To Kill a Mockingbird : The 40th Anniversary Edition of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel

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Summary: Am I the only one who thinks this book stinks?
Review: Now I'm not one of those negative people that go around bashing everything just for the pleasure of making everyone else miserable, so please do not make that assumption. I was made to read this book for and English class and I absolutely hated it! I'm not rascist at all, so don't make that assumption either. The whole time I was reading this I kept thinking how much this whole thing sounds like it was written by a 5th grader! Not just when the kids were speaking either. The writing style overall just seemed very juvenile to me. This "great American classic" just seemed to be replaying the old boring rascism vs. humanity theme that we've all seen time and time and time again. But this time it just has an even dumber ending! Everyone says how "deep" this novel is and how much thought it takes to really know and love the story. When actually, there are only a few tiny little moments when you have to know on your own what's really going on and decide for yourself. The plot goes absolutely nowhere! Yes a few things change, but by the end of the story, basiclly the same thing is happening that was happening when the story first begins! This novel was BORING! Not because I don't understand it, but because it has a lack of any real depth to it at all. It was about as inspirational and moving as "The Cat in the Hat".

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Summary: Open your eyes and see this book for what it is...
Review: Let's face it. There's nothing great about To Kill a Mockingbird. Nothing at all. It is is an American classic simply because America felt the need to call a book about itself a classic, and this happened along, blindly, stupidly, to be that book. From a technical standpoint, there's nothing wrong--Lee writes coherently, and although her book shifts topic suddenly, without cause or warning, she tends to stay on topic. There are so many American writers that came shortly before Lee or were actually contemporaries of her that do not get recognition despite their far superior work. Henry Miller offered a REAL view of America, ugliness and all, and it wasn't what Americans were looking for, to the point that they banned his writing. Someone should ban Lee's book because we tell our students that this is an ideal of literature whereas it is really just a regular old novel, like anything else the paperback racks had to offer at the time. There was nothing great here. I could write a novel that had notecard characters--even the narrator seemed a little hollow, and Boo Radley was just deus ex machina with a clever, sleepy-southern-town name--and no one would care. The mystery remains, why did anyone care about this?

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Summary: The most fasicnating tale of 20th Century Southern life.
Review: At the beginning of my 8th grade year in my southern Catholic school, one of our books to read in Literature was To Kill A Mockingbird. While everyone was complaining about the book and didn't read it untill the day before the test, I went home and plunged into the world of Scout, Jem, and Atticus. I remember wanting Atticus as a father because he seemed so fair and calm and collected. I finished the book in one day. I will never forget my favorite line from the book,"Shoot all the blue jays you want, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Though many in my class did not get it, th best moral teaching I have found to date is in that last chapter, while Atticus and Scout are talking about Boo and the shooting. I am now exicted because I was assigned to read it for high school. I am looking forward to enjoying it this time and many other times. It is my wish that all people have the oppurtuinty to read this book.

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Summary: Absolutely the best novel ever written!
Review: I re-read this novel every year. This is repetitive of other reviews, but this is the book that made me love reading.

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Summary: THE ULTIMATE AMERICAN MASTERPIECE!!!!
Review: In my opinion, there is no better American novel than TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - I agree with all the five-star reviews below so I'd like to add something untouched here - Lee's brilliant use of symbolism. There is a family of beautifully powerful symbols throughout the book - the burning of Miss Maudie's house, Jem's snowman smeared with mud, the melting of the snowman, the Ewell's fence surrounding the house, the red geraniums on the Ewell's property, Jem's clipping of white camellias, the mockingbirds, and of course the most wonderful characters, Atticus, Scount, Jem, Tom, and Boo....Want to know the meaning of those symbols... read the timeless classic!

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Summary: If you read it in High School, read it again!
Review: My English teacher saved this book for last this year because she said it was her favorite. I'm glad we got to spend so much time with this wonderful book. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down! This is a portrait of the South at a very heated time,(even Scout says, "Somehow, it was hotter then.") The story is full of symbolism. Scout's narration lacks the bias of most adults and has the insight only a young child can possess. It's my new favorite book!

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Summary: ITS A BOOK THAT CAN CHANGE YOU
Review: This very well may be the best book ever written. It moves you in ways no other book can. Throughout the book Scout (the main character) expresses her obsession with finding a reclusive neighbor called Boo. What Scout finds out, as does every person that reads this book, is that a human being is a human being no matter how he or she lives. It is the simplest message that there ever was in any book, yet the author puts it into an incredibly beautiful tale of one little girls life in the prejudice south of the first half of the 20th century. This book should be read by every person, man, woman, boy, or girl, in America. It is a masterpiece that will live in your heart forever. I know it does in mine.

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Summary: An excellent classic to recommend to friends
Review: I read the book TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee for a book report at school. Once I got into the book, I loved it. The storyline is very original and the characters were well developed. I couldn't wait to turn the next page! Harper Lee really captured the essence of that time and the peoples reactions to each other.

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Summary: The BEST book ever!
Review: One word: M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E. What else can I say? I am an avid reader, but "To Kill A Mockingbird" is an unparalleled work of pure literary gold. Read this book if you'd like to fall in love with reading.

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Summary: My favorite book of all time
Review: I first read this book in 9th grade English class. We were only supposed to read a chapter a day. I am a very fast reader and I would read several chapters a day because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Reading was my first love and I had read hundreds of books by the time I was 14 but To Kill a Mockingbird took me to a whole different level of reading enjoyment. I have read it once a year for the last 26 years and I love it every time. I highly recommend it to anyone!