I’m a bit put out at Canada right now. They’ve got some nasty forest fires burning and all the smoke is blowing down here to Minneapolis. It is so bad that when I left work this afternoon it looked like a fog had settled over the city. It also smells terrible. While standing outside for 20 minutes waiting for my late bus, it became harder to breathe and my eyes began to burn. Now, indoors, I’m fine but for a headache that will not go away. The state has declared an air quality emergency and is discouraging people from going outdoors. I like you Canada. You are a good neighbor and I know a number of people who were born and raised Canadian and some of my favorite authors are Canadian. But, really, keep your smoke to yourselves! Get those fires out, won’t you? It’s hard to breathe down here! Your consideration is much appreciated.
And maybe I am only using it as an excuse to put off writing about The Art of Daring by Carl Phillips yet one more day because it is such a good book I don’t know what to say about it. Or maybe it’s just because it is Monday and it was a long and busy day at work following my full and glorious three-day Independence Day holiday weekend. Or maybe I’m just extra tired because Dickens has been an annoying cat lately, yowling at 3 a.m. for attention and even though he doesn’t get any, he keeps trying. I purposely did not have children and have enjoyed many years of good sleeping as a result. Dickens is swiftly reversing this and I don’t exactly know why.
I am behind on my internet and blog wanderings so it is quite possible all of you already heard about the latest development in the Harper Lee Go Set a Watchman saga. Apparently, the manuscript was found in 2011, not last year. And supposedly it was found in Harper Lee’s Safe Deposit box at the bank, not attached to an old manuscript of To Kill a Mockingbird in the publisher’s files.
The whole thing just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser, doesn’t it? I’m not sure what to think or who to believe. By a number of accounts, Go Set a Watchman has always been considered a first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Why then, would Harper Lee, who has said she will never publish anything else, want to see this book published? Is she in need of money to pay her medical bills and nursing home care? Are the publishers pulling a fast one? Go Set a Watchman has the most pre-orders of any of the publisher’s books, ever. It is likely going to be a bestseller the day it goes on sale July 14th. Everyone involved is going to make a pot of cash. How much will Harper Lee get of it I wonder?
I have not pre-ordered the book. I have no plans to buy it or wait in line at the library for it. I am not entirely certain I want to read it. The whole thing smells fishy and I don’t feel comfortable reading the book because of that. Maybe one year, five years, ten years from now I will change my mind, but at the moment, I just can’t. Plus there is the hype which turns me off. And then of course, there is the fear that the beauty that is To Kill a Mockingbird might somehow be tainted if this new book is nowhere near as good.
What about you? Do you plan on reading Go Set a Watchman? Did you pre-order it? And what do you think of all the controversy swirling around it? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill and should just get over it already?
These fires are not about you. People are losing their homes in the fires whose smoke you are whining about. Their lives are at risk. Some have had to leave their pets behind. In the flames.
“Just joking” is not acceptable.Your attempt at humour is in very poor taste. What were you thinking? Rhetorical question for you to think about; I am not interested in your answer.
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Jane, my apologies. I have heard no reporting about the fires except regarding the very bad air quality it is causing us here. We have not heard about people losing their homes or anything like that. I assumed the forest fires were in unpopulated areas given I had not heard otherwise. I can understand your anger at my attempt at humor. Again, my apologies.
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Fair point Jane, but if you are a regular reader here you would know that Stefanie is a warm, caring person. A nicer comment along the lines of “Did you realise …” would have been a more pleasant way to let Stefanie know of the seriousness of the problem.I’d like to think we could all be kind on the Internet and assume decency, at least until we know otherwise.
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WG, regarding my insensitive mistake, you are very kind. Thank you.
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Well, you don’t know what you don’t know. We had terrible fires in our city in 2003 , and lost over 500 houses, one of them my sister-in-law’s. It was devastating with effects on her mental health that lasted years BUT I know you would never have joked if you’d known the facts.
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Oh my goodness! Your poor sister-in-law! I hope she is okay now. I do know what it is like to have your life turned upside down from a natural disaster and how the effects can linger for years. It’s definitely nothing to joke about.
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She is, now, finally, but it took years and years of some pretty major stuff. Not all due to the fire but definitely precipitated by it.
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I’m glad she is doing ok now.
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All I know (and I think Canadians are the same), is if we have to make hasty retreat, we grab our pets upon exit. I know Canadians have not had to deal with the number of natural disasters that others have (children dying in Moore, OK from a tornado) so let’s not exaggerate it. Mother Nature can be cruel, but in the US, we are no stranger to her seemingly indiscriminate ways.
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I’m with you Stefanie. I have no plans to read it. I imagine I’ll only read it if a) my reading group chooses it, or if b) it knocks people’s socks off and becomes a MUST read. That’s not to say that I always follow the crowd. Indeed, I try to keep my head clear of opinion before I read books, but with something like this public opinion is hard to avoid and so I probably will take note.
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whisperinggums, there is so much hype about the book it is hard to keep that clear head! Part of me is excited about a new book by Harper Lee and the other part says, wait for all the hubbub to die down and then decide whether to read it. Sometimes waiting is so hard!
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Oh Stefanie hope your air quality gets better over there. I remember when we had fires here in Central Texas and that is so hard on everyone and the environment. With regards to the book, I probably won’t read it any time soon. I’m curious about it or better yet, I think I’m more curious about all the controversy. It’s interesting for me to hear from co-workers who hardly ever read and actually have pre-ordered this book and they are surprise that I haven’t. The nerve to question my bookish credentials. Ha 🙂
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Haha, love this Iliana … the jump-on-the-bandwagon readers who really don’t understand the drive to read and the scepticism about hyped books.
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Iliana, thanks! It’s amazing how something happening so far away can have such an impact. How interesting that so many of your not very readerly coworkers are excited about the book. I suppose it is a sort of cultural event and people don’t want to be left out. I wonder how many of them will actually read the book from cover to cover once it is published?
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I’m with you too. I have no plans to read it. I won’t say “never” but not any time soon
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Nordie, heh, no I won’t say never either but with all the hype, there is no way the book could at this time meet even part of my expectations.
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I feel very odd about the whole
Thing as well…maybe some day, but I doubt I’ll be reading it anytime soon…
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Bookworm, yes, the whole thing is very odd. Definitely a maybe someday book. The hype has to die down first!
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I’ve no particular plans to read it either. As much as I liked To Kill a Mockingbird, I’m not quite as much in love with it as a lot of people are, so my natural interest in reading what was probably a first attempt is just not very strong. If it gets lots of great reviews and seems like more than a first draft of TKAM with additional material, I might get to it eventually, but it’s not a high priority.
Regarding the manuscript’s origin, I think it’s entirely possible that the manuscript was found earlier and dismissed as a draft that wasn’t extremely different until it was found again more recently and examined more closely. The article said it was previously examined for an hour, which doesn’t seem like that long, especially if there are a lot of flashbacks and parallels between the two books. Could be that Lee changed her mind about publication once it was found again and now that her sister is dead. The state investigators said Lee appeared to be of sound mind, so we can just hope that’s right.
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Teresa, ah your editorial side comes out! I am glad for that perspective! You make a good point about an hour not really being long enough to examine the manuscript closely. I do hope the state investigators were diligent and made a good assessment of Lee. The book will definitely have to be more than a first draft of TKAM for me to want to read it. I guess we’ll find out pretty soon.
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I will probably read it at some point but I’m not in a rush to get it. I did put in my request line from the county library yesterday but I waited so late to do so because of a general lack of enthusiasm about the book that I’m something like number 204 on the list. Will be a long wait.
I really fear that Ms. Lee is being taken advantage of by some unscrupulous people who have worked their way into her life. I doubt seriously that she wants this book published at all or that she even fully understands what is about to happen. That makes me sad.
I’ve dealt with elderly parents a lot in the last decade and I’ve seen some terrible things done to old people who have lost the capacity to handle their own affairs. Often it’s the children who rob these people of respect, assets, and dignity. But sometimes it’s people placed in charge of the elderly for their own good. Greed is horrible…
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Sam, only 204? I imagine the library will be purchasing quite a few copies, you will probably move up the list pretty quick. I have the same fears as you regarding Lee’s being taken advantage of. After watching my parents take care of their parents and a few much older siblings and having friends who are right now caring for parents who are suffering from dementia, even when the mind is clear it seems to get so easily confused. In Lee’s situation, it is hard to know who to trust.
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I understand your concern. I decided I wanted to read it
to see for myself what I thought. So it’s on reserve at our
library and I’ll wait and see. It IS indeed a curious affair.
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booksandbuttons, I look forward to hearing what you think about it!
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To begin with I hope the air around your home gets better…breathing smokey air is hardly a joy and can make one very ill. I am in complete alignment with you about Go Set a Watchman…Its all very weird….I have not pre-ordered the book for the same reason…To Kill a Mockingbird is like right up there in my reading bibles and I am very scared to damage its influence….may be some where down the line I will read Go Set a Watchman, but not now…especially when there is increasingly more controversy and suspicion around this work!
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cirtnecce, thanks! Yes, I hope after the hype dies down and people can start to make a genuine assessment regarding the book I will consider reading it but not until then. I hope for Harper Lee’s sake she is not being taken advantage of. We may never know for sure but there are so many dangling threads to the situation one can’t help but wonder.
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I’m a book fiend but I try to keep me in control. I can never pre-order a book even if it’s a lost manuscript of Shakespeare recently found. Why? Because I like to spend at least an hour in the bookshops before I buy a book. So maybe after a month or two I’ll get it and then see what the hype was all about.
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Dharmesh, now that’s control! I’m curious about your process of assessment when you spend time with a book in a store. What things do you consider and how do you go about making your decision?
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Mostly it’s the feeling. I turn some pages, read a little and if it appeals me I buy it even if it’s reviews have been bad. We all judge our books by our standards, don’t we?
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About fire and smoke of course it came out bad than you thought.
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I’m not planning to read Go Set a Watchman either. But I am also a person who was never particularly into To Kill a Mockingbird. Ho-hum.
Hope the air clears up soon and the fires get put out.
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Nikki, not into To Kill a Mockingbird? That’s close to scandalous! 😉
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Seriously Nikki! How could you not like To Kill a Mockingbird?
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It’ll probably be years before Harper Lee’s capacity/level of autonomy in all this becomes clear, if it ever does. I have to say that the idea of Go Set A Watchman isn’t piquing me, either, and I *loved* To Kill A Mockingbird as a child. I can’t convince myself that there will be a sufficient story there. What will ever happen to Scout Finch in her whole life that could possibly compare to her childhood? In any case, it will be nigh impossible to get hold of for a month or so after publication, so we might as well hold off for practical reasons, too!
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Elle, you are very likely right that it will be years before the whole situation becomes clear if it ever does entirely. Yes, I wonder too how there might be sufficient story and how could an adult Scout compare the child Scout? Since the book was written before Mockingbird I kind of wonder what sort of character continuity there could really be since it has not been revised to account for the story of Mockingbird. It will be interesting!
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I’ve recently read in several places that Harper Lee still makes about $9K a day from To Kill a Mockingbird. That sounds amazing to me, but if that’s true, she hardly needs the money from Go Set a Watchman. If she wanted this book published and opened to criticism, she would have published it long ago. There’s a reason she never published it after the success of To Kill a Mockingbird.
I hadn’t heard about the fires in Canada. To protect my sanity, what’s left of it, I’ve adopted the ‘only headlines and no TV news’ approach to the world. I’m sorry about the sharp comment the first person left. We know you meant no harm. She’d love me: I’m one of those people who sometimes starts laughing in stressful situations.
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Joan, I had not heard that about how much Lee makes from Mockingbird. There was that whole copyright suit a few years ago in which her agent tricked her into signing away the copyrights. I feel rather bad for her in a number of ways. And you are right, if she had wanted to book published she probably would have done it a long time ago. Not like she didn’t know about her own manuscript!
I am moving toward only listening to news on NPR and even then it is sometimes questionable. It gets so overwhelming in so many ways. I too am one of those people who sometimes laughs in stressful situations. I’m glad to find another who does it too. I just can’t help it and it is always misunderstood. In this case though I made an unintentional mistake and it is right to be called on it. Could have been a bit nicer about it, but it’s understandable.
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It’s taken me this long to read Harper Lee’s first novel, so I’m expecting a considerable gap before I get to the next! I know what you mean, though, about the uncertainty all the competing stories create. I have this nasty feeling that publicists may think that it all adds to the buzz, but…. And I do hope the smoky air clears soon – that can be so nasty on the lungs. Around here, we get days when the farmers fertilize the fields, and those are definitely days when you can’t crack a window!!
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litlove, LOL, yes, you didn’t hurry to read the first, it’s okay to take your time on this one too 😉 I’m hoping the air gets better soon too. The report this morning is that the air was as bad as Beijing yesterday and it was the worst pollution reading we have ever had in the state’s history. It may or may not be better today, we have to wait and see. You get fertilizer blowback? Oh dear. That’s really bad.
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….oh my, but wouldn’t we love not having California’s drought conditions creeping way up here (smile) and making the forests tinder dry. Some things just have nothing to do with artificially-made borders or countries per se (smile), eh? I wish you relief, as I’m sure you do us.
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weisser, the California drought has crept up there? That’s bad news all around. My parents live in CA and it certainly is making things interesting and difficult. I do hope your fires are out soon and the people who are being affected can begin to put their lives back together. It is really astonishing how much it is affecting us here so far away. Relief and good wishes in order for all.
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I have pre-ordered Go Set A Watchman. Since I don’t have any facts about why it’s coming out after all these years – or whether Harper Lee will benefit from it (which I have to assume she will unless it is proven otherwise) I can’t come up with any reasons not to be incredibly interested in what it will be like. And I can’t wait to read it. I love To Kill A Mockingbird so much, nothing could possibly make me admire it less. As far as people who aren’t avid readers actually pre-ordering it, I say bravo and bravo again. That’s the whole point of book-lust – the clarion call to just pick up a book and read. Personally, I can’t wait. (Well, I can because I have to). The day I am not interested in a new book by a favorite author is the day they’ll be scattering my ashes over a library.
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Grad, I’m not sure how you have avoided all the hype and the stories, but I am glad you have! I look forward to hearing what you think of the book especially since I can trust your opinion!
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I thought I was one of the few people not interested in reading Go Set a Watchman. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, and I don’t want to know Scout as an adult. I want her to stay a child in my imagination. I might change my mind if everyone loves it, but probably not.
Hope your air quality will improve soon!
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Oh…and Stef, anyone who “knows” you through this blog knows you would never make a joke of someone else’s misfortune. I’m afraid the internet encourages people to be more vituperative than they would be face-to-face. A shame. I think Jane’s criticism (though we should assume was well-meaning) was unnecessarily harsh. You handled it well.
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Grad, we all make mistakes right? If I had known all the details I never would have made light. So thanks, you are very kind.
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TJ, I am surprised there are so many people commenting they have no plans to read the book at all or any time soon! It has seemed like a big tidal wave of buzz had swept everyone up! If everyone loves it I might change my mind too, but for now I’m going to just let it stay unread.
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I’m going to read Watchman. I work in a public library and I know people will be talking about it and I want to be able to converse with them. Having said that, I am skeptical about the whole thing and will be getting a library copy and not purchasing it for myself.
I understand your wariness, though. Whatever it turns out to be, in no way will it tarnish how much I love To Kill a Mockingbird.
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Laila, ah yes, then it is almost a requirement that you read it! Do you get to be first in the holds queue since you work at the library? 🙂
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If I remember to look for a title just as I think it might be entered into the computer, then I am near the top of the list! For Watchman I am number 2! 🙂
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You will definitely not have to wait for the book then!
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Oh my goodness. I am new to your blog and although middle-aged, have been much too shy to contribute until now. I have recently read a couple of uplifting books which I will turn to when things in life are not so nice. The first you may be familiar with, it is 84 Charring Cross Road. Starting in 1949, it is the twenty year correspondence between a New York writer and an employee of a second-hand bookshop in London. I have heard about this book for years. Do not wait as long as I did to read it.
The other book I’d like to recommend is called A Fine Romance: Falling in love with the English countryside by Susan Branch. I dare you to read this book and tell me that you’ve found a nicer person inside or outside of a book. She has a blog that you can readily find by Googling her name. What I especially like about this book is that she didn’t go to the usual tourist places in London. She went to the places in the countryside where many of us would like to go if the American dollar could go a bit further against the British pound.
I had a rough day today. I live in the Detroit metro area where people can be incredibly nice or very rude. Today was a very rude day for me dealing with people who have probably never read a book for self-education or interest. I don’t mean that to sound rude myself, just sad. I get so much from books, and if you have had a rough day, I highly recommend the above books to restore your faith in mankind. God bless. They make me smile.
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Lynette, I am always looking for great new reads. I will surely try to find 84 Charing Cross Road. The name sounds very familiar. And it is so true that books transport us to higher realms. You’ll be an old hand at commenting on Stefanie’s blog I predict. It’s a nice friendly place to discuss bookish things! And gardening…can’t forget gardening.
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Grad you’ve not read 84 Charring Cross Road? You must read it! It is short and you will absolutely love it, guaranteed.
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Hi Lynette, welcome and thank you for your lovely comments! I have read 84 Charring Cross road and loved it. My husband and I read it aloud taking turns with the letters, me reading Helen’s and him reading Frank’s (that was his name, right?). We have even been to London and visited the place where the bookstore used to be. Have you seen the movie of the book? It is very good. I have not heard of Fine Romance. I will look into it, thanks!
So sorry about your rough day. Detroit and everyone who lives there has been having some hard times. I hope things are improving and I hope you were able to shake off your day and have a good evening and a better day following!
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I don’t plan on reading the Harper Lee–at least not right now. Maybe after I have heard what other readers think. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird and sort of want to keep the story in my mind as it is without any further telling of the story. I wonder if she felt pressured into publishing it or if she had wanted to all along? I’ve not read much about the back story of it all–it is very curious, though!
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Danielle, yes, Mockingbird feels like such a complete story that I don’t feel like I need to know what happens after. Good, question. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did feel pressured.
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I’m going to be social, just one more time. I just checked the mail. I had ordered some used books from Amazon and it is like Christmas when they come in. Now I can’t remember why, but I ordered a book of poetry called Jump Soul by Charlie Smith. Skimming it, I say so far so good. I want to quote huge passages already. Here’s a couple:
Sometimes I want to pass completely
unnoticed through my life, I want to become
like the melted light
pouring down on the roofs of cars, filling
the streets and the windows, (from Tranformation to White)
or
My brother’s afraid to get angry,
he’s terrified of what’ll happen. I disappoint him
and he writes a lightly chiding
letter you have to be related to him to know
is cut from a block of solid rage. (from Conceit)
How do people live without books?
With great hesitation, I recently checked out Sylvia Plath’s Ariel and Other Poems. I thought it might be all about hating her philandering husband and how life is so pointless. My viewpoint was changed when I got to lines such as
I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets.
Scorched to the root
My red filaments burn and stand, a hand of wires.
Now I break up in pieces that fly about like clubs.
A wind of such violence
Will tolerate no bystanding: I must shriek.
I was sitting in Michigan’s version of the DMV when I wanted to shriek myself.
I had to make sure I was paying enough attention to the numbers that were called to make sure I wasn’t bypassed. This is raw and pure emotion; it was like a shovel to my head.
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Lynette, I love getting books in the mail! I love poetry too but I have not hear of Charlie Smith, he seems wonderful. I hope you enjoy the book! Sylvia Plath is fantastic! I really like her a lot. I’ve not read everything but she is very powerful. I am glad what you have read so far has changed your mind about her. The DMV is sure to make anyone want to shriek!
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I haven’t decided yet if I’ll read Go Set a Watchman. Regardless of the questions about the manuscript’s provenance, it does seem like Harper Lee is fine with the book being published, it’s been proved she’s not undergoing elder abuse, AND frankly once she dies in a few years they’d’ve published the book then anyway. So at least this way she’ll hear nice things about it.
That said, I don’t want anything that happens in Go Set a Watchman to affect my opinion of, in particular, Atticus Finch. So I’m going to wait and read the reviews of Watchman and see what they say, before I buy my copy.
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Jenny, you make a good point that the book was likely to be published eventually anyway so I suppose it is good Lee is still alive to hear how much everyone loves her work. I’ve had a literary crush on Atticus since I read the book in high school, I wouldn’t want anything to change that either!
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Maybe it’s not elder abuse, but I don’t think there is any doubt that her mental capabilities are diminished. She doesn’t even live in the same home as her sister. Why? If she really wanted this book published, she would have done it years ago. I have no doubt that someone is taking advantage of her. With that said, I am nuber 5 in line to get the book from my library cooperative. Atticus Finch was based upon Lee’s father. As far as I am concerned, she can say whatever she wants about him. He belongs to Harper Lee and if the rest of us don’t like it, too bad. I did read the biography called Mockingbird which did show that Harper Lee’s other writing was pretty bad. It does leave the door open for consideration that Capote may have heavily edited or re-written TKAM. All the same, I never thought I would hold a new Harper Lee book in my hands. I’m very much looking forward to it.
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Lynnette, I agree, her mental capabilities likely are diminished. The state did send an investigator to check on her though and the report says that she understands about the book and agreed to it. So, though I do it reluctantly, I guess I have to trust the social worker on that.
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This whole Harper Lee thing makes me just very depressed at the state of publishing (at least big time publishing). Just now I’m not rushing to get a copy.
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Ian, yes, it is a bit depressing, I agree.
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