Go Set a Watchman: A Novel

So - there's this new book out by Harper Lee. Maybe you've heard of her. She wrote the world's most beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird and it has been a pillar of justice for more than fifty years. And then someone found another manuscript - a REJECTED manuscript - that sat idly collecting dust bunnies and tumble weeds in the bottom of a box. And that is where it should have stayed.

Anger does not carry the gravity of my emotions towards the publishing industry for making this novel public. This was nothing more than a scheme to pad their pockets, and that they have. They ought to be ashamed of themselves, but alas, they are not. They care nothing about literature, those who published this book, and frankly I think their acts are criminal.

I'm not "reviewing" this book, because it should not have been read.

Deep set in the novel, almost at the end, Uncle Jack explains to Scout that "she saw her father as a God, and now she realizes he is a man, and those paths should never cross." And he is right - those paths should never cross.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a God, Go Set a Watchman is a man - and those paths should never have crossed. It is a fundamental error that I wish I'd never made. Harper Lee is an author, an author who we all believed was pure as the sun, but this book makes her human, too. And we don't like that. I think one of the biggest struggles people will have with the novel is they thought Harper Lee herself was the young Scout Finch, and she's not - she's a writer with an amazing talent for voice. The two are not synonymous.

I will return to the fictional world of Scout Finch and Atticus and Jem, and I will continue to marvel in the language and prose of Harper Lee's finished work; I will not indulge my time on text she never intended the public to read.

thenextgoodbook.com

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
278 pages

What’s it about?
This novel follows the characters made famous in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". Scout is young woman returning home from New York to visit family in Maycomb, Alabama. On returning home she is confronted with the social prejudices of the South. For the first time in her life she is disillusioned with her father, a man she much admires, and his views on what is happening at the beginning of the modern civil rights movement.

What did it make me think about?
This novel was set in a time and place that I have trouble imagining. It was like reading a snapshot from a particular era. For that alone it was worth reading. What a different world people inhabited in the Deep South fifty years ago. I saw this novel as more than just about race- although attitudes on race create the major conflict in the story. This novel portrays a young woman growing into her own personal value system. As we all know, that is often a difficult road. Scout struggles as she finds her views on race differ significantly from her father- a man she much admires. Like many others I struggled with the portrayal of Atticus. While I was troubled by Atticus’s view on race, I much admired his parenting style- and this book was very much about letting your child grow beyond you.

Should I read it?
Harper Lee set out to share her experience of living in the Deep South in both her novels. In both novels the themes of race, justice, and family are explored. "Go Set a Watchman" was her first attempt at exploring these themes and it pales in comparison to her subsequent book. Should you read it? This was a hard choice for me as I am one of those who truly loved "To Kill a Mockingbird". I am not sorry I read, "Go Set a Watchman" but it is not the timeless classic that "To Kill a Mockingbird" is. For me this novel was interesting and very thought provoking, but not a literary masterpiece. It was an interesting look at difficult subjects. It also showcased how Harper Lee's writing evolved, how editing does make a difference in a finished novel, and how writer’s progress in their craft.

Quote-
"Every man's island, Jean Louis, every man's watchman, is his conscience. There is no such thing as a collective conscious."

Question-
What did you think?

6 stars

I feel like I'm at a loss of words to write a review. I loved to kill a mockingbird and Atticus Finch and what he stood for. Reading this I just feel disappointment. I feel the things scout felt while reading this and it breaks my heart.

In a world where we embrace flawed, complex heroes such as Don Draper and Walter White, the uproar over Atticus being a "racist" is perplexing. We like Scout put Atticus on a pedestal. In To Kill a Mockingbird, he really wasn't a civil rights advocate. He was a lawyer ensuring his client got a fair trial. It wasn't a fight against Jim Crow. It was the defense of an innocent man.

In Set a Watchman, we come to realize that perhaps Scout was not the most reliable of narrators. She sees Atticus in black and white terms. All good. He is her god. Watchman allows us to see Atticus as he really is, a complex, flawed man who is still lovable. Ultimately I was most disappoint with Jean Louise (Scout). She is naive and immature for her 26 years. Her character seemed to have the least amount of growth.

It may not become the classic that Mockingbird has but that doesn't mean it's not worth reading.

Go Set a Watchman, I believe includes a more complex and essential image to To Kill a Mockingbird, its prequel. Go Set a Watchman reminds the reader that racism and discrimination are defined and can progress through different times. While Atticus Finch originally was against racist acts in To Kill a Mockingbird, as he chose to defend the black man accused of rape, Tom Robinson, we see a different side of his character in Go Set a Watchman. Now grown up Scout comes back from college to realize this, reflecting on her own perspectives and idea of positive change in coordination with racism.