Go Set a Watchman
By: Harper Lee
There is a lot of buzz going around about this book. I want to start by thanking Book Share for getting new releases out for people who are unable to read normal print, in such a timely manner. I was able to get this book before most people who had preordered it from other sources.
Let me start by saying that all opinions should be ignored and this book is worth reading. However, I don’t think it would work as well if you have not read and even recently read To Kill a Mocking Bird.
I read Go Set A Watchman in less than 24 hours and that included a good night’s sleep.
The book is short and an easy read but please read To Kill a Mocking Bird if you have not read it in the last decade.
It is so easy to think of Atticus Finch as a real person who has influenced our lives. Maybe this is because most of us read the first book when we were young and impressionable. The Movie helped to make us feel we knew him personally.
He is a fictional character, the product of a brilliant writer who never wrote anything else. I think this helped us feel that Miss Lee was writing about herself and her beliefs.
Now, this book completely blows our image of Atticus and if you keep an open mind, helps you love him in a new way. Be patient as you read.
The Scout character is expanded here and grows through the book.
I still wonder if this was the original manuscript as we have been told. At first I was sure it was not. It seemed like you would have really needed to write the other book first. However by the end of Go Set A Watchman I could see someone looking at this manuscript and asking for more about certain parts of the book and changing the Atticus character.
The bottom line is, read this book and take the time to think about it. I think there will be a lot of conversations started from the two books and you will want to take part.