#2 To Kill a Mockingbird

So, phase two of our ever-extending mid-life crisis is nearly at a close - and my penultimate is in fact identical with Minty's number 8.

Back when we were obliged to buy a TV, I was ready for the onslaught of drivel, only to find to my astonishment that BBC2 was in the throes of The Big Read. Mainstream TV devoting hours to books! Wonderful! Of course it was a crushing blow to realise this was the exception...

Anyway, John Humphries (I think) was arguing for Harper Lee's (only, I think) novel. And, having an interest in slavery and the civil rights movement, and sold on it by Humphries enthusiasm (and the mysterious reclusiveness of its author) I bought it for my wife for that Christmas. She thought it was great and I read it after her...

Now, bearing in mind the majority of my reading diet has been SF and fantasy, theological and Christian, and history, I'm not sure what I was expecting from a fictional novel set in the real world and no elves.

I was utterly spellbound.

I'm not sure I can quite explain what its qualities are. It wasn't even the book I expected - some kind of black/white struggle played out I imagined. I was amazed to find most of the book was about a smalltown childhood, and the controversial issue does not come to the fore for many pages. And despite this I was still captivated - the warmth, the detail, the humanity. And so when the socio-political crux is reached it is not as though we have been subjected to a didactic build-up. It's just drawn in on a wider, folksy but not by any means twee canvas.

As well as the lack of sweet conclusion to the racial theme which must have left a lot of people with an uneasy feeling, high points for me....: how Boo Radley is dealt with sympathetically, Scout's view of the world as a rough and tumble tom-boy and especially (I bet I'm not alone here) the moment when Atticus takes care of the rabid dog. For me, it is one of my top moments in literature.