To Kill a Mocking Bird

‘Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’



Author: Harper Lee
Publishers: Arrow Books
Pages: 309
Price: INR 250

Harper Lee’s book about growing up during the 1930s in the US is amazingly engaging. The book’s mammoth success is not so difficult to make out given the fact that Lee chooses to throw light at the major issues during the times of the Great Depression in the US through her characters rather cynically.

Besides, Lee’s smooth and effortless narrative travels seamlessly throughout the book absorbing the reader into a whirlpool of events. Although the narrative is that of Scout, Lee chooses to interrupt the narrative every now and then providing her insights.

Wikipedia states: “The mockingbird is used as a recurring motif to symbolize the innocence of various victims of injustice throughout the novel.”

Various victims of injustice being mainly the black people who are afflicted to color prejudice. The story, narrated by Scout Finch, follows the school going days of Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill. Their inquisitive attempts to enter into the house of the neighborhood recluse Boo Radley, their struggle to cope up with their strict cook and caretaker Cal, wisdom endowment of their noble father Atticus, and the dirty trial of the rape of Mayella by the black man Tom whom Atticus is defending are the incidents that by and large form the story.

The book is semi-autobiographical and Lee won Pulitzer Prize for the book including many other awards. Easy to say why. And, To Kill a Mocking Bird remains her major work till date. She was to remain a one-book wonder exhausting her entire imagination on ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’.

Bottom Line: A definite read

Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh

Title: The Glass Palace
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Publisher: Harpercollins
Pages: 552
Price: INR 295

Lucid narration at its best. That is what crossed my mind when I put down Glass Palace after reading. Amitav Ghosh’s splendid narrative grew on me during the process of reading the book and as the story unfurled, the characters become part of my life and I can’t help but feeling for them as if they were my acquaintances.

The story begins in the port town of Mandalay, Burma just before it was captured by the British and the King and the Queen were taken into custody. It revolves around the Indian coolie boy Rajkumar’s life for a while before embarking on a journey with the King and the Queen as they were being sent on exile to an Indian town called Ratnagiri.

But soon enough, the emperor’s life loses track and Rajkumar takes the center stage of the novel. The story details the life and times of people in Burma, India, and Malaya during the pre-colonist era and war times through the life of Rajkumar and his family.

On the downside, the plot is clichéd in places and a few dramatic events only decelerate the pace of the novel. Besides, as the novel reaches the final chapters one cannot help but notice Ghosh’s urgency in winding up the book that has already consumed enough pages.

Bottom line: You won’t regret reading it