Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

 

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

The Decision:

To Kill A Mockingbird has been my favorite book since the moment I finished it when I was 15 years old. Its one of the few books that I have read that touched me to my very core. I learn something each and every time I read the book. Harper Lee is a wise woman who sees more than the average person in the human spirit. She sees a hero in the shut-in neighbor.  She sees courage in the cranky old lady down the street. In a world where we all judge based on the least amount of information given, Lee sees the other side. Its a lesson I need to hear over and over again, and no one reminds me better than Harper Lee.

When I heard about Go Set A Watchman, I had many mixed emotions: Excitement, nervousness, and disgust. I was so excited at the prospect of reading another Harper Lee book, since To Kill A Mockingbird was the only one. I was nervous that the book might not be very good or might change how I felt about certain characters. And I was disgusted at the alleged way in which the book was likely published without Lee's approval.

From what I have read, Lee never wanted the book published. In fact, her lawyer sister (whom she always referred to as her Atticus), protected her from greedy literary agents. But her sister passed away.  Suddenly the book was being released. Did someone take advantage of an elderly woman who was not fully aware of what she was doing? The answer is purely speculation. And without someone there to protect the book for the rest of eternity, the book was eventually going to get published. Was it not Sylvia Plath who hid her writing all throughout her home and it was published after her death? But does this excuse someone from taking advantage of this woman?  Absolutely not. I do believe, that if it is true, that agent will get their comeuppances. Here's the whole story, if you are interested.

In the end, I decided to read it. I was going to hear about the book no matter what. So, instead of hearing what someone else thought, I decided I wanted to form my own opinion. I was going to read that book, and I was going to read it as soon as I could, before I could hear anything about it. But of course, I didn't get to read it before I heard the worst news ever: Atticus Finch was a racist.

I can't lie, I was devastated.  Atticus? Atticus Finch, the perfect picture of integrity, racist? Could I possibly read this book and destroy my view of the character I hold so dear to my heart?  If I read it, I may never enjoy To Kill A Mockingbird ever again.  But if I don't, wouldn't that thought always be in the back of my mind? Wouldn't I always wonder how he was racist?  Yeah, I would, so again, I decided to read it.

The Plot:

In the book, Scout (now going by Jean Louise) is the all grown up and living on her own in New York.  She is still the wild spirit we all know and love. She is coming home to Maycomb because Atticus is getting older and can no longer function on his own. Jean Louise knows its only a matter of time before she'll have to return for good to care for him.

However, Maycomb is not the place she remembers. The Supreme Court has recently ruled on Brown vs. The Board of Education and the town has turned into Whites vs Blacks. Tensions are at an all time high, something she has not really witnessed living in New York. But when Jean Louise learns that her father is going to meetings known for trying to keep the Blacks from voting, her world is torn apart. The man she idolizes is a cold racist. Jean Louise, who always thinks "What would Atticus do?" when faced with a tough decision, is devastated. Everything she has ever known is lie and she is torn to pieces.

At this point in the book, I was torn about continuing. Much like Jean Louise, I wanted to run away a pretend it never happened. I wanted to pretend I never valued Atticus. Clearly he was not the man I had grown to love. But like Jean Louise, Atticus once again, taught me a lesson.

I will warn you now, beyond this point is significant amount of spoilers. PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!!! (The next section is spoiler free.)

Jean Louise goes about getting upset and rants and raves (much like she does as a child), but fails to go to the source of the issue to get answers. After talking with several members of Maycomb who are full blown racists, Jean Louise throws Atticus into the group. If he's not with her, he's with them. He's a racist who doesn't value Calpurnia and thinks himself better than anyone of color. She is going to write him off as nothing more than a bigot and head back to New York, when she finally is confronted by Atticus.

After a long discussion, Atticus explains his point of view. He is not racist and does support ending segregation. But he's been around long enough that if you take two groups that have been separated, toss them together and tell them they have to get along, you are simply pitting them against each other. By forcing segregation to end in the South, Atticus truly believes they have actually made things worse for both sides. Atticus' answer is that things should happen slower. Blacks will get full educations and become part of a community. Whites will get accustom to Blacks being around and see them for more than their color. Then the Supreme Court can slowly start giving them more and more rights until they are equal.

Jean Louise disagrees completely. She believes that the Blacks should have full rights now and that anyone that believes otherwise is a racist.

After storming off and getting ready to leave town forever, Jean Louise is visited by her uncle Jack. He explains something to her: Atticus let her believe he was racist and did not defend himself so she would learn to think for herself. He didn't want her to think "What would Atticus do?" anymore.  He wanted her to think "What would I do?". And guess what?  She did. She formed her own opinion and stuck to it, even though it was different than her daddy's. She didn't need to look to Atticus anymore for guidance. He knew he was going to die soon and he really needed Scout to stand on her own. And she loved him all the more for it. She still disagreed, but she finally saw the good in the disagreement.

My Opinion:

Now, part of the reason that To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favorite books is because I adore Atticus. I adore him because he reminds me so much of my own father. My dad is my Atticus. He's the hero who always stands for what is right. He's the one who leads me to be my own person. Much like Atticus, I know my dad is proud of me for having my own opinions, even when they are different than his own.

There comes a time in every child's life, when they stop seeing their parent as perfect super hero, and start seeing them as a person. I remember that day vividly in my mind. I must have been 15 or 16 when I learned information about my dad that no longer made him perfect. But this only made me love my dad even more. It's like my whole debate about Superman vs. Batman. Superman has super strength, x-ray vision, and the ability to fly. With all those abilities, anyone could be a hero. Batman is just a guy who wants to do good. He's flawed, broken, and real. But the biggest difference: Superman isn't human. Batman is human.

Superman is the view I had of my dad as a kid. Batman is the guy I see now. Both are heroes, but one is human. I believe the same is true of Scout. To Kill A Mockingbird is how Scout saw her dad as a kid. Go Set A Watchman is how she sees her dad as an adult. At the end of both, he's a hero.

While not nearly as good as To Kill A Mockingbird, I really enjoyed Go Set A Watchman. Filled with flashbacks that stayed true to the original and left me thinking "I love Atticus!", this book was above par and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a friend.  

Goodreads rating: 4/5

Rating: PG-13 (excessive amounts of the "n" word)

Recommended for those who enjoy: coming of age stories, difficult parenting decisions, and moral dilemmas.

Paper Towns: 3 Stars

Paper Towns by John Green 

John Green is one of my favorite authors who happens to write books I don't really care about. I think he is funny and brilliant, but not necessarily in his books. I follow a lot of what he writes and says outside of his books, and can't get enough.  For that reason, I keep reading his books.

Paper Towns is a book about a nerdy boy and the popular girl next door he is in love with. They were friends as kids, but as they grew up, they stopped spending so much time together. One night, Margo (the popular girl) climbs into Q's (the nerdy boy) window and wants to sneak out with him to extract revenge upon those who have wronged her. After a night of adventure, Margo doesn't show up to school for a few days and Q sets off to find her.

As with Green's book Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns shows a boy who likes a girl based upon what he created in his mind, and not really the person. Q seems to miss that Margo came to him not out of unrequited love, but because he was close and had a car. He then spends most of his time and energy (and his friends' time and energy) in search of a girl who hadn't given him the time of day in years. I liked this because it's more realistic than most movies/books.

As with his other novels, my favorite character was a side character.  Radar was Q's best friend. Along with having a fun personality and being a loyal friend, Radar had to live with parent's who had the world's largest black Santa collection that they showed with pride. It was an awesome side character to put in a book and added an element of sarcasm and humor.

In the end, I thought the book was okay, but not great. It was boring in the middle and I hated both Margo and Q throughout the majority of the book. Once again, I am not sure if I am disappointed because the book wasn't that great, or if I built up anticipation because of the author. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.

Rating: R (language and sexual content) 

Recommended for those who enjoy: coming of age stories, teenage love stories, and sarcasm.

The Goldfinch: 4 Stars

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Theo Decker was 13-years-old when he was suspended from school. Since it was just him and his single mother, she took the day off for the meeting with his principle. While usually very close, that morning they were distant and he barely spoke. With time to spare and a rainstorm pouring down on them, they decided to stop into the Metropolitan Museum of Art to waste some time. And that changed everything.

There was a loud bang and Theo lost consciousness. He awoke to a scene from a movie. There was rubble, smoke, and bodies everywhere. His mom was in another room, so he couldn't find her.  But he did find the old man that was there with the cute young girl. He was awake and trying to talk to Theo. He hands Theo his ring with instructions and points off in the distance. Theo looks up to see The Goldfinch, the painting his mother loved more than anything. Confused that that was what the man was talking about, he feels that he must save it. After the man passes, Theo grabs the painting and leaves, heading home where he hopes he'll find his mother. But she will never make it.

Theo's life becomes a series of changes.  Every time he becomes accustom to where his life has ended up, it changes drastically and he is left to adjust without anyone there to lean on. Who he becomes, is a product of the tragedy that has surrounded him.

I chose this book because it was a Pulitzer Prize winner. The last couple that I have read have been disappointments, and when I saw that this one was nearly 800 pages, I was dreading it.  Even though I never read the synopsis or even had a clue about the plot, the idea of reading an 800-page book that might be dull or boring just made me want to nap!  But I finally bit the bullet at got it from the library. I am so glad that I was wrong.

The book drew me in almost immediately. The author goes above and beyond to describe everything Theo sees and feels so that you are know him well. You feel the love he had for his mother, who was an incredible person who gave up many of her dreams to make his life better and never regretted it. You feel his fear and heartache when she doesn't come home that night. You feel his fear when he realizes he stole a priceless painting. The character development was intense and wonderfully done.

The amazing thing about this novel is that I was never a big fan of Theo, but I was okay with that.  I never hated Theo by any means, but I was never fully on his side.  I think that was okay, because I think (and I may be way off base) that that was the author's intention. Theo's life was surrounded by horrific tragedy.  This made his life more difficult, but it was Theo's response to each and every tragedy that ultimately lead to all of his problems. While Theo was never one to come out and tell people his woes and bask in their pity, he supplied plenty of pity for himself. In his mind, he was always a victim, even years after the tragedy had passed. He used this as an excuse for all the bad things he did. There's a quote I once heard by Joyce Meyer that reminds me of Theo.  It says, "Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it."  Theo was the king of sitting on the cactus. Then there was Pippa.

Pippa was the young girl who lost her father in the bombing, was orphaned by the explosion, and was severely injured. These were injuries that she would have to deal with the rest of her life. She then is shipped off to live with her aunt, who is cold and less-than-matronly, even though she'd rather live with Hobie, her dad's business partner. She ends up in a foreign boarding school for troubled girls, thanks to her minor brain injury. Her life was even more tragic than Theo's, but Pippa never let it be an excuse for her actions. Pippa made the best of each and every situation, even if they weren't great. She didn't let the tragedy that struck her dictate who she became. She hid her struggles well, rather than letting them consume her in a vat of self-pity. I think this is why Pippa is the shining beacon that Theo always looked to.

Another shining star in this novel was the side characters.  My goodness they were phenomenal!  I love Hobie most of all, but Boris and Pippa were amazing characters as well. They were well developed and so much fun to read about. I missed Boris and Hobie when they weren't in the story. I would recommend this book based on the side characters alone, they were THAT great!

I decided to give this book only four stars because I thought the ending fell a bit flat. But you'll have to read it for yourself to see if you agree!

Rating: R (language and drug use)

Recommended for those you enjoy: great character development, coming of age stories, and moral dilemmas.

Looking For Alaska: 3 Stars

Looking For Alaska by John Green

I don't know how many of you have ever seen an interview with John Green or have seen one of the many videos he has floating around the Internet, but let me tell you, that man is hilarious. He's the perfect combination of funny and nerdy with a good dose of wit. He never ceases to make me giggle. In fact, I knew about, and adored, John Green long before I ever read any of his books.

Now a question lingers in my mind: Do I like John Green's books because I like his books OR do I like John Green's book because I like John Green?

Looking for Alaska is a coming of age story about a young boy, Miles, who is ready go go out and find himself. He is a relative unknown at his high school and is now headed off to a boarding school, where he is ready to become someone.  With the quirk of loving to find out people's dying words, it doesn't take Miles long to bond with his roommate, Chip, the bad boy.

Within minutes of meeting, Chip and Miles have a connection. Chip, who goes by The Colonel, gives Miles the nickname of Pudge and introduces him to Alaska, a girl who instantly wins over Pudge. The trio soon become an unbreakable force, breaking the rules and rebelling. Pudge finally feels like he has a place in the world.

But all the changes one fateful night.

This story had many elements that I enjoyed: I loved Pudge's quirk of finding out last words, I loved the Colonel's unwillingness to mold to specific type of person, and I loved Alaska's wild and fearless attitude.

The story also had elements that annoyed me: I am not a fan of teenagers with the indestructible attitude because I find them annoying, I am not a fan of teenagers who miss the consequences of being irresponsible, and I am not a fan of self absorbed characters (which I felt was Pudge).

This being my third book by John Green, I am left with the same question I had before: Do I like John Green's books because they are great reads, or because I really like John Green? 

The answer is: I don't know.

What do you think?  Can an author's personality change how you look at a book?

Rating: PG-13

Recommended for those who enjoy: YA, teenage love, and coming of age stories.

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