GO SET A WATCHMAN

by Harper Lee
 
One good thing about having a long reading list, is sometimes by the time I get around to reading a book, the buzz has subsided and I can’t remember what all the fuss was about.  I feel like I came to Go Set A Watchman with almost no preconceived notions except that I remembered that Harper Lee had written To Kill A Mockingbird, which I haven’t read since I was 12.
 
By the end of the first chapter I realized the protagonist is Scout, now 25, returning home from her new life in New York City.  ‘So it’s a sequel,’ I thought, and finished the book under that assumption.  But in reading the notes about the book, it turns out this was the first book Lee wrote, and based on the flashbacks in Watchman, she was encouraged to write what becameMockingbird.  Taking this as a first novel, written by a young 25 year old, I can cut it a bit more slack.
 
The story has moments of brilliance and the writing is lovely, truthful and introspective.  I agree with Lee's original editors that the flashbacks are the best part. But, I had a difficult time with the racial conflicts in the book.  Lee examines her town and the issues facing its residents in the era of integration. But, in the end, all major characters seem to agree that black people, though meaning well, are essentially children.  This made me angry and disgusted.  I understand that many people believed that in the past, but to publish a book like this in 2016 seems irresponsible, no matter how famous or beloved the author. (Lily)