Book Review - Go Set a Watchman

Go Set a WatchmanGo Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'd read about how poor this book was and what it had done to the character of Atticus Finch. He is beloved by all for his outstanding determination to side with justice.

But this book isn't just terrible for making up some hokey reason for Atticus to mingle with the KKK; it is downright awful because it is meandering and clueless.

Awful flashbacks to Scout's childhood are painted as significant but never are. They are also irrelevant to preceding and succeeding scenes.

Scout herself is written as a mature grown woman, gravely affected by the about-turn her father has seemingly taken on race relations. I like the fact that she doesn't conform to the norm and doesn't get bogged down by that fact even at the end of the book. You just don't come across enough independently-minded female characters in any media even today, so she is often refreshing.

Even then, the majority of the beginning chapters deal with whether or not she will marry Henry or someone else. Scout's too unique to be shoehorned in to that kind of storyline.

Much excitement surrounded the release of this sequel, but it has been incredibly disappointing for the most part.

One wonders if Harper Lee was sure about what she wanted to present and what the editors' intentions were.

I think fans of the original deserved better character development, compact writing and clearer motivations.

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