A few weeks ago I had an email conversation with lawyer Joe in our congregation that somehow got us around to his admiration of the character Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of Harper Lee's one and only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The reclusive Ms. Lee is probably doing okay since sales have averaged six hundred thousand copies a year since it was published. It is a perennial favourite of high school lit classes and the Oscar-winning movie version shows up on television all the time. Could there have been a more noble and dignified Atticus Finch than Gregory Peck? Brock Peters demonstrated great dignity as the accused Tom Robinson. And what about a young Robert Duvall as the mysterious neighbour, Boo Radley? The story is based on an incident in Ms Lee's community in 1936, when she was an impressionable ten years old.
Surely this story has endured through the decades because it gets to the dark heart of racial injustice and reminds us that the courage to do what is right in the face of grave wrong is more than "whistling in the dark."
Apparently some years ago British librarians voted To Kill a Mockingbird ahead of the bible as a book that everyone should read before they die. Interesting, because it doesn't strike me as competing with the bible. I think it reflects the best of the biblical themes of justice and compassion and prophetic speech.
What are your experiences of the novel or the film? Any observations about what it represents for you?
I love both the book and the film for the same reasons as everyone else: great storytelling, and a moral that stands the test of time. Everyone SHOULD read TKAMB!
ReplyDeleteWonderful book. Great movie, also saw it as a play. Agree with Ian, everyone should read this book.
ReplyDeleteShould we have both a movie night and a book conversation at St. Paul's to mark this anniversary, since it does have a moral that stands the test of time?
ReplyDeleteInteresting that there is also a play.
Thank you for the comments.
I guess I am in the minority - I didn't have to read the book in either English Lit in high school or university. I, alas, have not seen the film or the play either. Having said that, I am very much aware of the issues and storyline of the book/film. The book and the film has been on my 'books to read list' and I have not got around to doing it yet. It's 50th anniversay just might be the right time to read it and to rent the film. What order should I do it - see the film or read the book first?
ReplyDeleteSusan - read the book first. It has so much more in it then the film.
ReplyDeleteGood advice Laurie.
ReplyDeleteLike Susan, it wasn't on my reading list in high school. It was on my bookshelf from a second hand bookstore spree but hadn't reached the top of my list until this winter, after our daughter watched it at a Hi-C movie night. I loved the book and our 13 year old had enjoyed the movie, although with the chatter with her church friends at the beginning of the movie she had missed the title, and wanted to now why it was called "Tequilla Mockingbird"?...oops, I think we'll all be watching a few more of the classics this summer to broaden our horizons.:)
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Cry The Beloved Country (1948) now, and 2/3rd through finding similar themes and enjoyment.
Amy's response was definitely my morning smile. It's good to know that the young people watched the film.
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