# Harper Lee's New Novel Reviewed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827 "2015-07-11T01:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/1 "2015-07-11T01:04:41Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/books/review-harper-lees-go-set-a-watchman-gives-atticus-finch-a-dark-side.html?&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&hp](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/books/review-harper-lees-go-set-a-watchman-gives-atticus-finch-a-dark-side.html?&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&hp) > > Shockingly, in Ms. Lee’s long-awaited novel, “Go Set a Watchman” (due out Tuesday), Atticus is a racist who once attended a Klan meeting, who says things like “The Negroes down here are still in their childhood as a people.” Or asks his daughter: “Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?” Wow. This looks more sociology than novel but still a must read. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/2 "2015-07-11T02:41:26Z")
I read the teaser first chapter and, against expectation, liked it a lot. I’m really looking forward to the release. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/3 "2015-07-11T02:49:46Z")
Missed the edit window. You can find the first chapter [here](http://www.wsj.com/articles/harper-lees-go-set-a-watchman-read-the-first-chapter-1436500861). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/4 "2015-07-11T03:01:05Z")
My understanding is that when Lee wrote the book (originally) it was about a grown up Scout going back to her hometown. Part of that book was her reminiscing about her childhood. The publisher convinced her to take the ‘flashback’ parts and turn them into their own book, which is what Mockingbird is. We’re just now getting the remaining parts, her finally going back and seeing what it’s like 20 years later, how it has (or hasn’t changed). Based on that, maybe Atticus is a racist, it doesn’t mean he didn’t defend the people he didn’t like. Just because he didn’t like them didn’t mean he doesn’t think they should be subject to what was basically a witchhunt. When she was 6, she was probably shielded, or didn’t notice, his true colors. Going back, at almost 30 years old, she can see it now. Also, he could have also been trying to instill in his kids (and his townfolk) values that he didn’t have, or didn’t like about himself, or that he knew were wrong. Eitherway, I’ll have it on the release date and probably start it then, or soon after. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/5 "2015-07-11T05:33:07Z")
As I understand it, Harper Lee wrote this book back in the 1950’s, before To Kill a Mockingbird, and elected not to publish it before or since Mockingbird’s publication, and furthermore has stated several times over the past 40 years that she will never publish another book. She is now 89 years old, has suffered a stroke, is partially blind and deaf, and is living in a nursing home. Her lawyer found the manuscript with some other papers of hers in a safe deposit box back in 2011. In late 2014, her sister (who was her primary caregiver) died, and a few months later the lawyer announces that Harper Lee has “decided” to publish the book. I understand there was an investigation by some law enforcement organization in Alabama of whether she was coerced, which didn’t turn up enough evidence to act on. That doesn’t mean much to me. This just seems wrong. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/6 "2015-07-11T05:40:23Z")
Thing is, I’d honestly expect it to be discovered after she died anyways. Unpublished works of great artists are often published. This way, at least she can get some of the money. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/7 "2015-07-11T11:27:12Z")
Michiko Kakutani’s front page review spoils it, but I will keep it hidden here: Atticus is a racist old man. This seems to change things. What could everyone behind this release be thinking to change views on this character? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/8 "2015-07-11T11:51:22Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > What could everyone behind this release be thinking to change views on this character? Money. I do not believe for one second that the release of this book was in any way condoned or facilitated by Harper Lee. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/9 "2015-07-11T11:57:04Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Money. > > I do not believe for one second that the release of this book was in any way condoned or facilitated by Harper Lee. Sounds like the literary equivalent of clickbait. Readbait? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/10 "2015-07-11T12:18:25Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Sounds like the literary equivalent of clickbait. Readbait? It’s pretty much what I heard months ago when the book was announced. Though I don’t think that many more people are reading just due to that. If anything, I think less people (not many) are not going to read it to try to honor Lee’s wishes to not have it published, or at least her non-consent to have it published. I’m not sure how it’s Click Bait. It was her family doing what they could to get the word out that she didn’t consent to this. She a 89 year old invalid who sits in a wheelchair all day staring at the wall. They needed to make sure that the public understood that she didn’t just write this book. Someone found it, took advantage of the fact that she’s not of sound mind and got her to sign the publishing rights and now they’re going to make buckets of money. Of course, now people are saying that she was and has been fine when she signed those papers. We’ll probably never know. Keep in mind that if she really wanted this book out, she’s had over 50 years to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/11 "2015-07-11T12:27:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It’s pretty much what I heard months ago when the book was announced. Though I don’t think that many more people are reading just due to that. If anything, I think less people (not many) are not going to read it to try to honor Lee’s wishes to not have it published, or at least her non-consent to have it published. > > I’m not sure how it’s Click Bait. It was her family doing what they could to get the word out that she didn’t consent to this. She a 89 year old invalid who sits in a wheelchair all day staring at the wall. They needed to make sure that the public understood that she didn’t just write this book. Someone found it, took advantage of the fact that she’s not of sound mind and got her to sign the publishing rights and now they’re going to make buckets of money. Oh, didn’t realize it was her family doing that. Whole thing is sad all around. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/12 "2015-07-11T13:51:03Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Oh, didn’t realize it was her family doing that. Whole thing is sad all around. ☹ It’s been a while since I’ve read anything about it, but here’s some old articles. Turns out it’s not really her family trying to block it, but her friends trying to get word out that her attorney (with POA) that signed over the rights, not Lee. > **[After Harper Lee Novel Surfaces, Plots Arise (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/books/harper-lee-lawyer-offers-more-details-on-discovery-of-go-set-a-watchman.html)** > > The plan to publish “Go Set a Watchman” has ignited fierce debate, but Ms. Lee’s lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, and other friends say the author is capable of making up her own mind. > **[Hometown friends say Harper Lee was manipulated into publishing second book](https://www.al.com/news/2015/02/friends_say_harper_lee_was_man.html)** > > Four residents of the town, where Lee has lived most of her life and on which she based Maycomb, told AL.com Wednesday that they believe that Lee's wishes for her career are not being respected. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/13 "2015-07-11T13:52:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > My understanding is that when Lee wrote the book (originally) it was about a grown up Scout going back to her hometown. Part of that book was her reminiscing about her childhood. The publisher convinced her to take the ‘flashback’ parts and turn them into their own book, which is what Mockingbird is. We’re just now getting the remaining parts, her finally going back and seeing what it’s like 20 years later, how it has (or hasn’t changed). Based on that, maybe Atticus is a racist, it doesn’t mean he didn’t defend the people he didn’t like. Just because he didn’t like them didn’t mean he doesn’t think they should be subject to what was basically a witchhunt. When she was 6, she was probably shielded, or didn’t notice, his true colors. Going back, at almost 30 years old, she can see it now. Also, he could have also been trying to instill in his kids (and his townfolk) values that he didn’t have, or didn’t like about himself, or that he knew were wrong. > > Eitherway, I’ll have it on the release date and probably start it then, or soon after. I also got the impression that Atticus couldn’t stand Bob Ewell because he knew what Bob was doing to Mayella. It’s interesting that that particular skeleton just happened to fall out of the Ewell closet (or chiffarobe) during the trial. Most of the anti-racist talks that Atticus gave Scout were in response to what the other people in town were saying about the trial. He was justifying his decision to defend Tom to his children and possibly to himself. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/14 "2015-07-11T23:27:57Z")
Not getting the horror over what this does to the character. Oh my. Many readers’ view of a fairly unidimensional heroic character is not what the author had in mind from the get-go. The author had a much more complex person in mind, a person who was racist (like her own father was) and still was interested in seeing justice done, whose sense of justice was greater than his being the racist product of his times … a character whose racism would later be a source of disappointment to a child who, in her simple view, had only seen his heroic side early on and who apparently could not reconcile (or least struggled to … we’ll read the book and find out) that real people are complex amalgams, full of greatness and darkness existing within the same vessel. It seems that some readers are like Scout … whose view of the world (as reflected in her perspectives as narrator of TKaM) was a child’s simple: good guys and bad guys with Dad as hero. Personally I never felt TKaM was great. Fine enough, but not great. I like characters a bit more real and complex, good people with warts, bad people nevertheless doing good things … a bit of moral ambiguity. I may need to read this and then go back and re-read TKaM … changing the character from Saturday morning cartoon heroic to a flawed man doing a right thing and who ends up still flawed … reading the two together as the tragic story of a little girl’s hero worship of her father based on his having bravely done the right thing and his falling off of her pedestal for his flaws … could make it a more interesting book. Maybe still not great but better. But not to worry. Those who want the Saturday morning version can just read the one and never pick up the other. No one forces you to. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/15 "2015-07-11T23:36:34Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But not to worry. Those who want the Saturday morning version can just read the one and never pick up the other. No one forces you to. The criticism of most in this thread seems to be that if Miss Lee had really wanted this book to be published, she had 60 years to do so. That said, if you think To Kill a Mockingbird is the equivalent of a Saturday morning version, well, your opinion isn’t worth much. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/16 "2015-07-11T23:36:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Not getting the horror over what this does to the character. > > Oh my. Many readers’ view of a fairly unidimensional heroic character is not what the author had in mind from the get-go. The author had a much more complex person in mind, a person who was racist (like her own father was) and still was interested in seeing justice done, whose sense of justice was greater than his being the racist product of his times … a character whose racism would later be a source of disappointment to a child who, in her simple view, had only seen his heroic side early on and who apparently could not reconcile (or least struggled to … we’ll read the book and find out) that real people are complex amalgams, full of greatness and darkness existing within the same vessel. I 100% agree. This greatly deepens the Atticus character, if not exactly strengthens him. I have zero problems with the theme and notions of this book and how it relates to the other. What will be a bigger problem is that Lee apparently hadn’t yet fully found her authorial voice ( according to a couple of reviews I’ve read ) and therefore her writing is rather more clunky, clumsy and at times shrilly didactic relative to TKaM. That’s far more problematic for me than besmirching a young child’s view of a heroic Atticus Finch. > [@](#): > > Personally I never felt TKaM was great. Yeah, but you’re completely wrong here ;). One of the great 20th century novels and one that resonated powerfully with me as a young teen. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/17 "2015-07-11T23:40:05Z")
I think its going to show that real change in racial attitudes takes time. Often several generations. Atticus sense of justice lead him to defend Tom Robinson. He teaches his children important values that he feels somewhat conflicted about. He’s not able to accept the emerging civil rights movement. Change is happening too fast for him to accept. Scout is the next generation and can see the imperfections in her dad. She’ll be much more involved in the civil rights movement… But someday her children will hold more progressive values about race than even she does. Its a process that all of humanity struggles with… I have no problems seeing a more realistic portrayal of Atticus. No one is as perfect and noble as he’s portrayed in TKAMB. We were seeing him through Scout’s childhood eyes and memories. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/18 "2015-07-12T00:06:19Z")
Meh. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/19 "2015-07-12T14:48:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I think its going to show that real change in racial attitudes takes time. Often several generations. Atticus sense of justice lead him to defend Tom Robinson. He teaches his children important values that he feels somewhat conflicted about. He’s not able to accept the emerging civil rights movement. Change is happening too fast for him to accept. Scout is the next generation and can see the imperfections in her dad. She’ll be much more involved in the civil rights movement… But someday her children will hold more progressive values about race than even she does. Its a process that all of humanity struggles with… > > I have no problems seeing a more realistic portrayal of Atticus. No one is as perfect and noble as he’s portrayed in TKAMB. We were seeing him through Scout’s childhood eyes and memories. Yep, this and **Dseid** ’s position pretty much sums up mine. My father instilled a respect for all people in me, it was an ideal he honestly believed in. At the same time, he did harbor racist ideas himself that he expressed later in life. He wasn’t a segregationist, but his own words betrayed the contradictions inherent in him. I don’t see why Atticus needed to be any more saintly. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827/20 "2015-07-12T20:11:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Keep in mind that if she really wanted this book out, she’s had over 50 years to do it. I’d make the opposite argument: if she really _didn’t_ want this published, she should have destroyed it. **BigT** is correct; if this novel had been discovered after her death, it would have been published eventually. The unpublished works of famous authors always seem to come out sooner or later. Their unfinished works are completed by other people, and works transformed by well-meaning editors are published in “unexpurgated” versions. There’s just too much money to be made, and too much demand from a public that always wants more. I get that people think that the circumstances are a little sketchy, but it’s hard for me to see Lee as a victim here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harper-lees-new-novel-reviewed/724827.md?page=2)