NationStates Jolt Archive


Anyone else like "To Kill A Mockingbird?"

Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 19:40
COMMENTARY: Anyone else love the book To Kill A Mockingbird? The author, Harper Lee, is notorious for being publicity shy. Here's an amusing, enlightening, somewhat touching article about her recent attendance at a luncheon for winners of an essay contest about the book.


Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/books/30lee.html?th&emc=th)


By GINIA BELLAFANTE
Published: January 30, 2006
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Jan. 27 — Of all the functions at the president's mansion of the University of Alabama here, none has acquired the mystique surrounding a modest annual luncheon attended by high school students from around the state.

They come with cameras dangling on their wrists and dressed, respectfully, as if they were about to issue an insurance policy or anchor the news. An awards ceremony for an essay contest on the subject of "To Kill a Mockingbird," the occasion attracts no actor, politician or music figure. Instead, it draws someone to whom Alabamians collectively attach far more obsession: the author of the book itself, Harper Lee, who lives in the small town of Monroeville, Ala., one of the most reclusive writers in the history of American letters.

With more than 10,000,000 copies sold since it first appeared in 1960, "To Kill a Mockingbird" exists as one of the best-selling novels of all time. For decades, Ms. Lee has remained fiercely mindful of her privacy, politely but resolutely refusing to talk to the press and making only rare public appearances, in which she always declines to speak. She has maintained her resolve despite renewed attention in the wake of the film "Capote," in which Ms. Lee is portrayed as the moral conscience of her childhood friend Truman Capote; the coming "Infamous," another Capote movie in which Sandra Bullock plays Ms. Lee; and a biography of Ms. Lee scheduled for May.

But since the essay contest, sponsored by the Honors College at the University of Alabama, got going five years ago, Ms. Lee, who is 79, has attended the ceremony faithfully, meeting with the 50 or so winners from most of the state's school districts and graciously posing for pictures with the parents and teachers who accompany them.

"What these people have done for me is wonderful," Ms. Lee, who agreed to speak to a reporter about the event, said during the luncheon on Friday. She was referring specifically to the two people who had conceived the contest in her honor, Thomas N. Carruthers, a prominent Birmingham lawyer, and Cathy Randall, a former administrator at the university.

Ms. Lee said she was struck by the perspective young people bring to the book. "They always see new things in it," she added. "And the way they relate it to their lives now is really quite incredible."

The students write with longing for the kind of unmanaged childhood experienced by Jem and Scout Finch in the rural 1930's Alabama of Ms. Lee's rendering. Some tell of the racial tensions they witness in their school cafeterias, others of the regional prejudices they experience at the hands of Northern peers who assume anyone from Alabama must drive a pickup truck or live in a mobile home. In an essay a few years ago one girl likened the trial of the book's Tom Robinson, a black man unjustly accused of raping a white girl, to the 1999 murder of Billy Jack Gaither, a young man living in Sylacauga, killed because he was gay.

The recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, "To Kill a Mockingbird" remains the only book Ms. Lee has written. It is difficult to overestimate the sustained power of the novel or the reverence with which Ms. Lee is treated here: it is not uncommon to find live staged versions of the story, hear of someone who has devoted his life to playing Atticus Finch in road shows, or meet children named Scout or ones named after the author herself.

At a book signing after the ceremony on Friday afternoon, a little girl in a velvet dress approached Ms. Lee with a hardback copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird," announcing that her name was Harper. "Well, that's my name, too," Ms. Lee said. The girl's mother, LaDonnah Roberts, said she had decided to make her daughter Ms. Lee's namesake after her mother-in-law gave her a copy of the book during her pregnancy. Another girl, Catherine Briscoe, 15, one of the essay contest winners, had read the novel six times. She trembled and held her hand to her heart as she spoke of its author: "It was breathtaking to meet the most important person in my life."

Sometimes Ms. Lee will encounter someone who will claim to know exactly where Boo Radley lived. "I had a girl come up to me here," Ms. Lee recalled, referring to an awards ceremony a few years ago, "and she said, 'Boo Radley lives across the street from my grandparents.' "

"Well, I didn't know what to say to that," she said, laughing.

Ms. Lee lives with her 94-year-old sister, Alice, a lawyer who still practices, and keeps an apartment in New York. She is not a judge in the essay contest, nor does she make any formal statement at the ceremony. Her one stipulation for the contest was that children who were home-schooled be eligible to compete.

[ This article is two pages long. To read the rest of the article, go here (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/books/30lee.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th). ]
Smunkeeville
30-01-2006, 19:43
I love that book, I remember getting kicked out of study hall when I was 9 for laughing out loud reading it. I tried to explain to the teacher why I thought it was funny but, he wasn't buying it.

I don't remember the exact exchange in the book word for word, but it was something like

"if you didn't do it, then why were you running?"
"well, if you were a black man and a white guy was chasing you with a gun, you would run too"
-Magdha-
30-01-2006, 19:50
I do! It's a damned fine read!
Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 19:52
"if you didn't do it, then why were you running?"
"well, if you were a black man and a white guy was chasing you with a gun, you would run too"
LOL! Yes, I would most assuredly run for all I was worth! :D
Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 19:52
I do! It's a damned fine read!
Indeed. And from the article, I imagine that its author is a fine lady as well. :)
Psychotic Mongooses
30-01-2006, 19:54
I read a while ago that the guy who played the accused black guy in the film died recently, can't seem to remember his name though... :mad:

That and Robert Duvall plays Boo Radley- Interesting quiz trivia. ;)
Jenrak
30-01-2006, 19:55
I enjoy to kill a mockingbird. The story that unites us all.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
30-01-2006, 19:56
To paraphrase the article: Hell, yes. ;)
Keruvalia
30-01-2006, 20:15
It was the first novel I ever read. I enjoyed it then, I still enjoy it today. I must have read it thousands of times by now and I always find something new.
Verozan
30-01-2006, 20:22
One of the greatest books I've ever read.
Antikythera
30-01-2006, 20:24
I do! It's a damned fine read!
i loved this book
Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 20:25
It was the first novel I ever read. I enjoyed it then, I still enjoy it today. I must have read it thousands of times by now and I always find something new.
You have a good heart, my man. Now if we could only do something about that head! :D
Keruvalia
30-01-2006, 20:40
You have a good heart, my man. Now if we could only do something about that head! :D

But then where would I keep my rock collection?
ProMonkians
30-01-2006, 20:41
Anyone else like to kill a mockingbird?

Sure why not.
* Grabs gun *

Oh, you meant the book...
E M Forster
30-01-2006, 20:50
Personally I find it derivative, and lacking in nuance.
Psychotic Mongooses
30-01-2006, 20:58
Personally I find it derivative, and lacking in nuance.

Damn.
*goes looking for a dictionary*
Keruvalia
30-01-2006, 21:01
Personally I find it derivative, and lacking in nuance.

Derivative of what, pray tell.

If anything, it is simplistic, but it is told from childrens' point of view. Do you have any idea how difficult that is to do?
E M Forster
30-01-2006, 21:09
Derivative of what, pray tell.

If anything, it is simplistic, but it is told from childrens' point of view. Do you have any idea how difficult that is to do?

*whoosh*
Soheran
30-01-2006, 21:15
To Kill a Mockingbird is a brilliant novel, powerful and relevant.
Mariehamn
30-01-2006, 21:18
Sadly, I'm sure Ive read it, but what are the contents?

Does it include Boo Radley or something like that? Shooting of a rabid dog? Was there a big court case about a rape?

It so, it was pretty good. Not my personal favorite, but respectable.
UpwardThrust
30-01-2006, 21:27
It was alright nothing special though

At least not to me
Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 21:30
But then where would I keep my rock collection?
lol :p
Unogal
30-01-2006, 21:34
Lets just say I almost cried when I read it
Deep Kimchi
30-01-2006, 21:35
I find most of Steinbeck's work to be better, but that's my bias.

If we're going to do an NS General production of "Mockingbird", I'm not sure we'll be able to get Keru to dress up like a ham.
Eutrusca
30-01-2006, 21:36
Lets just say I almost cried when I read it
Um ... you didn't?? :eek:
Keruvalia
30-01-2006, 21:40
*whoosh*

Son, there is no "woosh". Speak to me as what I am: An English Major with strong emphasis on Literature.

Either explain yourself or stop trying to sound smarter than you think you are.
Ifreann
30-01-2006, 21:49
Son, there is no "woosh". Speak to me as what I am: An English Major with strong emphasis on Literature.

Either explain yourself or stop trying to sound smarter than you think you are.

Of course there's a whoosh fool,
whoosh
n.
1. A sibilant sound: the whoosh of the high-speed elevator.
2. A swift movement or flow; a rush or spurt.
intr.v. whooshed also wooshed, whoosh·ing also woosh·ing, whoosh·es also woosh·es
1. To make a soft sibilant sound.
2. To move or flow swiftly with or as if with such a sound.

http://www.tfd.com/whoosh
Pyta
30-01-2006, 21:53
Son, there is no "woosh". Speak to me as what I am: An English Major with strong emphasis on Literature.

Either explain yourself or stop trying to sound smarter than you think you are.

Whoosh is the sound that sarcasm makes as it flies over your head.

An excellent book, I feel it is exceeded by the movie, Gregory Peck is a god among men.
Deep Kimchi
30-01-2006, 21:55
Whoosh is the sound that sarcasm makes as it flies over your head.

An excellent book, I feel it is exceeded by the movie, Gregory Peck is a god among men.

Whoosh is also the sound of passing Keru in both lanes.

Whoosh is also the sound of a fart just before the smell knocks you to your knees.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
30-01-2006, 21:59
Whoosh is the sound that sarcasm makes as it flies over your head.
See, that's what I thought. But if E M Forster's post was supposed to be sarcastic, that's the most dead-pan sarcasm I've ever seen. Meaning, I don't think so.
Sel Appa
30-01-2006, 22:05
It's good, not the best, but still good. And one of the few school books that hasn't bored the shit out of me.
Sarkhaan
30-01-2006, 22:05
Son, there is no "woosh". Speak to me as what I am: An English Major with strong emphasis on Literature.

Either explain yourself or stop trying to sound smarter than you think you are.
I gotta agree. Using big words without justification is generally an attempt to sound smart and just comes off as being pretentious and a bit ignorant.

Very well written book. I don't list it as a "favorite", but it is up there in the list of books that make me happy, and that I really just enjoy reading.

Keru...I didn't know you were an English major as well. I'll see you when we're both selling tires.;)
Avarhierrim
30-01-2006, 22:07
Damn.
*goes looking for a dictionary*

de·riv·a·tive (dĭ-rĭv'ə-tĭv)
adj.
Resulting from or employing derivation: a derivative word; a derivative process.
Copied or adapted from others: a highly derivative prose style.

translation-he thinks shes copied someone else. why he couldn't just say that....

nu·ance (nū'äns', nyū'-, nū-äns', nyū-)
n.
A subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation.
Expression or appreciation of subtle shades of meaning, feeling, or tone: a rich artistic performance, full of nuance.

translation-it doesn't have underlying meaning-personally I don't care. I read Animal Farm first as a story on farm animals.