#4. Re-Read To Kill A Mockingbird with an Open Mind
Before giving my final evaluation, I feel like I ought to explain why this was even on the list:
8th Grade: My English class read To Kill A Mockingbird. My teacher used one of those standard curriculum systems with premade worksheets and activities: define the following terms, predict what will happen next, identify the characters, etc. I remember not particularly enjoying the book, but thinking that the movie was nice. I did like that it was set in Alabama, which is where my dad’s family is from.
9th Grade: I switched school districts, and the new district had a different schedule for when you read certain classics. My English class read To Kill A Mockingbird. My teacher used the same standard curriculum system. I remember being fairly bored, since I knew what happened next, I knew the characters, etc. However, I tried to look on the bright side…I could pretty much coast for this unit, and was guaranteed good grades on every assignment.
10th Grade: I moved to a different state, and the new district had a different schedule for when you read certain classics. My English class read To Kill A Mockingbird. My teacher used THE SAME curriculum. At this point, I was absolutely sick to death of this book. I hadn’t even liked it that much the first time I was forced to read it. If I had to hear how Atticus was a Christ-figure just one more time I would SCREAM. I determined that I hated this book. I would never ever read it again, and would never ever recommend it to anyone.
Current Day: I decided that since more than a decade has passed, I should possibly give the book another shot. A lot of people that I really admire (mom, Amy, etc.) like TKAM, so it couldn’t possibly be as horrid as I remembered.
Honestly, part of my problem with it was that I had to do that same curriculum 3 years in a row. Public school literature curricula beat books to death. They break everything down into little bits and analyze it till the students are cross eyed. They don’t encourage or engender an appreciation of the work as a whole.
So, I read it. Sort of.
I actually listened to the audiobook version on my iphone. It was read, delightfully, by Sissy Spacek. I hoped that the different format would actually help me get over my mental block…and it did. Spacek was able to bring the story to life, and truly capture the feel of small town Alabama. Interestingly, the parts I liked the best were actually the parts that I didn’t remember…especially the scenes with the new teacher. (I laughed when she told Scout to stop learning how to read!)
That being said…I still didn’t like the book. But I didn’t hate it either. I guess I would give it more of a “meh” rating. I understand why it is a classic, and why students across the nation read it. It just isn’t my type of book. (Categorize it like Great Expectations…I know it’s good, but I don’t go out of my way to reread it.)
Regardless. I did it. And now I never have to do it again.
