Literature
?I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.?
This will be less of a formal review and more of a short personal reaction to the novel, which will probably not earn me any brownie points. I understand that To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those towering American classics--according to most surveys, it reigns as the quintessential American classic--but I recall feeling very underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is a terrible novel that lacks substantial merit but it failed to leave a profound impression on me. Having never been forced to read it during high-school (it still eludes me why it was never assigned as part of the curriculum--perhaps it has something to do with the trifling Canadian education system), I took the initiative three years ago to read it myself and see what this overwhelming praise is all about. Unfortunately, it left me cold and indifferent. Soon afterwards, I even watched the movie and found it mediocre at best. Is it sacrilegious to claim Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel as overrated? I would definitely have to read this novel again and come up with substantial evidence from the text in order to back up such a contentious assertion but solely from a personal stand-point, I found the characters to be stereotypical and flat; the prose clunky and dull; the story uneven and torpid in its pacing.
I was able to find my initial response written three years ago after finishing the novel:
"Childhood innocence clashes with racism and social idealism in the American south during the 1930's. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high but this novel did nothing for me--it is far too black and white, literally."
I think that one of my biggest problems with the novel is that it deals with race in a far too simplistic manner. Perhaps that is what I meant by it being too "black and white" but since the story is told from Scout's perspective, maybe she only understands race through a confined and naive childhood lens? I don't know. Maybe I failed to fully grasp the novel's true intentions and purpose.
For those of you who love this novel, I would be very curious to know why you feel this way. Or perhaps you can try to explain to me why I must be crazy for not thinking this is one of the greatest American novels, ever. :P
- Top Ten Tuesday: The Top Ten Most Difficult Books I Have Read...or How I Learned To Avoid Ulysses
Yikes, I can't believe it's Tuesday again! Where does the time go? Soon Christmas will be around the corner. I've been meaning to post some more reviews last week but work has kept me quite busy and any free time has been spent, well,...
- The Waves By Virginia Woolf
?How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves,...
- Bout Of Books Read-a-thon!
As if I didn't have enough on my plate right now... Hosted by Amanda from On a Book Bender, I came across this challenge through happenstance and thought to myself, what the hell -- this is far too alluring to avoid participating. Besides,...
- The Power And The Glory By Graham Greene
"Hope was an instinct only the reasoning human mind could kill. An animal never knew despair." Curse you procrastination! Regretfully, I should have written a review soon after finishing this wonderful novel by my favorite author or at the very...
- Go Tell It On The Mountain By James Baldwin
"People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead." First things first: Baldwin can write his ass off. He just has a way with words that are imperceptibly...
Literature
Neglected Review #5: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
?I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.?
This will be less of a formal review and more of a short personal reaction to the novel, which will probably not earn me any brownie points. I understand that To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those towering American classics--according to most surveys, it reigns as the quintessential American classic--but I recall feeling very underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is a terrible novel that lacks substantial merit but it failed to leave a profound impression on me. Having never been forced to read it during high-school (it still eludes me why it was never assigned as part of the curriculum--perhaps it has something to do with the trifling Canadian education system), I took the initiative three years ago to read it myself and see what this overwhelming praise is all about. Unfortunately, it left me cold and indifferent. Soon afterwards, I even watched the movie and found it mediocre at best. Is it sacrilegious to claim Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel as overrated? I would definitely have to read this novel again and come up with substantial evidence from the text in order to back up such a contentious assertion but solely from a personal stand-point, I found the characters to be stereotypical and flat; the prose clunky and dull; the story uneven and torpid in its pacing.
I was able to find my initial response written three years ago after finishing the novel:
"Childhood innocence clashes with racism and social idealism in the American south during the 1930's. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high but this novel did nothing for me--it is far too black and white, literally."
I think that one of my biggest problems with the novel is that it deals with race in a far too simplistic manner. Perhaps that is what I meant by it being too "black and white" but since the story is told from Scout's perspective, maybe she only understands race through a confined and naive childhood lens? I don't know. Maybe I failed to fully grasp the novel's true intentions and purpose.
For those of you who love this novel, I would be very curious to know why you feel this way. Or perhaps you can try to explain to me why I must be crazy for not thinking this is one of the greatest American novels, ever. :P
- Top Ten Tuesday: The Top Ten Most Difficult Books I Have Read...or How I Learned To Avoid Ulysses
Yikes, I can't believe it's Tuesday again! Where does the time go? Soon Christmas will be around the corner. I've been meaning to post some more reviews last week but work has kept me quite busy and any free time has been spent, well,...
- The Waves By Virginia Woolf
?How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves,...
- Bout Of Books Read-a-thon!
As if I didn't have enough on my plate right now... Hosted by Amanda from On a Book Bender, I came across this challenge through happenstance and thought to myself, what the hell -- this is far too alluring to avoid participating. Besides,...
- The Power And The Glory By Graham Greene
"Hope was an instinct only the reasoning human mind could kill. An animal never knew despair." Curse you procrastination! Regretfully, I should have written a review soon after finishing this wonderful novel by my favorite author or at the very...
- Go Tell It On The Mountain By James Baldwin
"People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead." First things first: Baldwin can write his ass off. He just has a way with words that are imperceptibly...