Book Review: Go Set A Watchman

Go Set A Watchman

By Harper Lee

This was a difficult book for our book club. And for those who were fans of “To Kill A Mockingbird”, it was a challenging book.  It follows Scout’s journey into adulthood as she grows and finds her own moral compass, as opposed to her fathers’.  Learning that not everyone is perfect and she either needs to accept the prejudices and constraints of her hometown, or to rail against them.

We found this novel slow to start and some of our readers struggled to finish.  While those who did have mixed emotions. It dealt with similar themes to the first novel that are still very much relevant today, but with a more adult viewpoint.  Not to give too much away, we missed Jem from the first novel.  While he does appear via flashbacks throughout, we missed the relationship between Jem and his sister, Scout and them in turn with Atticus.   All in all, we felt it was worth reading and for the right person, we would recommend this book. 

Rating: 6 / 10

Read by Cultcha Club

Discussion notes from a reading group

The First Wednesday Reading Group has discussed the book ‘To kill a mockingbird’ by Harper Lee.  They noticed that it was a classic work which is still relevant today. Sometime some of the member felt difficult to read about the injustice of racisim in the South. Members agreed it was very well written and intriguing insights into the perspective of a 7 years old child. The respect of the children for their father is well portrayed and very touching. The storyline is fascinating and keeps the reader interested right to the end.  It is a great marality tale that covers the great themes of race and class inequlity, and the fight for justice.

The group also discussed the book ‘The Gallipoli letter’ by Keith Murdoch. Most of who read it found the book was interesting. The letter itself is created with being highly influential in ending the Gallipoli campaing and this is very believable. Some felt it was disappointing that the extansive commentary written on the letter was at the front of the book and took away the element of ‘surprise’ from the letter itself.

The letter gives a great insight into the conditions at Gallipoli and the views of the soldiers and medics. It is well worth reading. However the group would recommend reading the actual letter first, with the photos, before reading the commentary. The commentary is also very interesting and gives the readers a great sense of context.