After managing to somehow escape childhood, adolescence, law school, and adult hood so far without reading this book I thought it was about time.
I’m not really going to go over the plot at all because
chances are you’ve read it, and if you have not, it is probably worth a read.
I did have trouble reading a book written from the child’s
perspective, even a precocious and smart one. I found it a frustrating
perspective to read a whole book from. There are some books that I have read in
the past two years written from a very smart child’s perspective during some
sections but they were not the primary or sole voice / perspective in the book.
What struck me most about reading this book is how
applicable it is today in light of recent police actions (or at least my
greater awareness of them) and imprisonment and so on that appear to severely
disproportionately affect some races more than others. The racism present in “To
Kill A Mockingbird” is in many ways alive, well, and viewable today. And it was
rather striking and off-putting that a book published in the 1960s and taking
place in 1933-35 can have the words and scenario be nearly as relevant today as
they were then. It’s not comforting to read a book, be able to so readily draw
parallels and see how little progress has been made.
All that being said I plan to read the sequel and see where
the story goes from there.
