To Kill a Mockingbird
11 journalers for this copy...
Harper Lee „To kill a Mockingbird“
This book is about growing up, bringing up children as a single father, being black, being white, being different, prejudices, mockingbirds and much more. Besides it is a well-written book with lots of small little details, all this makes the book a great read.
I have first heard of “To kill a Mockingbird” on television, The big read on BBC Presented by John Humphrys. I found I so impressive that I have bought the book the very next day.
The scene that impressed me most:
In ones and twos, men for out of the cars. Shadows became substance as light revealed solid shapes moving towards the jail door. Atticus remained where he was. The mean hid him from view.
“He in there, Mr Finch?” a man said.
“He is” we heard Atticus answer, “and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.”
In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realised was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in a near-whispers.
“You know what we want,” another man said. “get aside from the door, Mr Finch.”
(…)
I looked around the crowd. It was a summer's night, but the men were dressed, most of them, in overalls and denim shirts buttoned up to the collars. I thought they must be cold-natured, as their sleeves were unrolled and buttoned at the cuffs. Some wore hats pulled firmly down over their ears. They were sullen-looking, sleepy-eyed men who seemed unused to late hours. I sought once more for a familiar face, and at the center of the semi-circle I found one.
"Hey, Mr. Cunningham."
The man did not hear me, it seemed.
"Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?"
Mr. Walter Cunningham's legal affairs were well known to me; Atticus had once described them at length. The big man blinked and hooked his thumbs in his overall straps. He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away. My friendly overture had fallen flat.
Mr. Cunningham wore no hat, and the top half of his forehead was white in contrast to his sunscorched face, which led me to believe that he wore one most days. He shifted his feet, clad in heavy work shoes.
"Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?" I began to sense the futility one feels when unacknowledged by a chance acquaintance.
"I go to school with Walter," I began again. "He's your boy, ain't he? Ain't he, sir?"
Mr. Cunningham was moved to a faint nod. He did know me, after all.
"He's in my grade," I said, "and he does right well. He's a good boy," I added, "a real nice boy. We brought him home for dinner one time. Maybe he told you about me, I beat him up one time but he was real nice about it. Tell him hey for me, won't you?"
Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in. Mr. Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a last-ditch effort to make him feel at home.
"Entailments are bad," I was advising him, when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire aggregation. The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open. Atticus had stopped poking at Jem: they were standing together beside Dill. Their attention amounted to fascination. Atticus's mouth, even, was half-open, an attitude he had once described as uncouth. Our eyes met and he shut it.
"Well, Atticus, I was just sayin' to Mr. Cunningham that entailments are bad an' all that, but you said not to worry, it takes a long time sometimes... that you all'd ride it out together..." I was slowly drying up, wondering what idiocy I had committed. Entailments seemed all right enough for livingroom talk.
I began to feel sweat gathering at the edges of my hair; I could stand anything but a bunch of people looking at me. They were quite still.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
Atticus said nothing. I looked around and up at Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive. Then he did a peculiar thing. He squatted down and took me by both shoulders.
"I'll tell him you said hey, little lady," he said.
Then he straightened up and waved a big paw. "Let's clear out," he called. "Let's get going, boys."
As they had come, in ones and twos the men shuffled back to their ramshackle cars. Doors slammed, engines coughed, and they were gone.
(…)
Walking toward the office, Dill and I fell into step behind Atticus and Jem. Dill was encumbered by the chair, and his pace was slower. Atticus and Jem were well ahead of us, and I assumed that Atticus was giving him hell for not going home, but I was wrong. As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem's hair, his one gesture of affection.
http://www.stjohnsprep.org/teachers/mm_english/lee/mockingbird/chapter15.html
This book is about growing up, bringing up children as a single father, being black, being white, being different, prejudices, mockingbirds and much more. Besides it is a well-written book with lots of small little details, all this makes the book a great read.
I have first heard of “To kill a Mockingbird” on television, The big read on BBC Presented by John Humphrys. I found I so impressive that I have bought the book the very next day.
The scene that impressed me most:
In ones and twos, men for out of the cars. Shadows became substance as light revealed solid shapes moving towards the jail door. Atticus remained where he was. The mean hid him from view.
“He in there, Mr Finch?” a man said.
“He is” we heard Atticus answer, “and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.”
In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realised was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in a near-whispers.
“You know what we want,” another man said. “get aside from the door, Mr Finch.”
(…)
I looked around the crowd. It was a summer's night, but the men were dressed, most of them, in overalls and denim shirts buttoned up to the collars. I thought they must be cold-natured, as their sleeves were unrolled and buttoned at the cuffs. Some wore hats pulled firmly down over their ears. They were sullen-looking, sleepy-eyed men who seemed unused to late hours. I sought once more for a familiar face, and at the center of the semi-circle I found one.
"Hey, Mr. Cunningham."
The man did not hear me, it seemed.
"Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?"
Mr. Walter Cunningham's legal affairs were well known to me; Atticus had once described them at length. The big man blinked and hooked his thumbs in his overall straps. He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away. My friendly overture had fallen flat.
Mr. Cunningham wore no hat, and the top half of his forehead was white in contrast to his sunscorched face, which led me to believe that he wore one most days. He shifted his feet, clad in heavy work shoes.
"Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?" I began to sense the futility one feels when unacknowledged by a chance acquaintance.
"I go to school with Walter," I began again. "He's your boy, ain't he? Ain't he, sir?"
Mr. Cunningham was moved to a faint nod. He did know me, after all.
"He's in my grade," I said, "and he does right well. He's a good boy," I added, "a real nice boy. We brought him home for dinner one time. Maybe he told you about me, I beat him up one time but he was real nice about it. Tell him hey for me, won't you?"
Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in. Mr. Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a last-ditch effort to make him feel at home.
"Entailments are bad," I was advising him, when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire aggregation. The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open. Atticus had stopped poking at Jem: they were standing together beside Dill. Their attention amounted to fascination. Atticus's mouth, even, was half-open, an attitude he had once described as uncouth. Our eyes met and he shut it.
"Well, Atticus, I was just sayin' to Mr. Cunningham that entailments are bad an' all that, but you said not to worry, it takes a long time sometimes... that you all'd ride it out together..." I was slowly drying up, wondering what idiocy I had committed. Entailments seemed all right enough for livingroom talk.
I began to feel sweat gathering at the edges of my hair; I could stand anything but a bunch of people looking at me. They were quite still.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
Atticus said nothing. I looked around and up at Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive. Then he did a peculiar thing. He squatted down and took me by both shoulders.
"I'll tell him you said hey, little lady," he said.
Then he straightened up and waved a big paw. "Let's clear out," he called. "Let's get going, boys."
As they had come, in ones and twos the men shuffled back to their ramshackle cars. Doors slammed, engines coughed, and they were gone.
(…)
Walking toward the office, Dill and I fell into step behind Atticus and Jem. Dill was encumbered by the chair, and his pace was slower. Atticus and Jem were well ahead of us, and I assumed that Atticus was giving him hell for not going home, but I was wrong. As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem's hair, his one gesture of affection.
http://www.stjohnsprep.org/teachers/mm_english/lee/mockingbird/chapter15.html
Journal Entry 2 by Ben-Nevis at RRT im Cafe Ferdinand in Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Sunday, September 19, 2004
Released 19 yrs ago (9/19/2004 UTC) at RRT im Cafe Ferdinand in Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Journal Entry 3 by Miss-Lizzy from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Monday, September 20, 2004
I took it home from the Meet Up but it was reserved for me anyway. Thanks to Ben-Nevis!
I am going to read this after I have read all my other TBR books. So it will take a while, I think.
I am going to read this after I have read all my other TBR books. So it will take a while, I think.
Journal Entry 4 by Miss-Lizzy from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Thursday, November 4, 2004
What a great and impressive book! It's written well and I absolutely liked it. It was a wonderful read. Although there were many words I didn't know, I understood at least the context so there wasn't any need to get a dictionary. Thanks to Ben-Nevis once more for giving me this book. I've never heard of it before but I'm glad that I've read it.
It made me think about certain things like being black and being charged for a crime and how children use see the world, especially at those times. Of course there are sad happenings but the book also sometimes made me smile for the stories these children experienced were so nice. I imagined most things and places in my own way, which are probably wrong, but it was easier to follow the story that way instead of trying to find out what it is supposed to look like.
The book had a good beginning, an exciting plot and a happy end.
It made me think about certain things like being black and being charged for a crime and how children use see the world, especially at those times. Of course there are sad happenings but the book also sometimes made me smile for the stories these children experienced were so nice. I imagined most things and places in my own way, which are probably wrong, but it was easier to follow the story that way instead of trying to find out what it is supposed to look like.
The book had a good beginning, an exciting plot and a happy end.
Journal Entry 5 by Miss-Lizzy from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Sunday, January 16, 2005
This book will soon start its way as a ring and the first station will be sun-beetle's home. Here is its route:
1) sun-beetle
2) Ophelia-1
3) hank-chinaski
4) ekaterin4luv
5) KatColorado
1) sun-beetle
2) Ophelia-1
3) hank-chinaski
4) ekaterin4luv
5) KatColorado
:) :) :) yipii, arrived today in my mailbox just in time for the weekend.
Looking forward to a good read.
Thanks
Looking forward to a good read.
Thanks
A great and interesting book! Wounderfully written it's feels like stepping into this world while reading the book.
Can absolutely recommend this book, thanks for sending it out as a ring!
I will send it off today, hope Ophelia1 will like it as well.
Can absolutely recommend this book, thanks for sending it out as a ring!
I will send it off today, hope Ophelia1 will like it as well.
The book arrived today. It has to be patient for 2 or 3 days, but I sneaked a look at the first pages right away and liked what I read so far...
18.02.05:
I was deeply touched by this book. Written from the view of a nine-year-old girl seemed to me an indcredible good idea to write this story without letting it sound to bad.
The book is on it's way to hank-chinaski.
18.02.05:
I was deeply touched by this book. Written from the view of a nine-year-old girl seemed to me an indcredible good idea to write this story without letting it sound to bad.
The book is on it's way to hank-chinaski.
Journal Entry 9 by 
hank-chinaski
from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Monday, February 21, 2005
hank-chinaski from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Monday, February 21, 2005
Came with the mail today. I'm afraid I'll have to finish two or three other bookring books first, but I'm looking forward to the read and hope not to keep the next reader waiting for too long.
Journal Entry 10 by hank-chinaski from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Tuesday, March 29, 2005
hank-chinaski from Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Tuesday, March 29, 2005
If there's anything coming close to the Perfect Book, this is it!
Off to ekaterin4luv by snailmail. Enjoy!
Off to ekaterin4luv by snailmail. Enjoy!
Got it today and I'm looking forward to it.
The beliefs of a child, that all is right with this world we live in, are shattered.
"But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentleman is a court.(..) Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal." (p.224)
Or so it should have been. Or should I say: it should be? These times are surely over, aren`t they? Aren`t they really? Times and places might change, but do people change?
The book stretches like a long summer day in the South, hot and indolent, but ever so intense.
Changed into a bookray:
Sudizoso
holle77
Schildkroet
enitsirhc72
GrannyPurple
"But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentleman is a court.(..) Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal." (p.224)
Or so it should have been. Or should I say: it should be? These times are surely over, aren`t they? Aren`t they really? Times and places might change, but do people change?
The book stretches like a long summer day in the South, hot and indolent, but ever so intense.
Changed into a bookray:
Sudizoso
holle77
Schildkroet
enitsirhc72
GrannyPurple
It arrived today but I have still another ray to read. Thanks, Sudizoso, for sending it to me.
Ups, I have totaly forgotten to make a journal, when this book arrived. But it is already at holle77's place.
I loved that book and now I've got one for my personal shelf.
I loved that book and now I've got one for my personal shelf.
The book is still here, I started reading it some days ago and will write more when I have finished.
I saw the film in the sixties and I read the German translation of the book afterwards and now I am quite happy to have read the original to. It is really an impressive story and it is written in a very sensitive way. I like it very much and think that I must try to get the film once again perhaps on DVD.
It will go to Schildkroet as soon as I get the address.
Tomorrow I'll give it to the snailmail.
It will go to Schildkroet as soon as I get the address.
Tomorrow I'll give it to the snailmail.
Received today from holle77. Thank you!I will immediately start reading it. It was mentioned so often in the English threads as a very important book that I am really looking forward to reading it.
I really loved this book! It is about growing up, about friendship, about doing what is right, even if it means to risk your life. It is written from the point of view of a six to nine year old girl, but without the childish language which is sometimes used in books like this.
The funny thing is that I saw the german translation every time I visited my inlaws, but because of the title "Wer die Nachtigall stört" I always thought that it were some kitschy love-story!
The funny thing is that I saw the german translation every time I visited my inlaws, but because of the title "Wer die Nachtigall stört" I always thought that it were some kitschy love-story!
I received the book today. Thank you.
------------------------------
19.10.05
I have to follow hank-chinaski: It's an almost perfect book.
I'll send it on to GrannyPurple as soon as I get her adress.
------------------------------
19.10.05
I have to follow hank-chinaski: It's an almost perfect book.
I'll send it on to GrannyPurple as soon as I get her adress.
Thank you, I received this in my post today. Looking forward to reading it as it was one I have never got round to.
This will probably "do the rounds" locally before it gets released again. however you are welcome to put in request for it.
This will probably "do the rounds" locally before it gets released again. however you are welcome to put in request for it.
What sensitivity by Lee Harper, I can only agree with all the above journallers. It certainly brings home the suffering and hypocrisy of the times. How the people could rail against Hitler because of what he was doing to Jewish people and yet treat others so abominally in their local area. And I am not so sure things are 100% better now. Prejudice still rears it's ugly head.
This book may be wild released soon unless somone pms me for it!
This book may be wild released soon unless somone pms me for it!
hmm seems I forgot to put several into the bookbox I sent out.
Sorry for anyone who is disappointed.
Unless I find it on my bookshelf( physical one that is.
will look next week But pretty sure I bookrayed it.
Sorry for anyone who is disappointed.
Unless I find it on my bookshelf( physical one that is.
will look next week But pretty sure I bookrayed it.
