Title: Do not shoot the mockingbird Author: Harper Lee
Editions: The paperback
Genre: Contemporary / Drama
Pages: 447
Back Cover :
In a small town in Alabama during the Great Depression, Atticus Finch raises her two children, Jem and Scout. Man of integrity and rigorous, this lawyer is appointed by the court to defend a Black man accused of raping a white woman. This could be sentenced to death.
My opinion:
I found this story really poignant. The fact
that history is told through the eyes of Jean Louise (aka Scout) aged 8 / 10 years, only reinforces the emotions one feels after reading this novel.
Scout is a tomboy. She loves the overalls, she is feisty, sassy ... however it is also very intelligent and also very curious. Throughout the pages, Scout and her brother will grow up ( story takes place over 3 years ) and will find themselves faced with the harsh reality of the adult world, in this America of the 30s.
These 2 children are raised by their father, Atticus, Calpurnia, and passing much time at home since it is their range. Scout and Jem were high in tolerance and not understand the people of Maycomb.
The first part of the book tells us about their carelessness, their lives and their small children to worry. This indifference will disappear when their father, a lawyer, will be appointed to defend a Black man accused of raping a white woman.
The drama of this story is somewhat diminished by the fact that we are in the skin of Scout, who do not always understand this situation, the injustice.
When it's time trial, we really feel there be, you feel bad for this man unjustly accused. You want to stand in the courtroom and say "but you wake up! Look at you!"
In short, I was expecting a very hard book, dramatic and "depressing". Well, no. Admittedly, this is a terrible story, and poignant, but Scout brings a real freshness to this story.
I really recommend reading this, a classic of American literature.
My rating:
