Into the Fire

So, I finished To Kill A Mockingbird today. I no longer have to be ashamed of never having read this “American Classic” published in 1960, the one and only novel by Harper Lee who managed to win the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1961. Made into an Academy Award-winning film, few lovers of literature haven’t read the story, and now I can add myself to the long list. I borrowed a copy of the novel from my 17 year old high school neighbor lad who read “part of it” for school. He’s a math whiz and a gamer. What do you expect?

I think it’s interesting that novels about growing up appeal to those of us who already have experienced our youth and can look back at it with some perspective. As I read this story, I wondered why high school students would be interested in it—that is unless they had an expressive and energetic teacher who could draw out their personal feelings about such things as racism, small town culture—or the lack thereof—and the secret lives of people in their communities which seem odd or freakish, not to mention those who profess religion without demonstrating any of its principles.

The author remained true to her characters and their local scene throughout the story making the tragic injustice palpable in the young man Jem. Scout, Miss Jean Louise, was a prize, and her perception of her father’s age amused me.

I have to admit that occasionally the extended hype for a book or movie can ruin it for me. I held off reading Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love because everyone I knew who’d read it raved about it. I wondered how anything could be that good—until I read it. It’s a classic in the truest sense, and I’m sorry I waited as long as I did to read it. To Kill A Mockingbird is a well-written story of racism, perceptions, hypocrisy, and the integrity of a very few as told through the eyes of a young girl. Destructive and redemptive at the same time, it’s a valuable novel. But it didn’t grab me like I thought it might, and it could be because I expected more from it than it could give due to all the acclaim. The story doesn’t need my endorsement anyway—the book’s sold millions of copies all over the world. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t rock me. I’m glad she wrote it because it was a story that needed to be told.

Anyway, I read it.

Father, thank you for the stories that shake up the status quo and tell it like it is. Thank you for true characters and real situations that bring the much needed wake up calls to all of your people. Thank you for truth. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.