I put this on hold a long while ago, and was thrilled to get a chance to read something else by Harper Lee- the author of mine and many other folks' childhood. I have read and re-read To Kill A Mockingbird many times, and gotten something from it each time as I have grown older. In graduate school, the first semester was dedicated to making many (failed) monotypes, woodcuts, and drawings about Scout and Tom Robinson, and sculptures about Boo Radley.
I want to say that I am probably one of the few people that isn't completely disappointed with Go Set A Watchman. I went into reading this without the expectation of greatness, knowing that this would be a different experience. It was different, and this isn't the same kind of book that To Kill a Mockingbird was, which I am kind of happy about. This book was more complex, more of its time, without any tidy resolutions. The rhetoric towards the end of the book I had to skim through because I found it to be upsetting, yet I found the characters to be more believable, and sad. I feel that the release of this book is fitting for the times we live in- the character of Atticus Finch being knocked down from his ivory tower is relevant, and necessary. If you look around the Internet, people are so upset by this- and angry that this character could be painted as a racist. I don't understand why this is such a surprise, though. The prose style is still quite good, and the stronger points of the book are when Jean- Louise flashes back to points in her upbringing. A worthy read.
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