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Please write your thoughts on Part I here.

Been awhile, looking forward to the re-read!

Me too. Hope we have lots of people joining in on the discussion.

I just read this last August, so I don't think I will re-read it now, but a great book to start with.

I have read this one more than once. It is among my favorite books of all time.

I have read it in the past but will be re-reading it with my children. I may be a little slower in my progress since we will be reading aloud as part of our school time. Picked up a copy today and am excited to introduce this wonderful story to my children as I read along with you all. :-)

I don't plan on starting the book to middle of the month, so my progress will be slower as well.

I finished part 1 last night and I have to say, even though I remember reading this in school I remember none of it! It's like reading a whole new book.

The character developments in the first part of the story are great. Atticus is one of the best characters I've read. He's a loving father, who explains everything his children ask him about. When he is talking to Uncle Jack and Uncle Jack is telling him about Scout asking what a whore lady was, Atticus told him when a child asks you something, you have to answer them. He's not afraid to tell his children how it is so they understand everything.

Scout's first day of school was interesting in that it seemed to show how some of the community thought of the families that lived there and the differences between them.

The children are obsessed with the Radleys and want to bring Boo Radley out of the house. They're afraid of them and don't understand them until they talk to Miss Maudie and she explains about the strict father, and Boo Radley puts a blanket over Scout when she's not looking and standing in front of the house during Miss Maudie's house fire. I think after that, they understand a little better.

Scout is having trouble keeping her temper in check when trying to defend Atticus from the talk of the townsfolk when Atticus is defending Tom Robinson. They even get it from adults like Mrs. Dubose. I liked Atticus' response that people who use words like that are just showing who they are and how poor of a person they are.

By the end of the first part, Jem and Scout are a couple years older, and Jem is starting to act more like Atticus (like a gentleman) and he is growing up.

Great beginning to the book!

Renee I like how he answers his children as well. He doesn't say "I'll tell you when you're older" or shy away from it, he just gives them honest answers. However, this is all well and good in books, but how does this work on a practical level in the real world with some very difficult issues? Not that racism isn't difficult, of course, but somehow in my head it's easier to explain to a child "Sometimes people treat someone else as less of a person just because they are different" than "Some people are really bad and hurt little children." It's one thing to explain differences to a child, another to explain why someone went into their elementary school and shot all their classmates, or why Jimmy isn't coming back because someone kidnapped him and did terrible things to him before killing him. How does a parent balance honesty and truth with not revealing too much to a young heart and potentially wounding a sensitive child?

I haven't started it yet, just got my copy from the library, but I do remember being rather shocked that Scout always uses her father's first name when speaking to him. I guess in the book it's supposed to make her sound more adult but I always thought it sounded disrespectful, as even as an adult I refer to my parents as Mom and Dad (unless I'm shouting for them in a crowd and half the people in my vicinity will turn toward me if I yell "Mom!") But I don't recall Scout coming across as disrespectful in general. Strongly opinionated, yet, but not disrespectful. What are your thoughts on this?

I was a bit taken aback by them calling him Atticus also. It does seem disrespectful, and I think their Aunt Alexandra thinks so too doesn't she? She keeps saying how he's let the children go wild long enough and that's one of the things she's speaking of. Maybe he doesn't consider it disrespectful himself, because it doesn't seem to bother him, but that seems odd, since he's always correcting them and telling them the proper way to act towards people. It is a little odd. He never corrects them or anything though. I've never called my parents by their first names. I even call my father-in-law Dad.

I think when talking to children, you have to take into consideration their age, and how much you think they will get from what you tell them. You're right, a lot of things are really hard to explain but I think it's best to try and explain it if you can so they understand a little better. Murder, as you say, would be one thing that would be really hard to explain to kids I think.

I always thought this book did a marvelous job of capturing the subtly growing understanding of the world from a child's perspective while not dumbing down the language to sound like a child. Because the narrator is an adult looking back on childhood, there is latitude in the language that keeps the writing rich. At the same time, the narrator does not betray the wisdom of adulthood. As a reader, I felt as if I was invited into that child's mind-set, evolving with the younger version of the narrator.

As for talking to children, I agree with Atticus that you always answer a child's questions. To put a child off only perks the curiosity and often causes the child to find out the answer elsewhere, and the conclusion may not reflect the values you wish to communicate. I find that often happens in my job. I work with children at a church setting. I often get questions about sex, about the contridiction between the moral instructions of their parents and those same parents behavior, about evil in the world and about God in the world. You always find a way to honor the question, to give enough of a response to satisfy their genuine curosity, to give enough for their developmental level, without introducing information that they are not ready for or concepts they do not have the emotional or intellectual level to process.

Is everyone done with this section now? I must be the only one being a horribly slow reader :)

Alana,

I haven't even started yet. I am currently only half-way through with It. My power was off from last Friday until about three or four hours ago due to a big storm and a utilities company that took it's time getting the power back on. I didn't get much reading done during this time.

I am still in Part 1 too. I am reading it slowly one chapter a day to my children.

Jennifer wrote: "Alana,

I haven't even started yet. I am currently only half-way through with It. My power was off from last Friday until about three or four hours ago due to a big storm and a utilities compan..."

That's what audiobooks are for ;)

Alana,

That's true but I am behind in my technology. I have a bit of ADD right now when it comes to reading. I am really enjoying my Stephen King read, but I have just picked up Madame Bovary. It's a group read for one of my August clubs. Not sure that I am particularly fond of the translation though.

count me in the group that hasn't started it yet. It's next in line though ;)

I reached the end of part 1 today. I had completely forgotten about the moving chapter dealing with Mrs. Dubose. Wow. I almost teared up at the end. Sigh. :-)

I'm at chapter 8. I'd forgotten how funny this book is! Just reading the antic of these crazy kids literally makes me laugh out loud sometimes. The things that come out of their mouths! It's a refreshing reminder of a good childhood in the midst of some very trouble times, times that are going to get worse for them as they grow up and learn what the world is really like.

I know what you mean Alana. I am finding it very amusing at times and touching at others. :-)

Starting this now!! Anxious to re-read as I can't remember too much from high school :/

I told my neighbor I was reading this and he kind of jerked his head and said something about going back and reading those old books, and I just laughed. I was just glad I had enough classics and semi-intelligent books going at once that it sounded remotely impressive! :)

Finished part 1 last night. I initially read this one in high school and can't believe how many details that I couldn't remember, it's almost like reading a whole new book. Love little Scout and her opinions and how she seems to have no filter. Not loving it as much as I thought I would... yet...

I too, am in the category of not calling my parents by their first names, not sure how this came about with Scout and Jem. It seems to go in the oppposite direction of what Atticus is teaching them. I loved how many tenderhearted moments we've already witnessed, from Mrs. Dubose, to the rabbid dog Tim Johnson. Looking forward to Part II

"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
"No, honey."
"Then why--"
"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said.

I LOVE that! I'd forgotten how many wonderful lines there are in this book, with such deep truths. Makes me want to get a paperback copy again so I can mark up my favorite parts (I only do that with paperbacks, not the nice ones!) Such rich things that I would want to pass along to my children as well.

I am looking forward to starting this book, but I am going to be really late, likely not reading it until August. I might even read Rebecca first and come back to this re-read.

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

Again, I LOVE that! What an excellent definition of true courage. I had forgotten this last scene of part I, and I found it incredibly moving. What did you all think?