"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird is available from Amazon.com. You can also read this review on my personal blog (in Portuguese).
To Kill a Mockingbird is a modern American Classic and winner of a Pulitzer prize. I must admit I got curious to read it after seeing several references about it in movies like Capote and Failure to Launch. Oddly enough I have yet to see the actual movie based on the book which has acquired fame in its own right, winning three Oscars in 1963 including one for Gregory Peck. I think it is better this way though, as I had a chance as much as possible to form an unbiased impression of the book.
The plot is set around a lawyer from the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl in the early 1900s. Not much novelty in that, just one more amongst the many cases of racism and segregation in the America at that time. What brings beauty and an tone of immortality to Harper Lee's text is that the story is told through the eyes of a little girl, Scout Finch, daughter of the lawyer, Atticus Finch. Scout is a tomboy. Since her mother died when she was still a baby, she and her brother, Gem Finch, have been raised by her father and Cal, the housemaid. Scout is very forward for her age, opinionated, and her behavior is far from what is expected from a young lady of Maycomb society.
With an upfront and direct personality and the innocence that is characteristic of children, Scout introduces us to Maycomb with all its qualities, injustices and idiosyncrasies. In her narrative, Scout is not always aware of the many layers of complications existing in the facts she describes, her innocence makes her somewhat naïve, but the incongruence and unfairness of the situation are not lost on the reader.
The war between the few citizens that believe in a fairer world in which all men are equal and the crowd that prefers to keep the status quo has the expected ending, but that doesn't matter. What really matters, according to Atticus Finch, is to do the right thing, to be able to walk tall, and to look your children in the eye without shame, assured of having given them the best example possible.
I was expecting this to be a difficult book to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is very touching to see the story unfold while Scout grows up along with it. I highly recommend it.
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I was so happy to see a review of this book show up on GirlEBooks. "To Kill a Mockingbird," may possibly be the best book written by an American author. This intensely readable book is a wonder because it comments so vividly on many aspects of the human experience--childhood, parenthood, law, politics, freedom, equality and social relations. The story is told through the eyes of a child, and the miracle of Ms. Lee's storytelling is that the child does not realize the nuances behind her story, but the adult, reading the child's story, can see the whole picture. The black and white movie is very faithful to the book and is just as good. One expects an amazing performance from Gregory Peck, but the children, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford and John Megna, come very close to upstaging him. Robert Duval makes his cinematic debut in this movie. As Boo Radley, he speaks not a single line, but it was obvious back in the early '60's that he would be a star. No one who is a GirlEBooks member should miss this book or this movie.
I have a beautiful hardcover edition of this book, but my original paperback, tattered and falling apart after forty odd years, is still in my desk, preserved in a plastic bag.
Dear Joyce, thanks for your very thoughtful comment. I am sorry it took me forever to write back. I was in Brazil for over six weeks and times seems to pass in a different way there. You are right, the really amazing thing about the book is that she managed to convince us that the child telling the story was really a child, I think. I have yet to see the movie. I tried netflix, but they only accept explorer browser, which I don't have in my computer.
I have a paperback version, which I suspect will be with me for a long, long time! 😉
I just noticed the Gregory Peck movie is available on Netflix watch instantly.
Sadly, I couldn't find an ebook version of To Kill a Mockingbird anywhere. If anyone has found one, please let us know!
Gisele,
I confess that I'll read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Portuguese!
It is a pleasure know you and Laura and the Girlebooks site.
Hello Raquel,
Thanks for your visit, sorry it took me forever to replay, as I was saying to Joyce, my time management is absolutely ridiculous when I am in Brazil. I really admire you being able to keep a blog in addition to everything else you have to do over there 😉
As for the book, I actually would love to read it again, this time in Portuguese. I would love to see how the translator deals with the cultural differences between Brazil and the US at the time. But with so many books to read, it is hard to find time to do it over.
Hi Ladies,
I've stumbled upon this blog while searching online for Portuguese Fiction. I am Portuguese Canadian and inherited my love for reading from my wonderful mom. It is extremely difficult for me to find popular fiction books which have been translated into Portuguese. I currently order books from Wook.pt and it's great but a little pricey since I have to Internationally ship them. I buy these books for my mom, it makes her so so happy to read something in her native language.
Do any of you know of any online sites where I can order Portuguese Fiction books or buy any gently used novels? Here in Toronto, the prices are very high and the selection is quite poor.
Any help or advice would be so very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Lolo 🙂