vern wrote:Every story is dated before it is even written as there are arguably only seven basic plots (give or take a few according to individual fine tuning), so there is nothing new under the sun; but some of those so-called dated works are vastly superior to others. To Kill a Mockingbird in its telling just happens to be one of those superior ones to a great many folks. Would that we aspiring writers and critics could all be so outdated and flawed. Take care. Vern
If the Mocking Bird prose was published here as unknown text from and unknown author, it'd get ripped to bits.
It is great because it is a part of the racist re-education agenda and in that sense it is brilliant and has done a great job.
But don't tell me anyone is loving the prose for its literary value, or the story for its ingenuity. It is an effective blunt tool to show the morally impaired of the unimaginative variety the error of their ways. Tug the simpletons heartstrings, a moral lesson; a sermon.
Dress it up any way you want.... but show me the awesome prose; those passages that blow you away?
Ripped to bits? Not so sure about that. As part of the “Shred Thread” perhaps, but most on here are too concerned with reciprocation and such that it entails to rep even the ones which deserve it, let alone TKAM even if posted by one of us.
Passages that blow you away? I must admit I can’t show you those passages in TKAM, but then I can’t show them to you from any other work I’ve ever read either. I’ve never seen/read a single passage whether sentence, para, or greater length that blew me away merely from the presented words. Stories, to include their component passages, draw me in with hooks, emotion, puzzlement, humor, etc. but not because they blow my mind per se. Individual passages draw me in or keep me going because of how they relate to what will come or has already been divulged. Excerpts don’t blow my mind, but allow the imagination to consider the overall context which may spring from their placement at the beginning, end, or somewhere in-between. A passage of a story to me is like a single tree in a forest; it may stand out for some reason, but it alone can’t provide the awe of an entire forest. Only walking through the forest tree by tree captures what the forest really is and all those individual trees combine to make something greater than the sum of its parts with no particular one bringing that eureka moment of “ahh, so this is what a forest is.” The forest is what blows me away.
Great literature? I’m not sure what or who determines what constitutes great literature. Is it sales, the number of people who read it, critical acclaim, longevity, educational …? I have no idea. At least one survey a few years back lists TKAM as the greatest novel of all time: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2138827 … -Time.html
Does that make it great literature or mean anything other than those who were surveyed liked it a lot? Probably not. But then it would mean nothing for any other work so anointed either. I suppose it all comes down to the individual reader and that might also come down to their age and mindset at the time it is read as Memphis has shared. I can certainly understand how one’s opinion of a book can change over time as we do not remain sealed in a vacuum between readings. I think particularly for folks like TNBW members, we get in the habit of looking at how it might be done differently/better as we read. We no longer read purely for enjoyment even when that is our goal. Our ingrained biases on writing sneak out and taint whatever we read. That might be especially true for a subsequent reading.
When all is said and done, our take on TKAM is filtered through our own experience. If one is forced to read it (or any book) then it will likely have an effect on how it is perceived. I was fortunate not to have been in that category so was spared the possible negative impact. Though no individual passage blew me away so to speak, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading and was a little perturbed when I had to stop for other matters on occasion – that should count for something at least since I am not as voracious a reader as probably most on this site. Take care. Vern
