Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump on the PR juggernaut surrounding Harper Lee’s latest (earlier) novel. Nor am I going to engage in the endless conspiracy theories regarding its existence, publication etc.
However, it’s difficult to avoid what has been promoted as the biggest book sensation in recent living memory. ‘Go Set A Watchman’ is set to smash sales records. The publishers are prepared for tomorrow’s look release with nearly 3 million books printed as well as being available on digital format.
So, what’s all the fuss about?
Away from the hype I approached the first free chapter with delight and slight trepidation. Delight as I thoroughly enjoyed and respected ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, even more after reading it again last summer. This time as an adult I found I appreciated the novel much more. However I was anxious the book would disappoint and fall to ridicule. Reading this first chapter I realised my fears were unfounded.
‘Go Set A Watchman’ promises more of the same beautiful prose as ‘Mockingbird’. The deftness of language is retained with its gentle humour, crisp vernacular mingled with deep insightful reflections from the now mature 26-year-old Jean Louise, otherwise famously known as Scout.
The initial striking difference with ‘Mockingbird’ is that this novel is told in the third person. From this first chapter I would say this is not detrimental. I did not find this viewpoint distant or remote, as has been suggested by some critics. Rather it allowed Scout’s maturity and in-depth reasoning to shine forth, whereas ‘Mockingbird’ worked brilliantly written from the first person, capturing her young innocence, confusion and sense of awakening.
The reader joins Scout as she’s travelling by train from New York to her home town Maycomb to visit her ageing father who is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Her laconic observations abound, such as in ‘trains changed, conductors never did’ as yet again the conductor forgets her stop and the train halts 440 yards from the station.
Scout has lost none of her home-town mannerisms as is evident in first her change of clothing to ‘her Maycomb clothes: gray slacks, a black sleeveless blouse, white socks and loafers…’ before adding, ‘she could hear her aunt’s sniff of disapproval’.
She does now though manage to tone down her behaviour as ‘she repressed a tendency to boisterousness’. How far this is true the reader will have to find out later in the book however doubts are raised even in the first chapter as she retorts with harsh honesty to Henry’s marriage discussion: ’I’ll have an affair with you but I won’t marry you’. Even Henry has noticed the change in her, recognising that ‘in the years he was away at war and the University, she had turned from an overalled, fractious, gun-slinging creature into a a reasonable facsimile of a human being’. Overall, Scout is still ‘a person, who confronted with an easy way out, always took the hard way’.
Finally, am I the only one confused by the title? Frustrated by my ignorance I researched further and I was soon enlightened! The phrase ‘Got Set a Watchman’ comes from Isaiah 21.6. ‘For this hath the Lord said unto me,/Go, set a watchman, let him/declare what he seethe.’
This supposedly alludes to Scout’s view of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral compass (ie. watchman) of Maycomb. (Thank you Wikipdeia!)
I hope you have enjoyed this brief summary of the first chapter of Harper Lee’s latest publication. The final verdict on the novel will of course only be known upon reading the book in its entirety. I will buy it, soon but not quite yet. I don’t feel like be railroaded. I’ll wait for a while…for the paperback! I trust I will be as enlightened and satisfied with the rest of the novel as I was with this opening chapter.
Thank you for reading.
If you want a peak at the first chapter please take a look at http://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2015/jul/10/go-set-a-watchman-read-the-first-chapter
Annika Perry 
Hi, Annika. I was hooked before my copy arrived in the mail. Enjoyed your review! 🙂
Bette, have you finished the book yet? Would love to hear what you think. The local supermarket had a special dislplay and I reverentially held a copy, glancing at the pages. Very tempted but will wait until after the holidays as loaded up with books for now.
I enjoyed reading your review Annika. I plan to re-read TKM before diving into the sequel. I so glad you shared the meaning behind the title. I also was curious. I love it!
It’s definitely a title that grabs your attention isn’t it? I was glad to solve that mystery. Enjoy your re-reading of ‘Mockingbird’ and perhaps this afterwards.
I’ve never read “To Kill A Mockingbird” but I intend to now – just so I can follow it up with this book. Paperbook of course! You have certainly sold it to me.
Mike
I hope you like it. The language is very different and takes some getting used to but I found well worth it. Then you can see how feel considering this next one.
I think I might need to reread the original too, before I get to this one, Annika. Thanks for the precis. I’ll just go and cast my eye over that chapter first 🙂
Jo, I think that’s a good idea and then try this one if you’re still tempted. Can’t believe people were queueing for hours for the first copies of the book? This launch had been quite a roller-coaster of a ride. I wonder what you’ll make of the first chapter??
I had the briefest look but was so blown away with the pretty graphics I hardly noticed the ‘story’ 🙂
I was taken with them too, Jo. They are rather evocative.
Well, having read the first chapter, I’m going to reserve judgement. “Mockingbird” is a hard act to follow (or precede as it happens). I want to read “Mockingbird” again, but searching my bookshelves I can’t find it. It’s there somewhere, so I’ll have to dig deeper. Not the sort of book you send to charity.
That’s a good idea I think, Peter, to refresh your memory with reading ‘Mockingbird’ again. Good luck with the hunt for your copy! The wisdom of publishing a book written fifty years ago after such a iconic and successful first published novel can be questioned (and has been and will be…) I’ll still read it so I can make my own judgement on all the controversial angles.
I just heard about this book today, on Fox News. Harper Lee is doing exactly what we’re told never to do–and it will probably work. I will be so sad to read the changed Atticus, but maybe readers 50 years ago felt the same about the original man.
Good review, Annika. You’ve whetted my appetite.
The first chapter whetted my appetite but I fear I might have put myself in the firing line with this post. The controversy about Atticus Finch did not reach the UK until today when I’d already written and put this out on the blog. I can’t quite understand the change in him if it’s true since this book was written first – we’ll all find out tomorrow I suppose. Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Thank you Annika for this calm, intelligent and fun review of the first chapter.
Among all the guess working and and fantastic rumours leading up to publication
your post is like a refreshing well.
I also enjoyed learning the origin of the title, very interesting.
There may be many surprises for us all reading “Go and set a watchman” but Harper
Lee is an intelligent woman and writer and will not feed us predictable stories.
So, very brave of you to calmly walk into the fray.
Thank you Mirja, if I had known quite what a fray it was going to be today I might have chickened out! Still this was a subject that interested me and I wrote something that I would like to have read, so I hope others feel the same. The title was so unusual I just had to find out its origins, glad I did. One mystery cleared up!