To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee · first published 1960
30% recommend66% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Well-written, emotionally powerful novel about race, class and injustice in the American South, with Atticus as a standout character. It rewards rereading and suits both school-age and adult readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the United States. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black ma
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…Watchmen" by Alan Moore. It may be a graphic novel, but the issues it raises on ethics and morality are chilling. I still think about the ending every now and then, and I haven't read it in over a year. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. In addition to the primary themes on class, race, and the killing of innocents, it has an interesting thread on living with your own moral code. "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller. Ostensibly…
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗I was quite touched by the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Its central character, Atticus Finch, has become to me somewhat a role-model. If and when I raise children in my life, I'll be extremely contented if I manage to do it like he does in…
on “Lies We Tell Kids” ↗The 'readers' list of novels is a big a crock of shit as the non-fiction. I might be a little pessimistic, but of the top ten: 4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien 5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee 6. 1984 by George Orwell Are the only credible novels there. I'm sorry Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard are not and never have been popular enough amongst the populace to hit 7 out of 10 of…
on “Random House's 100 Best Nonfiction Books: A Lesson on Internet Polls” ↗Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut 1984 by George Orwell To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918) On the Road by Jack Kerouac The…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2013” ↗Embarrassingly, I first misread this as Harper Lee working on a sequel to the Hunger Games finale Mockingjay, and I was so confused.... I was forced to read To Kill a Mockingbird for school. I started reading it with a bad attitude. After I finished it, I immediately turned back to the first page and reread it, not with a school mindset but with a "this is amazing literature that…
on “Harper Lee to publish Mockingbird 'sequel'” ↗Many have said To Kill A Mockingbird made Harper Lee a "one hit wonder"...but, wow...the hit was a home run... Brilliant characterization--Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, Calpurnia, Boo Radley, the Ewells, Tom Robinson... The setting...the…
on “Harper Lee has died” ↗…Becker The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem The Society of the Spectacle by Debord Nihilist Communism by Monsieur Dupont The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin On the Road by Jack Kerouac To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee And other classics: 1984, brave new world, planet of the apes, huckleberry fin, slaughter house five (anything by vonnegut actually!). Anything I have managed to get by Stafford Beer has…
on “Books That Changed My Life” ↗…Lay of the Land," by Richard Ford Oprah Winfrey's Favorite: White Oleander by Janet Fitch The Color Purple by Alice Walker A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck For complete list visit http://www.famouspal.com
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗…in the books that interest me now. Instead I'd have to settle for some good fiction. Going back in time to around 12-16, I'd send one of: * Brave New World - Aldous Huxley * 1984 - George Orwell * To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee * Catch 22 - Joe Heller * Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut * Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck * Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury * The Call of Ctulhu - H.P. Lovecraft * Ender's Game - Orson…
on “If you could give a book to your younger self, what would it be?” ↗…Anything by Jack London - Anything by Ernest Hemingway - *One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich* by Solzhenitsyn - *The Fixer* by Barnard Malamud - *Northwest Passage* by Kenneth Roberts - *To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee - Anything by Nikolai Gogol - Short stories by Guy de Maupassant - Most of John Steinbeck's works - *Lord of the Flies* by William Golding - *The Great Gatsby* F. Scott Fitzgerald Also,…
on “Ask HN: classic literature recommendations?” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Also-Rises-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/074... Catch 22 - Joe Heller - http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-50th-Anniversary-Joseph-Helle... The Road - Cormac McCarthy - http://www.amazon.com/Road-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0307387895 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310... The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger - http://www.amazon.com/Catcher-Rye-J-D-Salinger/dp/0316769487 For Whom the Bell…
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations?” ↗Just started reading Ubik and liking it so far. Before that I reread To Kill a Mockingbird. I really enjoy hacking on side projects in my free time but sometimes it's nice to step away. I've found getting deep into a book is a good way for me to do that.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗I am biased towards fiction. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The timeless beauty and innocence of the book remains unparalleled. Light in August, by William Faulkner. It is the opposite of the above, dealing with complex emotions. Faulkner's prose…
on “Ask HN: What is the most mind blowing book you've ever read?” ↗They say an artist is never appreciated until they die, but I believe Harper Lee was one of the most rightfully appreciated authors of our time. Most of us have read To Kill a Mockingbird, at least, and for those of us who did, it was a powerful indictment of America's eternal and original sin of race and exploitation. A book or a death changes little in a broad cultural context, but it…
on “Harper Lee has died” ↗"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, "P.S. I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee,
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗