Harper Lee Collection: To Kill a Mockingbird + Go Set a Watchman

The Harper Lee book is emotional, yet, it brings to mind the cruelty of humanity. The book is easy read, and I enjoyed the book immensely. I would recommend this book to all individuals from twelve years old and older. This book is one of my all time favorites. This book will make you think.

according to PBS's Great. American Read. Harper Lee deals with the racial unrest brewing at the end of the 1950s by having her protagonist Scout remember life in small-town Alabama during the early 1930s. Lee's novel is semi-autobiographical, her descriptions vivid, her characters more than believable and memorable, and her themes timeless. If you have already read the novel, it's time to revisit it, and if you've never read it, you are missing one of th greatest novels of the 20th century. Don't deny yourself the pleasure of the people, places and events of the "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama.

If you've never read To Kill A Mockingbird, this Kindle collection provides the perfect opportunity. This novel was written in the '60s and centers around events depicting the racial tension and inequality in a small fictional Alabama town in the hard-scrabble 1930s, yet it is still highly relevant and extremely readable today. Harper Lee's insights and observations are conveyed via the perspective of "Scout" Finch, the young daughter of the town's leading lawyer and representative in the state legislature. As her father defends a black man who was accused of raping a white woman, Scout begins to question the motives and meanings of everyone--black and white--in the grown-up world that surrounds her. This "coming of age" novel incorporates hilarious takes on education and culture through the precocious Scout's eyes. Its ultimate ironic twist keys on an eccentric neighborhood shut-in, Boo Radley, who isn't the evil being that Scout and her brother had imagined all along. It is a very complete, satisfying read--an altogether excellent Southern novel--which can't really be said of Go Set A Watchman. GSAW is not a standalone book; rather, it picks up the story in Scout's young adult life and includes numerous flashbacks that are meant to "fill in the blanks" of the first book. Some people have registered shock that the novel hints that Scout's father, Atticus Finch, is in fact a white racist--but this is not so. As explained in the book's denouement, Mr. Finch is a realist--which his daughter finally comes to understand. So ... 5 stars for TKAM and 3 stars for GSAW. The collection is definitely worth reading!

Some of the best writing in Watchman are the flashbacks to the childhood of Scout and Jem. These must have showed the editor that Harper Lee had a wonderful voice for children and led to Mockingbird. I did not care much for the first portion of Watchman. But, I became intrigued when Scout began to discover Atticus’ darker side, resulting in her feeling like the world was tumbling down as she lost Atticus, boyfriend Hank, Calpernia, and her hometown. Harper Lee presented many ideas that I have been pondering including: * The classes within Southern society—If Scout Finch did a social infraction, then that was just what Finches occasionally do. But if Hank Clinton did something similar, it was just more evidence that Clintons were trash. How would the community view Scout versus Hank if one took on leadership against white supremacy? What “infractions” do we all do until learning the ways of the culture they are born into? * When does one’s conscience become firmly established and separate from one’s parents? This is a big theme of Watchman. So, I consider To Kill A Mockingbird to be brilliant in being mostly well written with messages for youth and adults about many difficult subjects, including race, class, white supremacy, injustice, and rape. Watchman does not have the advantage of an editor requesting rewrites, but it presents some thought-provoking concepts covered in few books I have read about the South. Watchman also is a more realistic perspective of the world compared with Mockingbird’s filter through a child’s eyes.

It had been a long time since I had read To Kill a Mockingbird. I enjoyed it. I gave this three stars because I feel like Go Set A Watchman, was disappointing. I kept waiting for something to happen. It almost felt like it was a mix of things that didn't make it into the first book.

I got this collection for my Mom as she was reading through the classics. She has read them all!

Oh my word...there are not enough stars for either or both of these books. Harper Lee is a A#1 author. I had read "To Kill a Mockingbird" years ago; I'm so pleased I have read it again as a mature adult with the wisdom of much more understanding. Her second novel "Go Set a Watchman" is just as compelling & held me absolutely spellbound. My parents were raised in the south, moved to the State of Washington during the depression. I was blessed to be raised "color blind" and I loved that statement describing "Scout." Children are born "color blind".. bigotry & racial hatred are taught. How sad. Harper Lee now has not one but two Classics on book shelves. Great reads.

My son loved this book as a gift!

Style trop décousu et parti pris excessif d'originalité, qui gêne la lecture. Mais plongée dépaysante dans le sud profond et son racisme. A mettre en parallèle avec "In Cold Blood": c'est elle ,Harper Lee, qui accompagnait Capote dans son enquête, qui fait superbement vivre une autre Amérique profonde, celle des céréaliers et de leur bonne conscience. . Mais dans une perfection stylistique toute en retenue, qui n'est pas à l'avantage de Harper Lee.

Wer Harper Lees erstes Buch „To kill a Mockingbird“ liebt, findet hier eine lange unbekannte, rätselhafte und anregende Fortsetzung.

I had read Harper Lee’s timeless novel “To Kill a Mockingbird" years ago; I am hence pleased to read it again as a mature adult with much more understanding and wisdom. I did not read Go Set a Watchman earlier, so this boxed set was good addition to my library. There is no doubt that the “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a such as brilliant work that 5-star rating for that book is simply not enough. I found “Go Set a Watchman” good, but not as god as “To Kill A Mockingbird”. “Go Set a Watchmen” was written first, but, I am glad that “To Kill A mockingbird” was published first, otherwise we would probably have not heard of Harper Lee. I am not trying to say that “Go Set a Watchman” is not very good, but “To Kill a Mockingbird” is such as brilliant work that it was probably hard to reach the height of that book. Both are written from a different perspective and both feels interesting and engaging. My suggestion is to read these books in the order they were published which means to read “To kill a mockingbird” first and then then “Go set a watchman”, rather than the order they were written, as To kill a mocking bird sets the scene for Go set a watchman, not only because of the timeline, but because the hero's frame of mind is totally different. Though both books are hardbound and comes in decent slipcase, quality of hard binding was not so great. The price was so good ($19.80 at the time of writing this review) that I decided to buy this set instead of just “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

I always remember the old black and white movie starring Gregory Peck. I saw a stage version this year and was totally blown away by the production, so much so I had to buy the book. Harper Lee has such a gift of descriptive writing that I felt at times as if I was there with Scout and the trial. Ian H

Muy buena presentación del libro, excelente para lucir en el librero. Muy buen libro, una lectura rápida y para reflexionar, muy recomendable.