Digerati Buchgemeinschaft discussion

Folder set up!
I am trying not to go and watch To Kill a Mockingbird, the movie with Robert peck. I think I enjoy this book more if I don't set up any preconceptions. Its been soooooooo long since I read to Kill A Mockingbird.

I finished the book about a week ago. "Go Set a Watchman" was a frustrating, maddening read for me. My reaction to the book is more socio-political than literary appreciation. I'm glad Lee put this first novel aside and concentrated on Scout as the main character in "To Kill a Mockingbird," which I recall as a far, far better book. But was that just because it fits my notion of how an intelligent Southerner thinks and acts? (Based upon living in Little Rock, AR, from 1975-1983.) I kept getting the feeling that it was Lee's sanitized version of her childhood.

Despite feeling "preached at" the book did leave significant questions. Dr. Jack Finch: "What does a bigot do when he meets someone who challenges his opinions?...." Jean Louise (Scout) ran when her anger at her father took hold, so Dr. Finch calls her an "ordinary turnip-sized bigot." I agree with the title source maxim: "Every man';s watchman is his conscience." But I tend to disagree with Dr. Finch's assertion that there is no "collective conscience." What say other readers?

And I must admit to feeling disappointment in Jean Louise's determination that she will never marry Henry, "not our kind." Not sorry I read it, but haven't recommended it to others as an important read.

Two weeks ago when I was in KC, I bought both books and started reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Her characters, language, and plot are beautiful literature, I agree. Now I am several chapters into Watchman and will log in on this one later. I appreciate your comments, Del. They seem like what others are saying, so not a spoiler. I'm interested in thinking about how they could be so different.

Dr. Finch says "There is no such thing as a collective conscious" which I take as either a Jung reference or a typo. Since he says "I don't want you to fall into the tiresome error of being conceited about your complexes" two sentences earlier (a Freud reference), I think it's not a typo. In between, he says "Every man's island...is his conscience." So conscience is about being uniquely yourself--which leads to what I think is the main theme of the book, becoming a free (freethinking) adult, not remaining simply a daughter, not becoming only a wife, not being controlled by a small town or even a big city or national or ideological culture. Jean Louise detaches from her idolization of her father and from the norms of her culture. And in becoming her complex, adult self, she becomes more free to accept others for their complex selves. Running away is an all-or-nothing impulse related to unrealistic high ideals. Staying in a complex situation is only possible through feeling free both to speak out and to listen.
Since it has no heroes, this book won't be good for teaching in high school, and it may be too psychological for a mainstream movie, but I like its examination of living in complex families and cultures.

I have to admit I've put this one aside. I had a hard time getting into it. Partly because it starts very slow (I have same issue with Steven King, whom I've never finished reading). Oddly, I personally had a hard time relating to Jean Louise. I felt that I was somehow supposed to relate to the old south, the gentile ways, the concepts of class, even within white population.
To me as the son of immigrants, that is such a foreign idea. I don't wish to sound conceited, that Mexicans don't have class or race issues (sadly a universal issue), we do. It just that a lot of that gets tossed out. A family immigrants, a lot of that gets tossed out, you've pressed the reset button. You to some degree ditch the old ways, and start over. What respect (if that is the right word) you get, you earn. So the idea that as a reader, I am supposed to just accept that the Finches are automatically better chaffed me somehow. I am sure I am reflecting my own youth into all that. Somehow that bother me early on.

The book was just getting into some of the topic of desegregation movement, so maybe I would have felt better about things as the story progressed. Though, I doubt it based on Del's comment.

I may get back to it, maybe not. I still have a Christopher Moore book to read and the last Terry Pratchett novel to finish.

Rolando, I was interested in your comment about immigrants. My paternal grandparents were both immigrants (grandfather from coal-mining Durham, UK; grandmother, German who came to America we believe as an indentured servant). Certainly the notion of "earning respect" was emphasized, particularly because of the negative attitude toward Germans in Dickinson County, KS.