war sowas wie ein Stein in der Brandung und er hat sich immer seine eigene Meinung gebildet, aber irgendwann ist das anscheinend verloren gegangen, ohne das man erfährt, wieso.
Deshalb finde ich das Buch auch nur mittelmäßig. Scout und die Rückblicke haben das Ruder hoch gerissen, während Atticus und der Rassismus dem entgegenwirkten.
Über die Autorin:
Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She attended Huntingdon College and studied law at the University of Alabama. She is the author of To Kill a Mockingbird and has been awarded numerous literary awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Fazit
Ich finde es zwar ziemlich interessant zu sehen, aus was letztendlich eines meiner liebsten Bücher entstanden ist, aber ich hätte mir doch eher gewünscht, dass To Kill a Mockingbird als Einzelband bestehen bliebe.
To Kill a Mockingbird (dt. Wer die Nachtigall stört) ist für mich ein besonderes Buch. Es ist eines der ersten (und wenigen) Klassiker, die ich von mir aus gelesen habe und das Buch hat mir gezeigt, dass es eben doch Klassiker gibt, die ich mag und dass ich sie nicht nach den ganzen Schullektüren beurteilt in einen Topf schmeißen kann. Deshalb stand für mich seit ich von Go Set a Watchman erfahren habe fest, dass ich es auch lesen werde.
Ich bin... ja, doch, ich bin enttäuscht. Meine Erwartungen waren hoch und ich sage es mal so: Die Lektorin, die Harper dazu brachte, das Buch doch lieber während Scouts Kindheit zu schreiben, hat alles richtig gemacht. Ich denke mal, niemand ist überrascht, dass die Rückblicke in die Vergangenheit meine liebsten Stellen waren. Besonders die Ereignisse, die nach Mockingbird und vor Watchman spielen, habe ich total gerne gelesen. Mein persönlicher Favorit ist die Abschlussfeier von ihrem Bruder Jem und ihrem gemeinsamen Freund Henry. ^^
Ich liebe Scout bzw. Jean Louise. Sie ist sich selbst treu geblieben und hat sich gleichzeitig weiter entwickelt. Ich finde, da hat die Autorin die Figur wirklich verstanden und perfekt in das andere Buch übertragen.
Der Punkt, der mich wirklich gestört hat, ist der Rassismus. Die meisten Bürger in Maycomb hatten schon immer etwas gegen Schwarzhäutige, aber nicht alle, besonders Atticus nicht. Er war in Mockingbird der eine Mensch, der sich auf die Seite eines Schwarzen stellte, weil er es für richtig hielt, und seinen Kindern beibrachte, dass alle Menschen gleich seien. Meinetwegen hätte er seine Meinung nach einem Anschlag oder sowas gerne ändern können, aber den gab es nicht. Es gibt keinen wirklichen Grund dazu, wieso Atticus seine Ansichten plötzlich so grundlegend verändert hat. Er war sowas wie ein Stein in der Brandung und er hat sich immer seine eigene Meinung gebildet, aber irgendwann ist das anscheinend verloren gegangen, ohne das man erfährt, wieso.
Deshalb finde ich das Buch auch nur mittelmäßig. Scout und die Rückblicke haben das Ruder hoch gerissen, während Atticus und der Rassismus dem entgegenwirkten.
Über die Autorin:
Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She attended Huntingdon College and studied law at the University of Alabama. She is the author of To Kill a Mockingbird and has been awarded numerous literary awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Fazit
Ich finde es zwar ziemlich interessant zu sehen, aus was letztendlich eines meiner liebsten Bücher entstanden ist, aber ich hätte mir doch eher gewünscht, dass To Kill a Mockingbird als Einzelband bestehen bliebe.
zecora27's review against another edition
3.0
it is obvious this was a manuscript and not a finished product. that being said, the themes of the angst that comes with discovering and reconciling privilege and realizing your childhood view of the world and your adult view of the world will never be compatible is super relevant.
christy323's review against another edition
2.0
All I can say is this: if you loved Atticus Finch as he was do not read this book. If you don't want to hear the vilest forms of racism spewing from Atticus & Scout do not read this book. If you have no tolerance for racist apologia, do not read this book. Forget you ever heard about it. Re-read "To Kill a Mockingbird" & forget that someone thought publishing this half-baked, somewhat amateurish & totally unnecessary manuscript was a good idea. Ms. Lee, if she truly did have any meaningful input into that decision can perhaps be forgiven (she is 89 years old & rumored to be suffering some form & degree of dementia), but her agent, handlers, editor & publisher cannot.
paulg_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Good story. Poor literature.
I enjoyed following the premise of the book; the institutional racism of the south in the 1950s, and the legacy of white hierarchy,but the writing was only mediocre, and the plot devices too contrived. Too many lengthy flashbacks, too many caricatures and too few characters. Righteous indignation too easily set aside, and not least the silly stereotyping of strong southern women who only require a good rap in the mouth by a male relative to get them back into line. I reread Mockingbird immediately before reading Watchman. Perhaps the timing was too close. It did reveal an occasional glimpse of what could have been from a literary perspective, but too often fell short.
I enjoyed following the premise of the book; the institutional racism of the south in the 1950s, and the legacy of white hierarchy,but the writing was only mediocre, and the plot devices too contrived. Too many lengthy flashbacks, too many caricatures and too few characters. Righteous indignation too easily set aside, and not least the silly stereotyping of strong southern women who only require a good rap in the mouth by a male relative to get them back into line. I reread Mockingbird immediately before reading Watchman. Perhaps the timing was too close. It did reveal an occasional glimpse of what could have been from a literary perspective, but too often fell short.
anastasiakrupnik1979's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I loved the style and I loved that it explores a theme that I haven't seen much in literature: the development of one's conscience.
Scout Finch returns home as a twentysomething to find her father in physical decline, his arthritis making daily activities difficult for him. Those of us who grew up adoring Atticus Finch feel sad to see his decline. But the climactic moment of the book comes in a scene that mirrors the famous courtroom scene in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout finds her father and her father's protégé Henry attending a meeting of a white citizens' council, seeming to condone the hateful speech of a virulent racist. The scene leaves Scout reeling, causing a true crisis of conscience. When the person who gave you everything that is good about you is exposed as a person with views you find repugnant, what does that make you? As Scout says, "Everything I have ever taken for right and wrong these people taught me...so it's me, it's not them. Something has happened to me". I read this paragraph, and the one where Scout puzzles over how different she is from the peers she grew up with, over and over.
The book concludes with Scout realizing that she, like everyone, must develop her own conscience. It is not enough to unquestioningly accept what our family has taught us--we must think critically and decide for ourselves the kind of person we want to be.
While I do think there are valid concerns about how this book was published, I can't help being glad that it was. I wish there were more manuscripts out there, where we could check in with Scout every 10 years or so. I find that I relate to adult Scout even more that Scout as a child.
Scout Finch returns home as a twentysomething to find her father in physical decline, his arthritis making daily activities difficult for him. Those of us who grew up adoring Atticus Finch feel sad to see his decline. But the climactic moment of the book comes in a scene that mirrors the famous courtroom scene in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout finds her father and her father's protégé Henry attending a meeting of a white citizens' council, seeming to condone the hateful speech of a virulent racist. The scene leaves Scout reeling, causing a true crisis of conscience. When the person who gave you everything that is good about you is exposed as a person with views you find repugnant, what does that make you? As Scout says, "Everything I have ever taken for right and wrong these people taught me...so it's me, it's not them. Something has happened to me". I read this paragraph, and the one where Scout puzzles over how different she is from the peers she grew up with, over and over.
The book concludes with Scout realizing that she, like everyone, must develop her own conscience. It is not enough to unquestioningly accept what our family has taught us--we must think critically and decide for ourselves the kind of person we want to be.
While I do think there are valid concerns about how this book was published, I can't help being glad that it was. I wish there were more manuscripts out there, where we could check in with Scout every 10 years or so. I find that I relate to adult Scout even more that Scout as a child.
ladybrik's review against another edition
4.0
(Popsugar Challenge: A book with bad reviews)
I loved it. Atticus is the hero in To Kill A Mockingbird. In this he's just a man. A good man, but a man nonetheless. The pedestal is removed and seeing that, seeing him through Scout's grown-up eyes was such a realistic and important perspective.
"To Kill A Mockingbird gave us the feels, Go Set A Watchman gave us the truth."
I loved it. Atticus is the hero in To Kill A Mockingbird. In this he's just a man. A good man, but a man nonetheless. The pedestal is removed and seeing that, seeing him through Scout's grown-up eyes was such a realistic and important perspective.
"To Kill A Mockingbird gave us the feels, Go Set A Watchman gave us the truth."
lalala2004's review against another edition
4.0
I almost didn’t read this book, but I’m glad I did.
Go Set a Watchman destroys the god-like goodness of Atticus Finch present in To Kill a Mockingbird. This is appropriate and right. We saw him through the eyes of his young daughter, and that’s the perspective we are getting. Why should I assume Atticus was different than so many other white peoples in the south during segregation? This book actually makes more sense from a realism standpoint. That makes it hard to read, but challenges your preconceived notions in a way that makes you challenge your own biases and prejudices in your own heart. Even Scout/Jean Louise is not perfect as they both agree that Brown vs. Board violated the tenth amendment. I find this idea of the constitution as a document to protect state’s rights as opposed to individual rights very dangerous, but the book gives its characters that view, without espousing it as the truth. Racism is complicated, and this book shows that truth.
Go Set a Watchman destroys the god-like goodness of Atticus Finch present in To Kill a Mockingbird. This is appropriate and right. We saw him through the eyes of his young daughter, and that’s the perspective we are getting. Why should I assume Atticus was different than so many other white peoples in the south during segregation? This book actually makes more sense from a realism standpoint. That makes it hard to read, but challenges your preconceived notions in a way that makes you challenge your own biases and prejudices in your own heart. Even Scout/Jean Louise is not perfect as they both agree that Brown vs. Board violated the tenth amendment. I find this idea of the constitution as a document to protect state’s rights as opposed to individual rights very dangerous, but the book gives its characters that view, without espousing it as the truth. Racism is complicated, and this book shows that truth.
markiereadss's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I never picked this good up ! I did not give this book 2 stars because it was poorly written or lacked any substance, but because it made me revisit all the opinions I had made up about the characters from the first novel. My opinion of this book is that it did not need to be written. So much of what we have thought of and come to love from the first novel, TKAMB, manages to be undone in the second.
GSAW follows Scout's visit back to Maycomb as a 26 year old living in New York. Scout is reminiscent of her childhood when she sees just how much the town has physically changed, but quickly reminded of the injustice and racism that exists below the surface. This realization has Scout arguing with those around her including Atticus. This fight with Atticus is arguably the climax of the entire book and left me with such a bitter taste in my mouth. From TKAMB, I regarded Atticus as a man of higher moral code and one who stood for what is just, but GSAW left me to see Atticus as no better than the rest of Maycomb. Moreover, Scout starts so passionately about her beliefs when engaging with Atticus and her Uncle Jack, but then recants at the slightest debate back.
Taking a step back to process, I had to ask myself whether of not this was Harper Lee's intent. Granted these ideas came from scribbled drafted documents locked away in a safe, but I think there is also a commentary to be made here. Was is Lee's intent to show us that nothing really can be changed when it comes to race and injustice? Is she pointing out the 50 years of readers, educational institutions, publishers, etc.. putting Atticus on a pedestal when that was never truly his place to begin with? There were a few quotes from the book that stuck out to me in this regard. One of which is when Scout is having her follow up conversation with Uncle Jack over a glass of scotch. Uncle Jack tells Scout that she holds her father too highly, that he is just a man. Another moment mentions how Atticus is a man of the law. His loyalties will always be to the law and the truth the evidence permits.
These quotes from the conversations with Uncle Jack drastically changed my views on how we as a culture have maybe misread Atticus and TKAMB as a whole. Isn't it true? Yes, Atticus defended Tom Robinson all those years ago, but was it because he knew it was the right thing to do or because he couldn't deny taking a case where the evidence was so clearly in favor of his client he thought he couldn't lose?
Ugh, made me really think about what I just read.. Read at your own caution ;)
GSAW follows Scout's visit back to Maycomb as a 26 year old living in New York. Scout is reminiscent of her childhood when she sees just how much the town has physically changed, but quickly reminded of the injustice and racism that exists below the surface. This realization has Scout arguing with those around her including Atticus. This fight with Atticus is arguably the climax of the entire book and left me with such a bitter taste in my mouth. From TKAMB, I regarded Atticus as a man of higher moral code and one who stood for what is just, but GSAW left me to see Atticus as no better than the rest of Maycomb. Moreover, Scout starts so passionately about her beliefs when engaging with Atticus and her Uncle Jack, but then recants at the slightest debate back.
Taking a step back to process, I had to ask myself whether of not this was Harper Lee's intent. Granted these ideas came from scribbled drafted documents locked away in a safe, but I think there is also a commentary to be made here. Was is Lee's intent to show us that nothing really can be changed when it comes to race and injustice? Is she pointing out the 50 years of readers, educational institutions, publishers, etc.. putting Atticus on a pedestal when that was never truly his place to begin with? There were a few quotes from the book that stuck out to me in this regard. One of which is when Scout is having her follow up conversation with Uncle Jack over a glass of scotch. Uncle Jack tells Scout that she holds her father too highly, that he is just a man. Another moment mentions how Atticus is a man of the law. His loyalties will always be to the law and the truth the evidence permits.
These quotes from the conversations with Uncle Jack drastically changed my views on how we as a culture have maybe misread Atticus and TKAMB as a whole. Isn't it true? Yes, Atticus defended Tom Robinson all those years ago, but was it because he knew it was the right thing to do or because he couldn't deny taking a case where the evidence was so clearly in favor of his client he thought he couldn't lose?
Ugh, made me really think about what I just read.. Read at your own caution ;)