To kill...

On my way to work this morning NPR had a segment on the classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". It was an interesting look at the cultural impact, it's characters, and the reclusive author Harper Lee, who has yet to write another book since it's release.

I first read the book in high school like most, but instead of finding it just another boring assignment I was engaged by the story set in the depression era South told through the eyes of it's young heroine, Scout. The noble father Atticus and his defendant, as well as the mysterious Boo Radley, made for but a few of the colorful characters that made this book memorable to me.

While the theme of the book is about as subtle as a sledgehammer and the prose doesn't leave a lot to the imagination, it's a character driven piece that many young readers should cherish. Still very few I know who have read the book recall it having much of an impact, if any. It surprises me to some degree. It's sort of like telling a Christian that after reading their Bible you were unmoved.

Regardless I can understand that 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is not for everyone. Literature can't possibly please all readers even if it does win the Pulitzer. Still it's one of the few books that I read early in my life that I truly enjoyed from cover to cover and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Did you like it?

"Well, they're Southern people, and if they know you are working at home they think nothing of walking right in for coffee. But they wouldn't dream of interrupting you at golf." - Harper Lee