Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Go Set A Watchman

by

Harper Lee

Prior to listening to Go Set A Watchman I refreshed my memory by listening to To Kill A Mockingbird and I highly recommend to anyone that  it has been a while since they read To Kill A Mockingbird to re-visit the book prior to reading this one.  I did not read the reviews of Go Set A Watchman prior to enjoying the book and I am very glad I did not.  Some of the reviews are very critical.  I loved both books.  In fact,  I hesitate to admit it, but as an adult, I like Go Set A Watchman best.

The stories are set in the same setting but,  although Go Set A Watchman was written first,  it takes place 20 years later.   Scout is on vacation visiting her home town in southern Alabama from her residence in NYC.  Brown vs The Board of Education has been handed down by the supreme court and the white people in the south are angry.   A back lash is taking place and Scout finds her father on what she considers the wrong side of the argument.  For those of us who loved Atticus in Mockingbird it is a shock to see his idea of equality  has a separate but equal condition.   He falls off the pedestal for both the reader and for Scout too.  She is completely disillusioned with her father when she watches him participate in the local county Citizen's Council.  What follows that event is a breaking away for Scout of Atticus being one and the same as her conscious and the realization that she has her own belief system and opinions.  The title of the book is based on an Old Testament verse in Isaiah which is about setting standards in one's life.   

Please follow the links above by clicking on the book title,  author's name,  and colorized text above.  For those that know me,   you realize I re-discovered the following video recently and find it an especially good explanation of something my mother used to tell me.  She would say "One of the hardest parts of growing up is realizing that your parents are not perfect,  and then learning to love to love them anyway".    In this "coming of age" story Harper Lee is right up there with Betty Smith and her A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  Go Set A Watchman is a great read.  Don't miss out.