AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: 'Go Set a Watchman' a provocative first draft

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Like many other readers and fans of "To Kill a Mockingbird," I have watched the unfolding drama of the publication of Harper Lee's second novel with great interest, and have read a great many news stories and commentaries and reviews of "Go Set a Watchman." The controversy over how the manuscript came to be "discovered," somewhat conveniently shortly after the death of Lee's sister Alice, and whether Lee even intended "Go Get a Watchman" to be published, has been endlessly fascinating and I have to say, has left me conflicted over whether to read it.

But read it I must, and listen as well.watchman

What you've probably already read appears to be true, that "Go Set a Watchman" was the manuscript Lee originally submitted to Lippincott, and editor Tay Hohoff suggested Lee rewrite it from the point of view of 6-year-old Scout. It reads very much like a first draft from a young writer, with sections that are spot-on and sections that either don't work at all or would profit from a thorough rewrite.

The story, for anyone who's not been following the breathless media coverage of the last few weeks, takes a 26-year-old Jean Louise Finch home to Maycomb, Alabama, from New York, where she's acquired certain more worldly views. Her father, Atticus, is now 72 years old and crippled by arthritis so painful he must use specially crafted utensils to feed himself. She is welcomed back to Maycomb by her longtime friend and possible future husband Henry Clinton, and by the a few of the cast of characters fans of "To Kill a Mockingbird" will recall: her aunt Alexandra, always focused on propriety and the Finches' standing in the community; and housekeeper Calpurnia (now long since retired).

The book's first half is a bit of a fish out of water story as Jean Louise tries to make herself at home again in the South so very different from her current life in New York. She suffers through a welcome-home coffee hosted by Alexandra, as Jean Louise's contemporaries share gossip about their lives in Maycomb.

But things take a turn to the darker side when she finds a leaflet titled "The Black Plague" and discovers that both her father and Henry are part of the Maycomb County Citizens' Council, the mission of which is the preservation of segregation in the South.

This unhappy discovery causes Jean Louise to completely rethink her conception of her idolized father and also the future of her relationship with Henry.

The real question for 21st century readers is, how racist are Atticus and Henry's views? In the light of the last 60 years of civil rights history, you can see "Go Set a Watchman" as the product of its times, and also see Jean Louise and author Lee as being the vanguard of whites who began to see another way of looking at race relations. Still, it's hard to see Atticus Finch in a far less flattering light than we have become used to through "Mockingbird" and Gregory Peck's depiction of the character in the 1962 film.

There's plenty to like about "Go Set a Watchman" – graceful writing, beautiful scene-setting, fully-realized characters – and plenty to criticize – dialogue that reads like a diatribe, the lack of a narrative arc, among others. What's useful to today's reader is reading the manuscript for what eventually became "To Kill a Mockingbird" and pondering the editing process that took a inexperienced writer and made her into one of the most iconic writers of the 20th century. Read "Watchman," and then read "Mockingbird" again for a master class in how a fine editor shaped a rough first draft into a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece.

The audio versions of both these books are brought to life through narrations by two fine Southern actresses. Sissy Spacek brings Scout to life in "Mockingbird," and Reese Witherspoon gives a more laconic reading to "Watchman."

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW

Go Set a Watchman. By Harper Lee. HarperCollins Audio. Unabridged, 6 hours, 57 minutes. Narrated by Reese Witherspoon.

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW
"Go Set a Watchman." By Harper Lee. HarperCollins Audio. Unabridged, 6 hours, 57 minutes. Narrated by Reese Witherspoon.
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Susan Rife

Susan Rife is the arts and books editor for the Herald-Tribune Media Group. She holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4930. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.
Last modified: July 31, 2015
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