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A review by jbufton
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3.0
This is a book everyone should read one time.
One. Time.
Every time you read it after the first time, you will deduct a star from the review. I am giving it the number of stars I would have given it the first time, because I read it three times while working on a project and my third reading wouldn't compare to your first.
The story is interesting and I didn't know how it ended, so the first time through this was an easy, engaging read. Scout's dialogue is campy and cute, and the whimsy of kids in the summertime helps to blunt the racism and prejudice that the characters experience and witness through the book.
If you read it again, though, you can't help but notice that there is no subtlety in Lee's writing. Her points will either smack you over the head, or they'll be completely absent. Sometimes she tries to be coy, but you can't help but feel that she thinks her reader is an idiot.
As you read again, you notice that the most interesting characters are in the wings of the story and never developed. You'll be as bored with the exploits of a small, confused child as any adult reading a story would be by having to re-live the life of a small, confused child, but like a character in Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake, you'll be doomed to re-trace your steps and powerless to step aside to explore the possibilities you wish you could have pursued, knowing what you know now.
So, dear reader, read this book one time, so you can be curious about the plot, charmed by the children, and engaged by a pleasant, easy-to-read escape. And then give it to someone else who has never read it, and never gaze upon its pages again.
One. Time.
The story is interesting and I didn't know how it ended, so the first time through this was an easy, engaging read. Scout's dialogue is campy and cute, and the whimsy of kids in the summertime helps to blunt the racism and prejudice that the characters experience and witness through the book.
If you read it again, though, you can't help but notice that there is no subtlety in Lee's writing. Her points will either smack you over the head, or they'll be completely absent. Sometimes she tries to be coy, but you can't help but feel that she thinks her reader is an idiot.
As you read again, you notice that the most interesting characters are in the wings of the story and never developed. You'll be as bored with the exploits of a small, confused child as any adult reading a story would be by having to re-live the life of a small, confused child, but like a character in Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake, you'll be doomed to re-trace your steps and powerless to step aside to explore the possibilities you wish you could have pursued, knowing what you know now.
So, dear reader, read this book one time, so you can be curious about the plot, charmed by the children, and engaged by a pleasant, easy-to-read escape. And then give it to someone else who has never read it, and never gaze upon its pages again.