Let's just forget that we've read To Kill a Mockingbird and approach Go Set a Watchman impartially. The books are not alike at all, and they shouldn't be. And the second product is not a sequel to the first, but on the contrary, the predecessor and the main idea, which is the fact that the print did not give life to one of the best works of the XX century. Are you ready? Now we have something to talk about.
Harper Lee, known as Nelle, was born in the Alabama town of Monroeville, the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. Her father, a former newspaper editor and proprietor, was a lawyer who served on the state legislature from 1926 to 1938. As a child, Lee was a tomboy and a precocious reader, and enjoyed the friendship of her schoolmate and neighbor, the young Truman Capote.
This book is not about the bright days of childhood and justice, the burden of which can be borne by one single person. "Go Set a Watchman" is a serious attack on American society and its way of life. It contains a caustic and uncompromising critique of one and all. Both the hardened conservatives of the South and the aggressive liberals of the North get the beans. Yes, yes, thanks to Harper Lee we can see the view of each side, and quite possibly never join either one. The struggle between the north and the south is eternal. Almost the same thing is going on in the mind of the main character, Jean-Louise Finch.
Back from New York for the vacations, Eyeball Finch searches for her familiar and cozy home world, but some changes in Maycomb catch her eye. And that's enough to put her relationship with her family, friends, childhood, and principles to the test. If she hadn't been Finch, there might not have been a beginning for this story. On the other hand, a weaker heart might not have been able to handle such a break with reality and the loss of her inner world, it takes a strong breed here.
Yes... this book is like a time bomb, a drama with passions burning like lava or the most corrosive acid. And all in the mind of a young girl! The tension grows from chapter to chapter and it is impossible to turn away from what is happening. No wonder some readers have a justifiable desire to abandon the book, tear it up and brand it with eternal shame, to erase the very memory of it from their minds. And yes, were it not for the last two chapters, my grade would be lower, even despite the truth that Harper Lee bequeathed to posterity.
The book is written differently, but there are fragments in it that remind us that this is the same author who invented the funny girl, her brother and father, all the Finches. Sometimes it seems that "Go Set a Watchman" is just a rough draft, not a schematic outline, but not yet a dressed-up story, naked. That's why it's so ruthless and can hurt even a person from the outside who has nothing to do with that time and country.
Lest you get the wrong idea, this book has quite a few useful messages in addition to the "horrors. In addition to a wild hatred of racism, Harper Lee also describes the almost unrealistic, hypertrophied, idealized relationship between father and daughter, and the importance of a full family in raising children, a family where there is harmony between the spouses.
The author forces us to think about where the boundary lies between love and simple affection, where habit and where the heart is really sick. She also walks on the human memory, which sometimes tends to remember the best moments of life, but sometimes is ready to erase everything and give only bad memories. Not only discord can arise from this, but war as well.
The whole time I was reading this book, I had the feeling that Harper Lee was not only writing about her worldview, political and other views, but that she was pushing back on personal experiences and memories. You can see from the writer's biography that the ideas are not taken out of thin air but from life, but I am interested in her relationship with her father. Was there something of Jean-Louise and Atticus' relationship in them? Did Harper Lee really go through all that, or did she try years later to replay on paper what she couldn't do in reality?
This book was supposed to blow up, so it did, even if it didn't take many readers with it. The publishers played on Harper Lee's name and the "To Kill a Mockingbird" brand to make more money. I wonder if anyone realized what was behind the book. After all, if it had been published 60 years ago, we would have lost a touching story for all ages and literary tastes, and instead would have gotten something reactionary and probably passé. No, they just couldn't have published such a thing at the time. It was too harsh, too painful for unhealed wounds. People weren't ready. Though are they ready now? With such an abundance of bigoted -phobes and vice versa "tolerants", both would have been amicably outraged and rejected the book. Society has changed and now there will be those who can understand Harper Lee instead of the hundredth time to confirm their opinion and "stay with their own.
It is customary to cite in reviews, but I can't do that for "Go Set a Watchman," not enough space. It's hard to find one or two sentences that could be taken out of context without twisting the meaning or twisting it. And in an attempt to embrace the immensity I would have to end up copying complete dialogues. No, I don't think so. Let's move on to the finale.
This book is about choices, self-determination, the crashing of idols, coming down to earth, and, of course, love in all its manifestations and conventions. Each, I emphasize, each character in this drama loves the others so differently, in their own way, uniquely. Some are sheltered in armor, some open their arms and soul, put their unprotected head, but they are all faithful to each other and to the chosen course. One can only lament and cheer for Jean-Louise, the young and fanatical nonconformist. If she doesn't do what she has to do now, she will never be able to do it again. And then the story will take on a truly frightening hue!
This article was sponsored by ANDRAS LUKACS
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