To Kill A Mockingbird SEQUEL?!?!?!?

[Edward]

Is this a sign of the times?

From Wikipedia:

Go Set a Watchman is a novel by Harper Lee, set to be published on July 14, 2015 by HarperCollins in the United States and Heinemann in the United Kingdom. It was written before her only published novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The title comes from Isaiah 21:6: "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." It alludes to Scout's view of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral compass ("watchman") of Maycomb.

The novel follows an adult Scout Finch who travels from New York to Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Atticus Finch, twenty years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. According to the publisher, Scout "is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood." Go Set a Watchman includes many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Are you happy, angry, confused, scared? Can this novel, her first and unpolished, possibly compete with or even simply add to the original? Will it diminish the strength of the first by over-extending it's Ideas? Will the new movie be better than the original? Cast your stones here!

[Tuly]

I'm scared and worried. One wonders how much liberties are taken on a book that is written posthumously (love that word). And no the movie could never be better than the original. Just the score (one of my favorite of all movies) could not be better.

[Steve]

Mom: One wonders how much liberties are taken on a book that is written posthumously (love that word).

Isn't Harper Lee still alive?

[Ian]

thought i heard she's deaf and blind now?

[Edward]

It wasn't written posthumously, first because she is still alive, and second because it was written BEFORE To Kill A Mockingbird. Her editors asked her to write a story about Scout's childhood, which makes TKAM a prequel to the new book coming out, technically

[Edward]

After doing more research it seems Lee wrote this book first, about a grown Scout visiting Atticus and confronting various issues during that visit. But the editor was much more interested in the glimpses of Scout's childhood, and asked Lee to write a new book simply about young Scout. Go Set A Watchman then sat in the editor's materials for 50 years until recently found; it will be published just as Lee wrote it, unchanged and without alteration, in a huge first printing that will rival even the best-selling Harry Potter books.

So this was the book Lee would have published as her first. We should all be grateful her editor led her to create To Kill A Mockingbird, but I wonder whether this book might not have some worth since Lee herself thought enough of it to submit it for publication in the first place. It's certainly one of the most baffling and surprising turns of events in modern publishing history, and for once I am not being hyperbolic.

[Lily]

Edward is correct, although my understanding is that some are skeptical of the release of this novel, wondering if 88 year old Lee was of sound mind in its approval. Apparently her sister was her attorney and big protector of Lee's works, but she passed away late last year. Lee's new attorney found the manuscript and now Lee, not in the best health, is moving forward with publication. Kinda fishy, if you ask me, but I remain hopeful!

[Steve]

I probably won't read it. The last few times someone convinced me to try a prequel, I ended up with Jar Jar Binks, James Franco in the land of Oz, and a very soiled Radagast.

[Angela]

ah, but Steve, those were film adaptations (except for star wars). Have you read all of the oz books? I know you've read the Hobbit and I believe you aren't upset by it's contents. If this truly is an untouched piece of work from ages ago and written solely by Lee than I would consider reading it.

Lily does have a good point, however, if Lee wanted to, she could have had this published some time ago, but for whatever reason(s), she chose not to. I will definitely be interested, once it's been released, in reading reviews of it. And then... who knows.

[Steve]

My reply was tongue-in-cheek, though I truly can't say I have a good deal of confidence in the work. I'm not really sure how an expanded To Kill a Mockingbird would fare, as I feel like it already says what it needs to say. However, if it were well-received, I'd probably consider it.

I think what it boils down to for me is that there are still so many "great works" on my still-to-read list that it's hard to get excited about any yet-to-be-released novels. We should open a thread where we lay out our reading plans and maybe others' experience can help us prioritize our lists.

[Edward]

Besides, To Kill A Mockingbird is the actual prequel; Go Set A Watchman takes place later but was written earlier. I figure TKAM is about a three day read on a busy schedule, so GSAW should be easy to digest and review if it is a similar length, and since it will be summer I could down it in a day I am sure. My reading list is anything but rigid; this is a book that deserves to be investigated. I will read it the day it comes out.

[Ian]

you're slow, i could read it in ten minutes, fifteen tops.

[Edward]

That's just because you read better than I do.

[Ian]

not as fast as mom, she "skims" books she doesn't like, even for book clubs.

[Tuly]

o.k so it's true. However when I like what I read, I savor every word. So meaning of skimming in reading from this website. Great article on efficient reading skills.
Skinning is much better than scanning. Sorry...


http://www.uefap.com/reading/efficien/skim/skim.htm

Skimming is useful when you want to survey a text to get a general idea of what it is about. In skimming you ignore the details and look for the main ideas. Main ideas are usually found in the first sentences of each paragraph and in the first and last paragraphs. It is also useful to pay attention to the organisation of the text.

As reading is an interactive process, you have to work at constructing the meaning of the text from the marks on the paper. You need to be active all the time when you are reading. It is useful, therefore, if you need to read the text in detail, before you start reading to activate the knowledge you have about the topic of the text and to formulate questions based on this information. Skimming a text for gist can help you formulate questions to keep you interacting with the text.