Go Set a Watchman: Harper Lee's sensational lost novel

by Harper Lee

Reese Witherspoon (Narrator)

Go Set a Watchman is set during the mid-1950s and features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus. She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood. An instant classic.

• ISBN10: 1846574374
• ISBN13: 9781846574375
• Publish Date: 14 July 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 November 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Random House Audiobooks
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 6 hours and 57 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Initial Thoughts: The book definitely has some overarching structural problems, and the beginning is really slow. However, there are some good anecdotes, and there might occasionally be something profound here. 2.5 stars?

[Hillary]

I really wanted to like this book. I mean the author wrote a classic and all of her works should be good right? I know some say it is good, but for me it lacked depth. I felt that there was no meat to the story. Like there was very little action and character development. I can see why it wasn't published before and it is a crude reminder to tell my friend to burn all my writing when I die. Some of what I write is complete shit and I never want them to see the light of day.

As for the racism thing. I can see both sides. I am from the south. I was born and raised in Central Appalachia. I like to think of myself as liberated from my views that I grew up with but deep down inside it is still there. This was evident I couldn't understand why Scout made such a big deal out of her father and boyfriend..(THAT DUDE WAS HER BOYFRIEND RIGHT?!?) went to that meeting. I mean I was completely on her father side. You go to see what people are up to. I completely failed to understand why going and sitting in a meeting sparked such anguish in Scout.

Then I thought about it and after a week, I began to finally GET it. If you sit in a meeting and do nothing then you are in a way supporting it and that makes you involved in it. I was glad that I could see that point. But deep inside me I am still like, but it is no big deal.

Maybe that is why I did not enjoy this book. Maybe I felt as if this book was airing the souths' dirty laundry so to speak.  It is always hard when you are confronted with your deepest beliefs and find out that you are maybe a secret racist. This made me wonder if we can ever become unchained by where we grew up. Or are we forever chained by the beliefs that we were taught in our formative years? This would make a good discussion. I have no answers and I doubt anyone does. I can tell you that the south has not changed much. When that rebel flag conserver sty happened most of my white southern friends were like It is a SYMBOL of southern pride. And that is how I saw it also. Then again I am an upper-middle-class white woman so I have quite a few privileges. It is hard for me to unpack them. In my head, I can see it booth ways. In my heart, I subscribe to the southern belive. My friends from all over say that I am southern to my core and I think this book proves it.

I want to give this book 5 stars but deep in my heart I am like eh.  Then again this book exposed some things that I really did not want to confront. Plus I think the author needs a better editor so three stars it is.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[kimbacaffeinate]

Whether you chose to listen or read Go Set a Watchman, I think it is very important to understand this is not a sequel to Kill a Mockingbird. In fact, it is the story that gave birth to it. It was original written in the mid-nineteen fifties and submitted to Lee’s publisher before TKAMB. Her publishers loved the flashbacks of Scout’s childhood and encouraged Lee to write about those events. It is important to remember that although they resemble our Atticus, Scout and Jim that these characters are in fact Not them. The book was not edited, and there are a few run on sentences and conversations that would have benefited, but Lee's voice and style still delighted me.

The story takes place when Jean Louis Finch (Scout) is an adult whose returned home to Maycomb after living in New York. It is an awakening and her struggle with the political and prejudices of this small southern Alabama town. Harper Lee captures that moment when a child sees the flaws in her hero, the man she has set on a pedestal and whose teachings have shaped her whole being.

In Go Set a Watchman Lee highlights the fears and prejudices of this small-town and those of others across the nation through the eyes of Jean Louise, an educated young modern young woman who has seen beyond the town. When Jean returns she sees Maycomb in a new light. While there are aspects she adores but she finds her values and opinions conflicting with those who remained behind.

The flashbacks most resemble TKAMB, and in fact, some scenes made it directly into the book. There are differences in those memories and Go Set a Watchman is certainly a story all of its own. Atticus is portrayed in his seventies and is still practicing law. He is still a respected pillar of the community and in many ways resembles the man I came to love and respect in TKAMB. However, the social and political climate has changed. The tale takes place after the landmark decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education and poor Jean Louise witnesses her father in an act that tarnishes her perception of him and other men whom she held in high esteem.

Harper Lee through Jean Louise voice shares the injustices and temperament of those on the cusps of great change in our nation. She shows us the struggles of accepting change and that even the most progressive, forward thinking, respectable members of society can fall victim to racism and fear. She brilliantly shares Jean’s feelings as her hero(es) fall from the pedestals on which she placed them. I think many of us can relate particularly those in my generations. The way in which I view the world is different from those of my parents and their parent’s particularly on today’s issues of acceptance. While, Go Set a Watchman deals with racism and was written in the fifties, its message is still relevant today as we witness landmark decisions and change.

I am pleased that I was able to read Go Set a Watchman the manuscript that eventually gave birth to my beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. I would not classify this as a novel but its beautifully written and a wonderful peek into the making of To Kill A Mockingbird. I am still left mourning that we are no longer able to read more from this brilliant, insightful author whose characters will forever hold a place in my heart.

Reese Witherspoon is a favorite and she delivered as a narrator. Her abilities to express Jean Louise's anger, frustrations and tone only enhanced my experience and I would listen to her again. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[lindsey]

As a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird, I was so excited when I heard about Go Set a Watchman. However, after hearing that this was never intended to be published, and that it only had the tiniest bit of editing, I was wary when I picked it up. I didn't allow myself to have high hopes, and therefore, I wasn't disappointed.

I think I should preface this review, for those who aren't already aware, with just a little background information as I understand it. This isn't a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, as some have claimed. It is set after the events in To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's definitely not a sequel. It was written first, but Harper Lee was advised that a story about Scout as a child would work better, and that's when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It was great advice, and I'm glad she took it. To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece, and it's considered a classic for a reason.

On the other hand, it's obvious that Go Set a Watchman is not a polished and completed novel, and I'm glad I kept that in consideration as I read it. I think it's important to note that, again, Go Set a Watchman was not originally meant to be published by Harper Lee. If anything, I would consider it a very early rough draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, which, in essence, is what it is. Some parts of the book - especially character descriptions - are repeated word for word in To Kill a Mockingbird. If I hadn't just finished rereading To Kill a Mockingbird before starting this book, I probably would never have noticed those instances, but as it was still fresh in my mind, those passages stuck out. And that, more than anything, showed me that this was, indeed, an early version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Though an early draft from Harper Lee is still better than some books that are published today.

Beloved characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are altered in Go Set a Watchman, or missing entirely, and I was already heartbroken by page 13. No spoilers here, but I literally had to put the book down and walk away while I processed what I had just read.

I did enjoy this book, but I appreciated it for what it was (an unpolished novel from a wonderful author), instead of what it wasn't - a sequel to one of the best books ever written. If you remember that, and don't go in expecting a masterpiece, you won't be disappointed.

[brokentune]

"Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.”

Go Set a Watchman was released this week and despite the warnings that reading this long awaited companion (it is NOT a sequel) to To Kill A Mockingbird may spoil everything I have ever believed about the story and its main characters, I read the book. Mostly, I wanted to see for myself how this supposed manuscript provided the material for one of my favourite books, how it was different, and whether the differences would allow some insight into the mind of one of the most reclusive authors.

Having read the book, I have more questions than answers. What I do know for certain is that it has not spoiled my appreciation for To Kill a Mockingbird, a book which is greater than the sum of its parts and the message of which is what will endure.

Having read Go Set a Watchman, it does not cast a shadow on the Atticus and Scout of To Kill a Mockingbird, because they are evidently completely different characters struggling against circumstances in what seems like a parallel universe. In a way, Go Set A Watchman is neither a sequel nor an undeveloped manuscript. In a way, Go Set a Watchman is an alternative version altogether - like a standalone book so far removed in character, voice, plot, style even, from To Kill a Mockingbird that comparison by their differences becomes more exhausting than a comparison by their similarities.

Call me cynical, but for the first rather uneventful 20% of the book, Go Set a Watchman read like the insipid brainchild of someone who wanted to pay tribute to both To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With the Wind in their own creation of a work of fan fiction.
It was quite funny how scenes taking place in Jean Louise's childhood read like scenes well-loved in To Kill a Mockingbird, but scenes set in Jean Louise's present (a 26-year-old woman returning home from New York City) read like the recreation of an emotionally stilted Scarlett O'Hara. In short, the scenes mismatched and - dare I say it - read doctored, or at best badly self-edited (even for an unedited manuscript).

However, it was not only the writing style that was all over the place. For two thirds of the book, I had no idea what the book was driving at, what the book was trying to be even: it started of as something that tried to be a romance novel as much of the early plot focused on Jean Louise's relationship with Henry. Then there were glimpses of Jean Louise's insistence on being an independent woman, hinting at a sort of feminist side to the story. Then these were lost again in favour of her discovery that her home town and even her family turned out to be a bunch of racists.

"What was this blight that had come down over the people she loved? Did she see it in stark relief because she had been away from it? Had it percolated gradually through the years until now? Had it always been under her nose for her to see if she had only looked? No, not the last. What turned ordinary men into screaming dirt at the top of their voices, what made her kind of people harden and say “nigger” when the word had never crossed their lips before?"

This discovery caused Jean Louise much turmoil and seemed to suggest that the point of the book was to follow her standing up to the society around her, which of course would have been in line with To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Cynical, hell. I’m a healthy old man with a constitutional mistrust of paternalism and government in large doses. Your father’s the same—”
“If you tell me that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely I will throw this coffee at you.”

However, instead of any of these approaches, the Go Set a Watchman finally settled on the persuasion of Jean Louise to let go of her convictions and accept the racists around her as humans just trying their best to preserve her world, acquiesce, and try and change society little by little without making much fuss.

“That’s the one thing about here, the South, you’ve missed. You’d be amazed if you knew how many people are on your side, if side’s the right word. You’re no special case. The woods are full of people like you, but we need some more of you.”
She started the car and backed it down the driveway. She said, “What on earth could I do? I can’t fight them. There’s no fight in me any more….”
“I don’t mean by fighting; I mean by going to work every morning, coming home at night, seeing your friends.”

Why? Because apparently speaking out and standing up for her convictions is childish:

“I mean it takes a certain kind of maturity to live in the South these days. You don’t have it yet, but you have a shadow of the beginnings of it. You haven’t the humbleness of mind—”

Now, if this had been the straight message delivered by this book, I could have possibly accepted it as a book of its time and place, despite even the presentation of, and what at times seemed a justification of, the vilest of prejudices. (If ever one needed a list of white supremacist reasoning, this book lists them all.) I probably would have rated it a little, tho not much, higher, too.

What really got to me, however, was the way that the conclusion was delivered - that Jean Louise's bigotry was caused by her textbook pseudo-Freudian father-fixation, and that she needed a good slap to snap out of it - and she did.

“… now you, Miss, born with your own conscience, somewhere along the line fastened it like a barnacle onto your father’s. As you grew up, when you were grown, totally unknown to yourself, you confused your father with God. You never saw him as a man with a man’s heart, and a man’s failings— I’ll grant you it may have been hard to see, he makes so few mistakes, but he makes ’em like all of us. You were an emotional cripple, leaning on him, getting the answers from him, assuming that your answers would always be his answers.”

Because, really, what the world needs more of are patronising amateur psychologists telling women to shut up and accept that racism is just natural.

Oh, please.

"I need a watchman to lead me around and declare what he seeth every hour on the hour. I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is."