To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

5 of 5 stars

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Book vs. Movie:
Let me begin with the book. It was impossible to put down. I think i read it in two days and was completely captured. What I appreciate a lot about Harper Lee's novel is how many layers the story has. As I mentioned before a racial issue is addressed but also the question of gender. Scout acts more like a boy but is pressed into being a typical girl by her surroundings. Another interesting point is the caste system their hometown seems to consist of. Beside all those important subplots we simply have a kid growing up, struggling to understand the world.
One might think that the book gets confusing with all those different plot-strings but believe me, it all fits perfectly together. What I really appreciate is how differentiated the kids see the world. They are not portrayed as stupid or naïve. The want to get to know the world, understand more than you would think and put a lot of thought into many matters. For me the book contained many points that gave me food for fought.
I don't say this often, but To Kill A Mockingbird is a book everybody should read. It simply contains points everyone should think about at least once in their life.
The movie adaptation followed in 1962, two years after the book was published. As I mentioned before, this film is considered to be among the best. First of all, I noticed that it is in a way quite different from the book. Due to the different way a telling the story and the length of the film most subplots were dropped. So the adaptation focuses almost completely on the trial thing. Despite the fact that I missed a bunch of things, the movie is impressive. Especially Gregory Peck got under my skin. His performance as Atticus was simple intense.
Basically the whole thing is very atmospheric being underlined by the fact that the film is in black/white.

Summing up I can clearly say that both book and movie are amazing. The only thing one could criticise are the subplots that could not be included into to film (for very logical reasons). So go and watch the movie but make sure to read the book afterwards to get the full impression!

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  • Started reading
  • 12 November, 2015: Finished reading
  • 12 November, 2015: Reviewed