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Summary: The Flagship of American Novels
Review: We happily add our voices to the chorus praising this novel. Harper Lee's inspired story is a beacon for souls searching for humanity, social justice, and human connection. We laughed, and we cried. We were stirred by the words of Atticus Finch. This spring, we will share our passion for this book through a workshop for readers new to Ms. Lee's novel. Wish us luck, although with this book, we won't need it.
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Summary: A novel of unsurpassed beauty
Review: How many people when asked to name their favorite book of all time can pare it down to one? I can, easily. This fine, fine novel is, in fact, degraded by referring to it as a "great book." It is no less than one of the greatest works of art of the 20th century. To read it is a life changing experience. Considering that I first read it 25 years ago and am now singing its praises via a media that was not yet invented at that time is a testament to this fact. I will not labor to offer a synopsis of the book as these are already offered in abundance. Let me just say that with each subsequent perusal of this book, I am equally delighted and saddened that I am not discovering it for the first time.
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Summary: Where words fail me...
Review: Harper Lee has written something pure magical. Yet every sentence is so natural and naive. When reading To Kill a Mockingbird I just asked myself, "How can someone, having written no other story or novel in her entire life, write something this catching and beautiful?" This is one of the novels I cant put into words what I think of. It's just unbelievable. Father Atticus is a father that you wouldn't believe coulde exist, even in fiction. I dont think anyone can critize this novel, and still those who does, I dont know what crazy motive they have for it. It's simply something that you read and what you've read never escapes you again. And still you read it over and over again, thoroughout your life!
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Summary: To Kill A Mockingbird
Review: The book To Kill A Mockingbird is a good book! The plot was just about two kids and what happened one summer. I liked the book because Harper Lee did a good job at describing the charaters. My favorite character in the book was Jean Luise Finch (Scout). She did not act like a little girl, she acted like a boy throughout the whole book. Jem was an okay character but he got boring because he grew up and his sister grew up but she still acted like a boy. I recommend this book to everybody because it will hold your attention throughout the whole book. Nothing in the book is worth disliking!!!! To me the book did not have a lesson but to other people it might.
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Summary: Respected
Review: This book was very boring at first, but once I got to the fifteenth chapter, it actually started getting ok. Even though it seemed like a chore to have to read this book for english class and I definately would not put it on my "recommended list" I learned to respect it because of the issues it dealt with. Racism is still an evil today, but it was even more severe in the thirties. This book was written in the sixties, published in 1967, when racism was not regarded as "horrible" and we were on the verge of abolishing segregation, and Harper Lee wrote of these issues before many others did.
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Summary: Children learn about justice
Review: This fine novel talks about justice and courage. The narrator is a young girl, Scout Finch, who lives in Alabama in the 30's and shares her summertime adventures with her brother and their friend Dill. Before the core of the action starts, we are witnesses to their innocent life in the middle of a town crossed by racism and violence. It reminds us of how we lived in our small but pleasant worlds, not knowing the things that adults do. But as it happens to most of us, one day something happened that ripped that innocence and forced the kids to see the real world, in the form of an unexplainable injustice. A black man is accused of rape and murder by a white girl. Atticus Finch, Scout's father, accepts to defend the man. Through the trial, we see injustice and hatred everywhere, except in Atticus' strong attitude and firm principles. By the end, the kids will experience personally the agression and injustice of this world. Although not a first-level literary prowess, this book deserves the love most of its readers feel for it. Besides being well written, its message is universal and true. There are more elaborate and sophisticated treatments of the subject, but that in no way diminishes its value. Harper Lee is good at speaking with the voice of a child: this is very difficult and often results in corny or artificial efforts. One good thing is exactly that children's world is portrayed as innocent but by no means stupid: children are keen observers and get their own conclusions. All in all, a good novel worth reading.
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Summary: To Kill A Mockingbird-a bestseller for all time
Review: Scout is a vivacios, smart tomboy in a small southern town. There are many subplots in To Kill A Mockingbird, that is one of the reasons it is my absolute favourite book ever. This book makes you feel like you want to be a kid again. Maycomb, the small southern town that Scout and her brother and father live in is divided with racism. The family not racist, and the children learned it from their father, Atticus. Atticus takes on a trial near the end of the book. It is involving a white trash woman who claims that a black man raped her. The case is inevitable-the white woman will win, although the evidence clearly states that this man did not rape her. At the end of the trial(I won't tell you which side wins...) I bawled like a baby. You will feel connected to this book somehow. I have read it 3 times in 4 years.
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Summary: A timeless tale
Review: It's amazing how a book that is this short manages to hit on so many different topics. Set in Alabama in the 1930's, the inequality and bigotry of their small town is seen through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch children of the town lawyer Atticus Finch. This is a book that every parent needs to read, and have their children read. It brings you back to not only the innocence of childhood, but it will make you remember the moment that you yourself, lost that innocense of your childhood. Told in local dialect it also gives you a glimpse into the charming Southern life that they were leading.
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Summary: So precious! A book to cherish.
Review: I have read this book twice, first in 8th grade in middle-school, and again last year, when I was a sophmore in high school. I admit that the first time I read it I was a little biased. I didn't understand the meaning of many words, didn't like the vulger language, and found it to be tedious. But after two years I read this book again and now I can forgive myself for my misunderstanding. I was older and more eduacted, so I understood the language better. And I was very quickly captivated by the images of the children. To see young children in their activities, slang conversations, and wild imaginations made the story comical, adoreable, and fun. The book broadens its descriptions and paints a picture of the whole town. Rich details are given of social status, law, eduaction, community, and relations in the town. The time period is the Great Depression and the setting is Alabama, which is a perfect setting indeed! The poverty of the land and pride of the south is so well percieved. Every major and minor character has importance and a well drawn characterization. This book goes into great depth in human nature and behavior. We see the tenderness and kind loving qualities of many people, but then in some people we see aggresion, slothfulness, and extreme prejudice. There are many prejudices in the whole story, which relate to racism, but also judging others by stereotypes. If there was ever such a book that gave the most powerful message on prejudice, this is the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird". Mockingbirds bring such beauty and joy to the world through their songs and wouldn't it be so harsh to kill one? As a satire on society, a messeage on life, and vision of human beings alike, "To Kill A Mockingbird", is a beautiful story of humor, happiness, sadness, and all emotions. This a must read!
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Summary: Transcending the medium
Review: This timeless masterpiece bursts beyond the confines of the printed page, and even beyond the substance of its story. It leaves one breathless with the wonderment of the world seen through a child's eyes, magnified by the adult's realization of what it all means. Harper Lee's sole work (to my knowledge), is in my opinion equal to Huckleberry Finn as the greatest American writing ever.
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