Go Set A Watchman

Go Set A Watcheman is the much talked about follow up novel to To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch-- "Scout"-- returns home from New York City to visit her again father, Atticus.  Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her  childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt.

The Breakdown:
1.  To Kill A Mockingbird is probably my all time favorite book. (I have read it more times than I can remember.)  So when this book was announced, I was half excited, and half dreading it.  It is definitely nearly as amazing as To Kill A Mockingbird, but it was a decent read.  It was a more choppy read than its predecessor, and my favorite parts were the flash backs to Jean Louise's childhood. Plus there is the great coming into your own person for Jean Louise, and learning that while your heroes aren't perfect, you can still love them even you don't agree.

2.  So I know one of the biggest controversy about this book was that Atticus was a racist.  For me, that wasn't not really a surprise.  He was a man born in the 19th century.  He was in his 40s during To Kill A Mockingbird, and was in his 70s in this book.  I expected he to be somewhat racist because that is the time and place he was raised in.  He was a just man, and believed that everyone, no matter their color, deserved a fair trial.  He never told Jean Louise she was wrong because she believed that white and black were equal, in fact he encouraged her to stand up for her beliefs.

3. The were a few things that did bother me about this book.  Fair warning, there is a spoiler in this part, but it is something revealed at the beginning of the book.  First more shocking for me than Atticus being a racist, is that Jem is dead.  That completely caught me off guarded. Second, when the trial from To Kill A Mockingbird was mentioned, there was some glaring inconsistencies, such was the describe of what happened and the description of the man Atticus defended, Tom Robinson, who is not mentioned by name in this book.  Most importantly the outcome of the trail was different in this book.  I get that she wrote this book first, but someone should have picked up on that and had that part cleaned up.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read