Author: Harper Lee
Total Pages: 309
Total Approximate words: 1,08,150
The new year hasn’t been the happy one so far that I was hoping for, after receiving so many good wishes on the first day of 2022 (bummer!). I fell sick, and so did my husband (since we couldn’t keep each other away from each other😉). And I was reminded how horrible it is to fall sick. Thankfully, after January became the official pill popping month for us, we were both saved by our relentless white blood cells, and are now back to our own ways of hustling. Him running a Sustainable Home Design consultancy where I support him with my two cents and me with my writing gigs. And this is how, finally on the fourth last day of the first month of 2022 I am ready with the first book review of this year.
SYNOPSIS:
The story is based during the 1930s American era, when racism was far from being subtle. A black man is falsely accused of raping a white girl in a small town, and a white lawyer is appointed as his lawyer. Despite getting threats from mobs for defending a black man, the lawyer tries his best to convince the jury of the accused’s innocence. The jury (comprising of only white men) however, still did not acquit him and was sent to jail, awaiting his capital punishment. The accused man, gave up all hopes of ever getting an exoneration, tried to escape the prison and got shot seventeen times by the prison guards. The story is narrated from the perspective of the eight-year-old daughter of the lawyer.
CONCLUSION:
The narration is slow in the beginning, with details describing the residents of the community. The pace doesn’t change until close to the midpoint in the book. The accusations on a black man and the unfairness surrounding the trial finally improves the pace, and it gets interesting. The details as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old in the courthouse gives a very different and interesting perspective. Despite being a child, Jean Louise Scout’s narration sounds very mature at almost all the phases of the story, which at times also seemed a bit unrealistic.
The story is slow, and the hype surrounding the book, in my opinion was a little too much. Undeniably the story had a good intention, and it successfully delivered what it meant to from the very beginning. In the sea of fiction books, this one is definitely an above average pick. Much better than ‘Love Story’ by Erich Segal, for example, but still far from books like ‘The Martian’ by Andy Weir or Amish Tripathi’s books. I have enjoyed portions of the narration, and the overall plot of the book. I know I am being very brave here by rating a book that won the Pulitzer Prize, but I think a 7 out of 10 is a fair rating from my side of perspective.
Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual.
Nevertheless, happy reading!
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