To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I know everyone in all likelihood knows what this book is about, and has probably read it.  I however, had not.  I will post a quick bit from goodreads on here: Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Puliter Prize-winning novella, a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s.

My Take
Please do not send me hate mail.  That's all I ask.  While I loved the overall message behind this book, I personally wasn't thrilled with the book as a whole.  I became mired in extreme descriptive nature of everything.  I kept waiting for something to happen to really draw me in to this story. 

Once the trial came about, that really solidified it for me.  That pulled me in and I was cruising along through it.  But, that was a fair amount of the way through the book.  The railing out against the hideousness of racism and learning that the world is not always a fair and just place.  That in itself is a tough lesson.  I appreciated the deeply steeped principles that Atticus lived and raised his children with.  The fact that you can never really know someone until you can place yourself in their skin.  Tolerance and understanding, two virtues that in many places, have remained unknown.  In this day and age, that is a sad statement indeed.

I like the characters.  Miss Maudie Atkinson, Atticus, Calpernia, Jem, Scout and Dill.  I thought they were endearing and loveable.  I could almost see each one of them.  It's been forever since I've seen the movie too, so I really didn't have that to go by. 

Since this book was written, I believe writing has changed drastically.  There's much more action in novels now.  The writing is tight and sparse on descriptors.  I cringe because I know I've set quite a few people's teeth on edge saying all of this.  I'll just stop now and say I'm giving this one 3 kisses!