Harper Lee will publish a second novel

That probably ruled out any chance that GSAWM was ghostwritten; a ghostwriter would have been told not to duplicate passages.

 

The Onion always delivers:

Harper Lee Announces Third Novel, ‘My Excellent Caretaker Deserves My Entire Fortune’ - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

I haven't read this entire thread, hoping to avoid spoilers, but I bought the book today at Square Books in Oxford. The bookseller said there had been about 300 copies sold today.

 

I don't think that I would buy old half-baked cookies just because the only other batch of cookies that the baker made, with a lot of help, more then fifty years ago was phenomenal.

 

Good point, Starsteen.

I really don't see the fuss. In the book (and the movie as well) it was clear that Atticus took the case reluctantly. And he did so out of his respect for the law. Not as a civil rights gesture.

Doesn't make what he did any less admirable. Maybe more so if he held racist views.

I also think there is malicious racism and a lot of variations below that.

 

As an avowed hater of the Cult of Atticus, this story made me giggle uncontrollably: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/nyregion/the-name-atticus-acquires-an-unwelcome-association.html

My favorite passages:

 

To me, it supports the theory that Watchman was, in fact, a rough/less marketable draft of Mockingbird.

 

About a quarter way of the way through. NO SPOILERS. But, it is kind of like seeing the "prequel" Star Wars. It's ok. Good at times. But there is no way I would be reading this any longer if I hadn't read Mockingbird and been captured by it. It's sort of like "oh, I know where you are going and this feels meh." I also keep thinking of an old Simpsons episode where Grandpa reveals he used to rewrite movie endings and has a reel with the words "A Wonderful Life: Everyone Dies endings" written on it.

 

Right, and Lee could have kept the rough manuscript of GSAWM in the safe deposit box with the vague intentions of someday recycling the 1950s/Adult Jean Louise passages in an eventual sequel, and at that time giving it a full editing workover, eliminating all the redundancies and duplications, and updating it to fully reflect the impact of the events of TKAMB.

For instance, Atticus could have become bitter and cynical about the justice system and society overall as the result of Tom Robinsons death, and ended up with a very withered and angry attitude toward the whole topic.

Too bad she never got around to doing it while she was still sharp and active and able to discuss/defend the process, but she never had much interest in discussing or defending TKAMB even 50 years ago.

 

I know, no spoilers, but is Brian Williams in this?

 

He shows up as a poor black child.

 

He's the mysterious spooky figure living in the rundown house down the block.