To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

It probably deserves a 2 1/2 rating but under the RIA category, I round down. This is a rather pedestrian piece of work over which many people get the vapors. My advice. Breath deeply, drink profusely, and get over it!

This is a great book best one i have read so far

While it may be somewhat overrated, it’s still a good book. I read it in either high school or junior high just like everyone else. It’s not as deep of a story as high school teachers would like you to believe, but it is an enjoyable read, and it does deal with prejudice, even if it is in a simple way. I liked it a lot better than some other stuff we read in high school.

I didn't care for the writing style, and, as has been pointed out, it doesn't belong this far up the list.

I agree with a few other posters that this is not classic lit in the true sense of the term.  Still, it was one of the more enjoyable and interesting books I was "forced to read" back in junior high.  Actually, though I recall enjoying the book, I think I was probably more into the movie.  But then, I was always up for a few days set aside for films during class time.

Hands down, one of the best books I have ever read.  I'm glad my sophomore English teacher in HS had us read it.

sad but well written

I just want everyone to know that Harper Lee didn't even write this book. It was famed animated envrionmental hero 'Captain Planet's' brother: 'Christopher Planet'

classic...love this one too

I love Scout!!! and Boo Radley :)

Loved this book, I read it several times when I was younger.

I have to give To Kill a Mockingbird. I just did not enjoy it much as most people. The plot was pretty good though.

Every single person should read this book. It changed my life. PS---Did you know that Truman Capote and Harper Lee were childhood friends and she was his research assistant for "In Cold Blood"?

Integrity, prejudice and stereotyping in a more innocent time

i think this book is overrated.

Overrated, obvious, predictable little book best suited for the junior high school crowd, written by one of the most noteworthy one-book wonders in all of American literature. This was a tome that was loved by the liberal do-gooder set back in the 1960s when they first started foisting quilt trips on white folks about social conditions that pre-dated them, that they weren't capable of changing. If you want to read some good Southern writing, hook up with William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor or Cormac McCarthy and forget about this turkey.

Entirely inappropiate for high school students, this story is historically inaccurate, boring, and unimaginative. There are a lot of subplots that detract from the main story, and I believe that this novel has only received the attention it has because it depicts a storyline of only what is most expected and encouraged in today's social environment.

If you didn't read it in middle or high school, you should.

i think it is a great book have read it at least 3 times...but does anyone know which school it has been banned from before? I've seen a list of schools it has been banned from before on this site, but now i cant seem to find it

Had to read it in high school, and I couldn't put it down. As good as the movie is (probably one of the best movies made), it simply could not have the depth of this novel. More about class politics than race politics actually - emphasizing nuance rather than simple politics.

It's a better than average book, but it doesn't belong near the top of this list. Firstly, its not "classic" literature, by any stretch of the imagination, and secondly its just not that good. I suspect that since it's on the curriculum in most high school programs, it's rated so high because it's one of the few books that a lot of reviewers have read. Look, ask yourselves, is this a better novel than Sound and Fury, The Razor's Edge Huckleberry Finn Pride and Prejudice, all of which are way down this list. And frankly, if the answer is yes, the counter-answer is that you're an ignoramus.

I usually do not like to read...but this book is actually pretty good.

I read the book twice in elementary school and I would highly recommend it. I would give the movie four and a half stars.

one of my favories. it's not a vanguard of style, nor does it tred any new ground in terms of civil rights and whit vs black, but for some reason Harper Lee manages to capture the tone and tension of the racially segregated south, and its prejudices.

Lee's novel has an excellent plot line, wondeful morals, and is in a class all its own. As for Scout knowing more than a 6 year-old should know, this book is a flash back from when she is like 10 or 11, and Lee is braking the stereotype that all Southerners are stupid, and proving to you Yankees that our vocabulary doesn't just consist of aint and other less charming four letter words. Lee is know safely at the top with the likes of Poe, Tolkien, Bradbury, and Twain.

Good book. Seen through the eyes of a little girl they call Scout. It takes place in the south in the depression era. her dad is a lawyer who is defending a black man who has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Well written book gives a glimpse of injustice and prejudice. Also turned into a great movie.

Very good book.

This book is one of the most boring uninteresting things I have ever read. I was forced to read it in my 10th grade literature class and I regret every word I ever read out of that horrible book.

The point was that she did not understand that much as a six-year-old girl. The narrator is looking back on the experience as an adult and piecing together everything she now knows. The book was excellent. It showed real values and gave a glimpse into a culture most of the United States did not understand and still do not understand. I would recommend it to anyone, except those who prefer scandulous literature. They may not exactly get it.

I read this book in grade 10 English. I never ever want to read it again. One of things I didn't like was the author new a little bit more then she should have for a 6 year old. I think it is a really boring book. We were supposed to finish it and do a book report on it. I never finished it. I don't think I really got past chapter 10. It was so boring. There was absolutely no plot to the book and I just thought it was really boring.

Not totally useless, but hardly a classic.

I have to agree with Irishgit that while this book is competent and entertaining, it's not earth-shattering.

Just a wonderful masterpiece!! The movie was also very strong!!!

Good story and worth telling, but FAR from being the greatest classic ever. Whats wrong with you people?

I liked this book a lot when I read it in the ninth grade. It is a gripping tale of racial bigotry and injustice, but I would hardly rate it as highly as most of the people here. It just simply is not as great as most of the books on this site. Maybe I just don't understand American psychology, but I didn't get the same thrill from it.

A thoughtful and invoking book that shows the ugliness of racism. Sad and heart-wrenching yet full of passion and understanding. Pick this one up!

Excellent book and very good insight into race relations in the deep south. I've never seen the movie, but I've heard it was almost as good as the book, so I have to watch it one of these days.

Back in 1968 this was required reading in junior high. It is also one of my favorite movies of all time. I love this book but what I recall most is my English teacher announcing to the entire class that there words in the story that might bother me. Great, being the only black kid in class I knew what that meant (the N word). I am sure she meant well but I spent the next few weeks feeling uncomfortable and dealing with uneasy looks from my fellow classmates. If only the teacher had not made such a big deal out of it. I probably would have be more comfortable reading it. During discussion time I sat there quietly. Too bad. I probably could have given some insight from a black person point of view. It is funny that the class we never got into the meat of the story - people of different skin colors getting along. I have reread this book over the years and still find it an incredible story of love, courage, inner strength and compassion to your fellow man.

.....????

I finished the book for school last night. It was better than I thought, but I still don't get the point of it. What was the major thing happening in the story? Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, or Dill? I didn't like the character Dill- the book makes it sound like something major happens with Dill involved. Dill was unnecessary in the story.

Read this book last year for school and i loved it. its a really good book

I read this bok my freshman year of high school and I loved it. It's about the adventures of a little girl named Scout, her brother Jem, their father, and a recluse named Boo Radley.

I was forced to read this book for school, and I really wish I had just read it on my own before hand. I think it was the rehashing of every single page, having to read each chapter aloud, AND listen to an old Southern woman S-L-O-W-L-Y read the book on tape that made me loathe this book with all my being. In reality, as I look back, it was simply a boring book with some good elements to it. I don't see it being the number two literary classic of all time, though.

isn't it one of the best books ever? it has everything you need in a story, it's interesting and you can't put it down until you finished reading it. a great book.

Unless you are just a flat-out Nazi-soluting racsist, or if you had to read the book for school, how could anyone dislike this book? Taking place in a small Alabama redneck-town, it follows the adventures of a young girl growing up in a world of prejudice during the depression. It definitely has some valuable life lessons to teach everyone. Well-written, well-told plotline, and easy-to-identify-with characters. What more could you ask for in a book?

To Kill a Mockingbird offers a very poignant view of racism in Alabama during the 1930's. It's a classic story in which Harper Lee brings all the characters to life, specifically Atticus. His defense of the poor black man in the courthouse is simply powerful. It comes across very well in the old black and white movie about the story. Read the book; although it is fiction, it accurately portrays the position of blacks in the south before the Civil Rights Movement.

I can't help but give this a five. I first read this in the sixth grade, it was the first truly incredible novel I read. Scout may be the narrator, but the novel's true protagonist is Atticus Finch, a man not perfect, but almost there...

Wonderfully, beautiful novel. Touching and amazingly sensitive. Perfect for young kids (7th-8th graders) and adults alike. A haunting novel about racism, children, justice, power. The innocence of children amidst a complicated, unjust count scene. This novel is very special for its combination of beauty and cruelity. Unforgettable.

An excellent early attempt to discern the differences between justice and bias.