Synopsis
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken
at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look
back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his
accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was
four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it
began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of
making Boo Radley come out."Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb,
Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three
years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and
their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and
eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman.
Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it
through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of
race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.Like the slow-moving
occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the
heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's
first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who
spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours
reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the
town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the
alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent
white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then
Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon
Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their
understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but
Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an
elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the
heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and
finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are
essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and
heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to
speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix
Wilber
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Lee's
beloved American classics makes its belated debut on audio (after
briefly being available in the 1990s for the blind and libraries
through Books on Tape) with the kind of classy packaging that may spoil
listeners for all other audiobooks. The two CD slipcases housing the 11
discs not only feature art mirroring Mary Schuck's cover design but
also offers helpful track listings for each disk. Many viewers of the
1962 movie adaptation believe that Lee was the film's narrator, but it
was actually an unbilled Kim Stanley who read a mere six passages and
left an indelible impression. Competing with Stanley's memory, Spacek
forges her own path to a victorious reading. Spacek reads with a slight
Southern lilt and quiet authority. Told entirely from the perspective
of young Scout Finch, there's no need for Spacek to create individual
voices for various characters but she still invests them all with
emotion. Lee's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1960 novel, which quietly stands
as one of the most powerful statements of the Civil Rights movement,
has been superbly brought to audio. Available as a Perennial paperback. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
From Library Journal
Lee's Pulitzer
Prize-winning first (and last) novel of racial injustice in a small
Southern town ranks among just about everyone's favorite books. This
35th-anniversary edition contains a brief new foreword by the elusive
Lee. (LJ
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Vogue
That rare literary phenomenon, a
Southern novel with no mildew on its magnolia leaves. Funny, happy and
written with unspectacular precision, To Kill a Mockingbird
is about conscience - how it is instilled in two children, Scout and
Jem Finch; how it operates in their father, Atticus, a lawyer appointed
to defend a Negro on a rape charge; and how conscience grows in their
small Alabama town. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFileRoses Prichard's masterful narration of Lee's classic novel, originally
produced for Books on Tape in 1991, has been repackaged by Audio
Partners for the consumer market. Prichard's skill and talents are
evident; all the characters sound true and absolutely real. Listeners
hear Scout's developing wisdom and maturity as the story progresses.
Prichard achieves the monumental task of creating--and
maintaining--authentic voices for a diverse group of characters while
infusing the story with emotional resonance. This stunning production
captures the listener and doesn't let go. M.A.M. An AUDIOFILE Earphones
Award winner (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Marilyn Meyer
In 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird
won the Pulitzer prize; thirty years later shopping malls may have
replaced the main street of Maycomb, Alabama, but not even thirty years
of Civil Rights laws or the gentrification of ante-bellum estates
render this book an anachronism. Harper Lee combines two of the most
common themes of Southern writing - a child's recollection of life
among eccentrics in a small town seemingly untouched by the twentieth
century and the glaring injustice of racial prejudice - to create a
contemporary American classic. To Kill a Mockingbird has two
main threads which carry the plot. The first involves the role of
Atticus Finch, who is appointed to defend a shy black man accused of
raping the oldest daughter of the town's least respected citizen. The
second is the mythology arising out of the reclusive Boo Radley, about
whom it was said "when people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was
because he had breathed on them." But what saves the novel from cliche
are the irreverent perceptions of the story's narrator, Atticus Finch's
nine-year-old daughter Scout, who depicts mean racist aspects of
Southern life as well as humorous and quite often satirical vignettes. To Kill a Mockingbird
only gets better with rereading; each time the streets of Maycomb
become more real and alive, each time Scout is more insightful, Atticus
more heroic, and Boo Radley more tragically human.
Vogue
"That rare literary phenomenon,
a Southern novel with no mildew on its magnolia leaves. Funny, happy
and written with unspectacular precision, To Kill a Mockingbird
is about conscience--how it is instilled in two children, Scout and Jem
Finch; how it operates in their father, Atticus a lawyer appointed to
defend a Negro on a rape charge, and how conscience crows in their
small Alabama town."
Chicago Tribune
"A first novel of
such rare excellence that it will no doubt make a great many readers
slow down to relish more fully its simple distinction...A novel of
strong contemporary national significance."
-- Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
--This text refers to the Paperback
edition.
Kliatt, July 1998
"Prichard is
excellent...her expressiveness of the dialogue is remarkable. Her
reading is engaging and evocative. Listeners can almost see the story
unfolding like a movie...We recommend this reading highly." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
AudioFile, October 1997
"Prichard's
skill and talents are evident; all the characters sound true and
absolutely real. Listeners hear Scout's developing wisdom and maturity
as the story progresses. Prichard achieves the monumental task of
creating -and maintaining authentic voices for a diverse group of
characters while infusing the story with emotional resonance. This
stunning production captures the listener and doesn't let go." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Rochelle O'Gorman Flynn, Boston Globe, December 7, 1997
"Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
is...so masterfully narrated that one could listen to [it]
repeatedly...Not only among the best I've heard all year, but the best
I've heard in years." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The New Yorker, October 19, 1998
"...artfully read."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY, July 23, 1998
"[Prichard] does a spectacular job in capturing the voice of the young
narrator, Scout. Her performance renders beautifully the different
voices, the nuances, the drama, the child's perspective. The result is
spellbinding...While the movie is terrific, this unabridged audiotape
is so much richer and includes so much more small-town nuance and
flavor."
About the Author
Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She attended the
local schools and studied law at the University of Alabama. For some
years she spent most of her time in New York City, where, until she
began writing, she was employed in the reservations department of an
international airline. "Aside from writing," says Miss Lee, "my chief
interests in life are collecting memoirs of nineteenth-century
clergymen, golf, crime and music."
Product Details Paperback: 288 pages
Carton Size: 48 books
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 11, 1988)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446310786
ISBN-13: 978-0446310789
Product Dimensions: 7.0 x 4.14 x 0.77 inches
Shipping Weight: 0.31 pounds |
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