Harper Lee to publish Mockingbird 'sequel'

[Bill 42]

Hi, everybody.

The BBC is reporting (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31118355) that Harper Lee is going to publish a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. CNN is also reporting (http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/living/feat-harper-lee-new-book/index.html) the story.

I'm looking forward to it. Is anyone else?

[Iain Sparrow]

Well, as To Kill a Mockingbird is my all time favorite novel... guess I'll have to check it out.
Sort of strange though, eh?.. a sequel written before the beloved classic.
We'll get to finally find out after all these years, if Harper Lee is a one trick pony.

[Lokasenna]

From what I gathered in my bleary, half-awake state listening to the radio this morning, I understand the manuscript (titled Go Set a Watchman) is decades old, having been conveniently 're-found' - indeed, it predates Mockingbird.

According to the expert they interviewed, Anne Lee, Harper's older sister who acted as her manager and accountant, had long pressured her sister not to publish it on the basis that it wasn't as good as Mockingbird and would consequently be a bit of a letdown. Anne died in November, and thus the expert thought it hardly a coincidence that the manuscript had suddenly been found again. He also said that he had read it, and that it wasn't terribly good. He said that Mockingbird had gone through several revisions by some very capable and demanding editors, shaping it into the book we all know and love, and that Watchman clearly had not been subject to the same process.

[Iain Sparrow]

From what I gathered in my bleary, half-awake state listening to the radio this morning, I understand the manuscript (titled Go Set a Watchman) is decades old, having been conveniently 're-found' - indeed, it predates Mockingbird.

According to the expert they interviewed, Anne Lee, Harper's older sister who acted as her manager and accountant, had long pressured her sister not to publish it on the basis that it wasn't as good as Mockingbird and would consequently be a bit of a letdown. Anne died in November, and thus the expert thought it hardly a coincidence that the manuscript had suddenly been found again. He also said that he had read it, and that it wasn't terribly good. He said that Mockingbird had gone through several revisions by some very capable and demanding editors, shaping it into the book we all know and love, and that Watchman clearly had not been subject to the same process.

The other thing we have to keep in mind, is that very often what makes a masterpiece, a masterpiece... is the timing of that masterpiece. In most cases, the literature we fondly group as "classic", or regard as a landmark or a masterpiece of literature, would not be such if it were released today; indeed, probably not worthy of being published at all. It's all a matter of timing, and the timing for To Kill a Mockingbird was perfect. Will Go Set A Watchman resonate with the same passion... methinks not.

[easy75]

The other thing we have to keep in mind, is that very often what makes a masterpiece, a masterpiece... is the timing of that masterpiece. In most cases, the literature we fondly group as "classic", or regard as a landmark or a masterpiece of literature, would not be such if it were released today; indeed, probably not worthy of being published at all.

That is so sad, but so very true. I think about that a lot, and not just with literature, but music and film as well.
Anyhow, I re-read To Kill A Mockingbird almost every other year or so. I think it is a masterpiece. I may just skip this new one. Don't want to taint my perception of that book, with this one.

[JBI]

Basically Lee wrote a rather choppy manuscript which was virtually rewritten by editors, who cut and pasted the half-written thing into the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel to be published now is basically what didn't make the cut, plus a plot tying the lot together. I didn't care for the original, I doubt I will care for the unedited manuscript.

Still, it does say a lot about the writing process. Perhaps this would have been more interesting 30 years ago.

[ennison]

Although I admire TKAM I don't think I'll be running to buy this one. There are so many other writers to read. Lee having published only one novel and it a classic is a cachet that will now be lost. Also if it is a disappointment it will be a real disappointment for those of us who treasured her as a one-big-work blone!