
Review of Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman, by artist Jen Bissu
I had very high hopes for this book. Perhaps that’s in part why I am so terribly disappointed. I must credit Harper Lee’s editors: it was a wise decision to insist that she rewrite this novel, and continue revising it, until it turned into the magnificent To Kill A Mockingbird that we all know and love. There are only perhaps two or three parts of this book that I found actually enjoyable; the rest I grudgingly endured. It had its good points: her vocabulary is strong, and some of the writing is eloquent. Unfortunately, much of the writing in this book is nebulous. There is a great deal of philosophizing, which I found tiresome. Also, most apparent in the beginning of the book, Lee chooses to “tell” the reader about her characters, rather than “show,” as she did in Mockingbird. “Showing” rather than “telling” is a much stronger writing technique. I found the “telling” juvenile, prosaic, and not engaging at all. Fortunately that ceased after the beginning of the book. If I weren’t so determined to read this book for its historical value, having been published some sixty years after it was written, I would’ve dropped it after the slow, poorly told beginning. So I pushed through, and upon completing it, I found myself with an empty, dissatisfied feeling. I’m almost sorry this book was published. I just re-read To Kill A Mockingbird very recently, in anticipation of this book, thus deepening the stark contrast between the brilliance and delightfulness of Mockingbird and this disappointing book. I do recommend reading it just for the sake of historical background, because it is interesting to see where one of the best, most revered pieces of American Literature got its start. I’m giving this three stars, which I feel is a bit generous, but I’ll allot extra credit for the admirable vocabulary.
Here is a video review/ discussion of the book that I feel hits the nail on the head. https://youtu.be/vPNk-0dv5_Y
Feel the same way – – not nearly as powerful as Mockingbird. I also had to force myself to finish the book and I was left feeling it was written by someone else trying to write a sequel to Mockingbird.
It was a first draft. Even now I don’t think that Harper Lee meant to have it published. Greedy publisher took advantage of an elderly writer.
I loved the book and the movie. This mnew book might ruin it for me.
I thought the book was great, and I am sick of everyone’s criticism of it. I read it in one day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, I was put off by the changes in Atticus, but I found him believable since this was the south in the mid-century. I did, however, find Atticus’ seeming lack of grief over the death of Jem to be hard to believe.