Welcome to the New Classics!

“A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.” –Edith Wharton

When “the classics” are mentioned, it’s often assumed that the speaker means those books sitting on your dusty shelf never having been read, but still put on display because those are the books you ought to be familiar with—and no, reading the Sparknotes summaries doesn’t count.

But how does a classic become classic? Who decides what books transcend time to remain relevant to a modern audience? Is a classic a very popular book, a very well-written book, or both? After all, every classic was simply a new, unknown book at one point.

With Fictionista Workshop’s New Classics series, post-modern novels will be explored and reviewed in-depth, making the argument that a book on the shelf of new releases could one day be found on a list of classic literature for its themes, quality, unique perspective, or more.

What are we reviewing?

Every month, our book reviewers will either be assigned or select a new classic book to review, and will aim to shed light on the work, discussing the book’s strengths and weaknesses, why or why not they enjoyed it, and how it may still be relevant in the future and worthy of being considered a new classic. Our volunteers will submit their objective and honest reviews to Fictionista Workshop to share with the entire community.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or discover the new classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy post-modern Western literature with us! If there’s a new classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

The Lovely Bones Review

Review by Shantelle

For years I had been meaning to read Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, and for years a friend of mine had been raving about how amazing it was and how I absolutely had to read it. I would keep saying, “Yeah, I’m getting to it!” and would then forget all about it until she mentioned it again.

When the film came out in late 2009, I was adamant that I wasn’t going to see it until I had read the book.  The film had been out for a few weeks, and still I had not even looked for a copy of the novel, let alone got my hands on one, so the same friend who had been raving endlessly about it decided to intervene and buy me my own personal copy for my birthday in January. I’m now kicking myself for not having read it sooner–it was so amazing that I couldn’t put it down until I had finished it.

The Lovely Bones is unlike any other story I have ever read. I’m not just saying that to try and convince you to read it, either. It truly is a remarkable piece of literature that is a heck of a lot more interesting to read than some of the novels that I was tortured with in high school English class. If this had been on my set reading list, I would have found writing essays far more enjoyable, I think.

The story is seen through the eyes of Susie Salmon, who, murdered at fourteen, tells the reader the story of her murder and the events that follow from inside her personal heaven. This is one of the interesting aspects of the story–Susie’s location. She describes with great detail her surroundings–her version of heaven–and the people whose heavens cross at points with hers. As the narrator of the story, Susie gives the reader an insight into a type of afterlife that some may not have thought of before, especially with her ability to see everything happening to the people she knows back down on Earth.

What intrigues me the most about this story is the way it’s told–it’s not your typical murder mystery where the whole story is focused on finding out who the murderer is and how it came about. In The Lovely Bones you find all that out in the first chapter. You start off knowing the who, what, when, where, and how of the story, and discover the why throughout the remainder. The suspense the reader feels while reading the story is all to do with what happens to the murderer following the crime, and what the victim’s family is going through in the aftermath, as well as what happens to the victim in the afterlife.

Although the story is told in first person from Susie’s point of view, the characterization is not just limited to her. Through Susie’s narration, Alice Sebold has created some extremely strong characters in the Salmon family, Susie’s friends, and in Mr. Harvey. One of the ways she does this is through flashbacks and memories, which is very effective in not only building the characters, but also unraveling the whys in the tale.

Many events happen in the story, some of which lead you to believe you know how it’s going to end.  Trust me; you don’t (unless someone’s already spoiled it for you). When I first finished the novel, I thought I was missing part of the story. I couldn’t believe it had ended how it did. My initial thoughts were, “Oh, my gosh! No! That can’t be it!” Actually, that’s not quite what I thought, but if I told you what really went through my mind after finishing the story, I would give away the ending. And I don’t wish to do that on the odd chance that some of you reading this may not have read the book or seen the film yet.

In all honesty though, once I had got over the initial shock and disappointment of how it ended, I actually really appreciated it. Alice Sebold has left us with an open-ended tale of sadness, heartbreak, the importance of family, and adventures in heaven to ponder, allowing us to create our own ending in our minds. It may not have been the outcome I was hoping for, but it sure did leave me thinking! And that’s what a good book should do; it should leave your mind reeling with questions and thoughts about different aspects of the story.

The Lovely Bones is a novel that I think everyone should read at least once in their life, and although it’s a modern piece of literature, I truly do believe it deserves its place in the list of classics. Alice Sebold has written a moving and emotion-filled masterpiece that will forever hold a place on my bookshelf. Never again will I put off reading a novel that someone so mercilessly praises.

Alice Sebold is an American author who has written three books. She won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel in 2002 and the American Booksellers Association Awarded her Book of the Year for Adult Fiction in 2003.

Shantelle is an Australian Childcare Assistant who feels most at home under the bright lights of the theatrical stage. Although performing is her first love and passion, writing and reading come a close second. She is currently taking her time writing her first novel and volunteers with Fictionista Workshop in her (not-so) spare time. She also maintains a personal writing blog, click here to view.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or discover the new classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy post-modern Western literature with us! If there’s a new classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Anne of Green Gables Review

Review by Dawn

“But if you call me Anne, please call me Anne with an ‘e.’”

Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of the foremost timeless, and ageless, classics of twentieth century literature, spanning effortlessly across decades and various age groups. While not her only work of fiction, this first installment of what would become known as the “Anne series” was undoubtedly her most notable.

What began as a serial for a Sunday school paper, quickly became one of the most-beloved children stories, and spurred an entire series, numerous side stories, as well as several movies, television series, and theater productions. The depth of this world that the author developed inside the fictional, small town of Avonlea, within her birthplace of Prince Edward Island, and the community within it, is so lush and rich, it is not long at all before you are transported into this world.

Based in the latter half of the 19th century, it chronicles the first five years of life in Avonlea for a young orphan named Anne Shirley. Eleven years old when the story opens, it is difficult to dislike this awkward and outspoken girl, who immediately endears to the heart. With her red hair and temper to match, which readers learn are the bane of her existence, as well as her talkative nature and an imagination that has consistently gotten her into a world of trouble, she has never truly fit in anywhere from the time she was three months old when both her parents suddenly died of typhoid fever.

Having read this novel for the first time as an adult, married with a child of my own, I was not expecting it to have the effect it did. To be able to relate to a young orphan of eleven at the age of twenty seemed unfathomable to me. However, from the very first page, I was drawn into this story, even without the immediate introduction of Anne herself.

The strongest point within the novel is not simply the story of this young girl, but the characters within it. There are few novels that can sustain such a menagerie of strong “secondary” characters, without leaving the reader feeling overwhelmed with detail. While each one of the characters in the novel is vitally important and left a remarkable and unique mark on the story, the relationships they share with this girl are still individual and believable.

Beginning with Rachel Lynde, the meddling neighbor of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, the anticipated arrival of Anne is set up incredibly well. We see just how much of an impact this child will have on this small, quiet town as the woman observes the odd behavior of the shy, reclusive bachelor. She says:

“‘I’ll just step over to Green Gables after tea and find out from Marilla where he’s gone and why,’” the worthy woman finally concluded. “‘He doesn’t generally go to town this time of year and he never visits; if he’d run out of turnip seed he wouldn’t dress up and take the buggy to go for more; he wasn’t driving fast enough to be going for a doctor. Yet something must have happened since last night to start him off. I’m clean puzzled, that’s what, and I won’t know a minute’s peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today.’”

Matthew Cuthbert, expecting to arrive at Bright River to retrieve a young orphan boy to help on the farm, is surprised to only find the skinny, freckled redhead there waiting for him. Yet the bond that immediately grows between the two of them on the drive back to Green Gables undeniably sets the course for the remainder of the story. Her constant chatter is, for once, a relief to someone and he even admits to enjoying it, as well as being amused by her imaginative labels on seemingly ordinary things, such as “White Way of Delight” for The Avenue and “Lake of Shining Waters” for Barry’s Pond.

Marilla Cuthbert, on the other hand, becomes just as much of a key character as Anne herself, yet her stern, hardened exterior causes the attachment to the girl herself to be far more gradual. Upon learning of the mistake made, her initial reaction is shock at the dramatic, talkative nature of the girl, and she intends to send her back. However, she quickly learns that once Anne Shirley touches your life, you are irrevocably changed.

Much the same can be said of her “bosom friend,” Diana Barry. Anne encourages Diana’s world of imagination, which beforehand had been frowned upon by her mother, and the friendship formed between them is extraordinarily palpable. Then of course, Gilbert Blythe, with whom she forms a complex relationship. From the moment he calls her “carrots,” unaware of her intense dislike for her red hair, and she in turn smashes her slate over his head, a rivalry is sparked between them, one that brings out the best—and worst—in each other.

Last but not least is Anne herself, who in many respects is an exemplary demonstration of how courage and perseverance can guide you toward any path you choose, and also to never judge a book by its cover. Throughout her life she was labeled by society; despite her high intelligence, her outspoken nature and the fact that she was an orphan child never allowed her the opportunity to thrive. This one character evokes a myriad of emotions from the reader from the moment she steps into the lives of the Cuthberts. You join in her exhilaration and excitement, experience her “depths of despair,” laugh at her antics, and cry at her heartbreaks.

Each time I’ve read this wonderful book, I’ve found myself turning the pages as eagerly as the first time I read it; I’m always anxious to see what Anne Shirley would get herself into—and subsequently out of—next. Containing one of the most relatable leading characters ever written, this incredible novel has survived the generations with Anne’s beautiful combination of strength, determination, and insecurities with which readers of any age can correlate. Whether you’re a young child coming to age along with her, or an adult reading through and remembering when, this is a story that can easily be enjoyed time and time again for many years to come.

Mark Twain once said Montgomery’s Anne was “the dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice.”

Lucy Maud Montgomery published Anne of Green Gables in 1908. The popularity of her book led to eight sequels, a movie adaptation, several miniseries, the television series Road to Avonlea and most recently an animated series.

Montgomery was the first female in Canada to be named a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England and was invested in the Order of the British Empire in 1935.

Dawn is the author of 13 online stories. Originally from Western Massachusetts, she now resides in Arizona with her son. She enjoys writing, reading and playing video games.

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To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

Beckie aka Miss-Beckie-Louise had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

I studied To Kill a Mockingbird for my General Certificate of Secondary Education, it was the first American Lit book that I have ever understood and enjoyed. There’s just something about it that makes the whole book interesting, and I learnt a lot from it; the racial prejudices, the justice system at that time, how people in that time treated different people and the classes etc. It was special and the way my teacher taught it was amazing as well. Learning about To Kill a Mockingbird was the best few months of English I ever had.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

I’d probably tell her she’s inspired me to look into the justice system, I’m now interested in criminology and it was mainly due to her book. Or, I’d just stare at her and have no idea what to say.

Thank you Beckie aka Miss-Beckie-Louise for sharing with us.

Beckie aka Miss-Beckie-Louise can be found on twitter as miss_bekki_lou

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

Maryjoanna had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird on the bus on the way to school which was quite a big deal since I suffered from travel sickness. I couldn’t put it down. I was brought up in a family who didn’t allow us to mix with Asian girls who went to our school.  Of course I did, and was strengthened to do so by To Kill a Mockingbird. It was an act of defiance which I knew to be right and To Kill a Mockingbird confirmed it for me.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

I would ask Harper Lee if To Kill a Mockingbird evolved as she wrote it, or was it clear from the very beginning where the plot and the characters were going.

Thank you maryjoanna for sharing with us.

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

Sorryduck had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

I believe Lee’s book set the framework that enabled our nation to enter the Civil Rights Movement running. I’m not confident the CRA of 1964 would have been enacted without the influence. Who knows how long it would have taken for Martin Luther King’s voice to be heard had Lee not exposed so many readers to Atticus Finch and his attitudes against racism?

I’m from the deep south and during my childhood in the 60’s & 70’s, segregation was firmly entrenched. I witnessed it firsthand at luncheonettes where whites were seated and non-whites forced to stand.

My family was Jewish and I experienced antisemitism from the very racists who enforced the segregation laws. However, I was allowed to use bathrooms and waiting rooms where non-whites were prohibited. There were even separate drinking fountains where white men would often urinate into the ones marked “For Blacks.” The signs reading “Whites Only” permeated the town, I can remember seeing one as late as 1972!

For me the novel reinforced what my parents taught us and I believed. It provided affirmation for my belief that segregation and separatist ideas were in the minds of the ignorant.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

So much has been written about you including theories regarding the inspiration for your masterpiece. What do you feel led you to and through your story and what was life like growing up in the Lee household?

Why did you stop writing for publication after To Kill a Mockingbird?

Is Boo Radley based upon yourself?

Thank you sorryduck for sharing with us.

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

J.M. Kelley had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

To Kill a Mockingbird was the book that started my love affair with the written word. I read voraciously as a child, but once I picked up Mockingbird, a true addict was born. Never before or since have I pictured the story, the setting, and the characters so vividly in my mind. Harper Lee’s words struck a chord in me that I probably could never describe accurately. I believe I’ve read Mockingbird at least twenty times in my life, and each time, I feel like it’s all unfolding before me for the first time. When I read the last line, the old familiar ache sets in, because I actually miss Scout, Jem, and Atticus when I’ve closed the book.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

I blame Harper Lee for all the money I’ve spent over the years on books, especially fresh copies of Mockingbird when it’s time to replace the current copy I’ve worn to shreds. I also blame her for sparking my love of writing and the complete novel I have sitting on my hard drive. I should probably have a thousand things I’d ask her if I had the chance, but in the end, I think I’d just love to have the chance to say ‘Thank you.’

Thank you J.M. Kelley for sharing with us.

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

Belli486 had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

To Kill a Mockingbird can be considered a metaphor for my life.  Growing up in the south on the heels of Jim Crow, I was fascinated by the world that Ms. Lee created in this story.  She paints a picture of life during the depression and of southern social mores that didn’t change much for me while growing up in the Mississippi Delta until circa the 1980’s.  Her handling of racial prejudice and the overarching theme of good versus evil is nothing short of a masterpiece.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

I would thank her for writing an honest portrayal of southern life through the eyes of a child, and her sensitive handling of race relations during a turbulent time.

Thank you Belli486 for sharing with us.

belli486 can be found on twitter as belli486

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we asked Fictionista Workshop readers to tell us what the book meant to them and what they would say to Harper Lee given the opportunity.

Eileen Spiegler had this to say:

What does the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, mean to you? What significance does it hold?

Something Harper Lee said touched me as much as her novel: When asked to appear in an interview she demurred, offering as explanation, “I am Boo.” Like Boo Radley, she didn’t want or expect the attention her compelling story attracted, but she bravely offered it and in a sense, as Scout says of Boo, gave us our lives. Telling our stories is as vital a part of life as breathing, it’s what draws us together; I will always be grateful that my quiet hero, Nelle Harper Lee, shared her story and showed me the world in Maycomb.

What would you ask or say to Harper Lee if you had the opportunity?

I would ask her what made her decide to write, and how she felt after writing, To Kill a Mockingbird; did she feel a sense of satisfaction, completeness? Did she feel she had told the story she intended? Did she continue to write at all for herself? What is her favorite book?

Thank you Eileen Spiegler for sharing with us.

Eileen Spiegler can be found on twitter as espiegler

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

To Kill a Mockingbird Review

Review by Charmaine

The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I was sixteen years old. My high school English teacher handed out worn paperback copies to the class along with a time line dictating how many chapters we should read per day and the dates when essays were due and tests would be taken. She explained to us how we should read it and what we should find according to her, or at least the guidelines given to her.

This ritual happened every few weeks. I read these books because I had to, but I found that I enjoyed most of them. Then there were the few I loved–To Kill a Mockingbird being one of them.

According to Amazon.com, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s only novel, is “a gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father–a crusading local lawyer–risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

When I picked up the novel to read again for the first time in sixteen years, I held it in my hand and tried to remember everything about the story I could. I thought of Scout, our narrator, and her tale of growing up with her older brother, Jem, raised by their widowed father, Atticus. I thought about how her, Jem and their friend Dill tried to trick Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor, to come outside. I thought about the bravery of Atticus and how he tried to teach his children right and wrong, leading by example. I thought of poor Tom Robinson, who never had a fair chance.

Did I, over time, idealize the book? Did I remember it correctly? What did I forget? Would I feel differently about the book now that I’m older and have a child of my own just slightly older than Scout was during the trial of Tom Robinson?

When I finished reading last night, I closed the book and let it lay on my chest and fell asleep thinking about the questions I initially posed to myself.

First I found that I did not idealize the book–it truly is a great American classic. It is significant in its brutally honest portrayal of racism and class in the 1930’s through the eyes of a child. Our narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, is not quite six years old when we first meet her, she idolizes her big brother, wants to be brave like her father and is about to start school. She is honest with everyone she meets, not quite knowing what is and isn’t appropriate conversation yet. We watch her observe the men and women around her, and how they interact with the different people of the community. She is puzzled by class and background and why it seems so important to everyone. We take a journey with her that spans three years and a lot of growing up.

We begin with Scout telling her tale as an adult, beginning with her brother Jem breaking his arm when he was thirteen years old. She then backtracks three years to the beginning of the events that led to the fracture.

The Finches live in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch is a lawyer raising his two children, with the help of their black housekeeper, Calpurnia. He treats his children with respect and is always honest with them.

The kids meet Charles Baker “Dill” Harris, the nephew of a neighbor and they begin their summer playing with him, their games eventually focusing on the mysterious neighbor, who never leaves his house, Arthur “Boo” Radley. Rumors of him trying to kill his own father and eating cats raw scare them from going near his property, but not enough to lose their intrigue of baiting him to come out of the house with assorted schemes.

At the end of summer, Dill returns home to Meridian, Mississippi, the tricks end and Scout starts her first year of school. Her first day she learns her most important lesson, not from the new teacher, but her father. She doesn’t understand the teachers new ideas of education and why she isn’t allowed to read at home anymore. She thinks it unfair that Burris Ewell will only ever attend the first day and she is offended when Walter Cunningham pours Molasses all over his lunch.

“‘First of all,’ he said, ‘if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view–’

‘Sir?’

‘–until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’”

For the most part, I did remember the book and its events correctly, but I was happily reminded of the colorful characters the children interact with and a few other adventures I had forgotten.

The school year passes and another summer arrives, along with Dill and their obsession with Boo Radley. The children also talk of haints (spirits that live in the streets), the Lady of the Moon and other suspicious tales that keep playtime entertaining.

As the summer turns into fall and another school year, new mysteries appear in the form of trinkets in the knot of a tree in front of the Radley house. They don’t know who the items belong to, but they keep them safe for the owner, should they ever come for them. Along the way we meet the relatives, neighbors and townsfolk who shape the children and adjust their point of view.

Part two of the book focuses on Atticus being court-appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, a capitol offense. This case affects the children from all angles, from school mates teasing them, family disapproval and the people of the town murmuring about their father being a disgrace. Atticus asks them not to let people get to them, to not defend him and to turn the other cheek. This was also a time of Jem maturing and the siblings started to drift apart because of it.

One of the most famous quotes of the novel comes when the children receive air rifles for Christmas. Atticus passes along to Jem his wishes of how he use the gun. He said to Jem:

“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Later Scout asks her neighbor Miss Maudie what her father meant and she was told, “…they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”

The mockingbird comes to represent innocence and the loss of innocence is one of the major themes of the story. The other themes of bravery, morals and good versus evil are timeless and beautifully written in this tale. I’m glad I had this opportunity to reread this classic. I found that I did indeed read the book differently than I did the first time. I think it would be impossible not to. I’m a single parent now and have observed my own daughter mature, understand the world around her a bit better, but retain the innocence someone her age should still have. I think about how Atticus Finch led his life and set an example to his children. I now know first hand how important it is now to be the standard for your children. I know that my child needs to trust that I’ll be honest with her and protect her. I doubt I thought much of that when I first read the novel.

Not only is this an enjoyable book, but it is an important one. Sadly, this is an accurate account of our nation’s history and needs to be acknowledged. I only wish that racism’s time had come and gone, I wish that we could look to the courts with absolute certainty that it is wielding justice. It takes brave men like the fictional Atticus Finch to stand up for rights and the oppressed.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

To Kill a Mockingbird has reminded me that the best advice I can give and follow is to put on the other persons skin to get a new perspective.

I highly recommend To Kill a Mockingbird for a good read. It is considered the greatest novel of the twentieth century for all the best reasons. Scout is a wonderful story teller who will grip you from the beginning with her wide-eyed innocence, good humor, endless supply of questions and love for her family. I think, maybe, I’ll read it again in another sixteen years–maybe I’ll have a deeper understanding, maybe I’ll gain another new perspective, maybe the times will have changed along with how we treat each other.

“I think there’s just one kind of folks.  Folks.” -Scout.

Harper Lee published her novel July 11, 1960. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. An Academy Award winning film was made based on her work in 1962. To Kill a Mockingbird has been named by librarians as the best novel of the twentieth century and has received numerous honors over the last fifty years. Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor in 2007.

The fiftieth anniversary edition of the novel includes a forward by the author stating how much she dislikes introductions, explaining “… they inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiousity.”

If you would like to win your own copy of the fiftieth anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, please leave a comment in any post relating to the novel and your name will be entered into a random drawing.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Charmaine is an avid reader, sometimes writer and volunteer with Fictionista Workshop