Cross-posted from Goodreads
One of the best I’ve ever read. Period.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a chapter from the life of a southern girl, Scout, growing up in the US of the 1930s. It’s a chapter filled with fond memories and bitter occurrences. It’s a vivid recollection of sweet relationships with her elder brother Jem and a conscientious father. It’s a story of a man wronged by society because of deep prevailing biases, a story only a child could narrate with honesty.
The novel moves along at a nice pace. One admires how the author skillfully uses fewer words to describe broad situations and summarise big stories. Somewhere around the middle of the book, I was so hit by nostalgia that it appeared I was reading out bits from my own younger sister’s diary. Scout’s small-little incidents were very relatable even though set in a totally different world and era.
The part after the first quarter is a build-up to the legal case that is central to the book. The build-up is slow and gradual and yet described in only a few pages. The final hearing comes and goes, not dramatically but as an important piece in Scout’s life. The seminal courtroom drama is exceptionally well-done, with even the minutest details considered. One feels like watching the scenes enacted right in front of them while sitting in a seat in that courtroom.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic in the best sense of the word. It is an inspiration for aspiring writers and a good story with a moral for the rest.