To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (audio)

Don't you just love it when you read something that changes you forever? I knew in my heart that this would be the case when I picked up the audio of To Kill a Mockingbird. It did not escape my attention that almost without exception, this book was on everyone's BTT "Sticky 15" a couple of weeks ago. I know it is my mom's favorite book, and have been hearing her talk about it forever. Why I waited 42 years to experience this classic is beyond me.

But the downside of reading such a novel is facing the daunting task of reviewing it. What on earth can I say that hasn't been said a thousand times? Does it make any sense to run through the plot? Even before I read the book, I knew the plot. It is a permanent part of pop culture. I knew something of Harper Lee from my interest in Truman Capote, my love for the book "In Cold Blood", and the movie "Capote". Then there's the movie of TKAM (which I haven't seen either) that has been sound-byted and clipped to death, primarily as a result of Peck's Oscar-winning role as Atticus. Is there anyone on earth that hasn't stumbled across snippets of the courtroom scene?

In general, the story touches on many emotionally-charged issues. Racism and bigotry, intolerance, social status, hypocrisy, and unwritten laws that often govern over the written ones. Tough stuff. But at the same time, the story is about innocence, the basic goodness of some people, and the importance of doing the right thing. As tough as some of the story's themes are, they are told through the eyes of a precocious child. A child that is full of innocence and wonder, a keen interest in life, and won't take guff from anyone. I so loved Scout! On one hand, it almost softens the heartache of the harsh inequities we see in all of its ugliness, but on the other hand, I just wanted to cry as I could almost visually see Scout's innocence slipping away.

I've always found Harper Lee to be an enigma. With the exception of some short stories and such, she never published another novel. The book TKAM is very close to autobiographical, although Lee has always downplayed this. Her father was a lawyer, her mother wasn't present in her formative years and died at a young age, she had an older brother, and the family had a black housekeeper. She lived in the South and was witness, via her father's newspapers, to a particular case of a white girl accusing a black man of rape. The character of Dill was based on Lee's childhood friend, Truman Capote, who lived next door with his aunt while his mother was traveling. Since the publication of TKAM, she grants almost no requests for interviews and public appearances and lives a fairly solitary life. It makes me wonder why she has chosen this path.

Some may say that experiencing this classic via audio is a travesty, but I would firmly argue that it is not. The story is narrated by Sissy Spacek, who embodies Scout. It was magical to listen to this story unfold through Spacek's southern, childlike voice. I would imagine I will one day read this book in the written form, but would encourage everyone to give this form of media a try. You will lose yourself in it!

5 out of 5 stars