by Anura Guruge
on July 24, 2021
“To Kill A Mockingbird” was the 1st school book I read, in the U.S., when I came here in 1967 as a 14-year old. It had a profound impact on I. I did NOT know much about U.S. racial injustice, but, nonetheless, enjoyed it for its gripping story. Yes, over the years I have revisited that book & made sure that all my kids read it. In the case of the last (whose name we will not mention (to spare blushes)) I made her read it out to me aloud because that was the only way she was going to read it — & it was part of her homeschooling curriculum (per I). It was kind of painful & I know it took us MONTHS.
I listened to ‘The Pecan Man’, on ‘Amazon Audible‘, earlier this week. I was blown away. It is very good. Very good. Brilliant, very light, very engaging style. I liked it so much that I bought the paperback so that others in the household can enjoy it.
The book actually, shamelessly, mentions “To Kill …” within its first page! Even the fictional town in which it is set has a name that starts: ‘May ..’, akin to ‘Maycomb’.
Yes, it involves a rape. But, it goes further, there is a murder as well!
But, there is no dramatic court scene. There are no court scenes at all, at all. I was going to say something, BUT I don’t want to giveaway too much.
Good book. Great book. Self-published I think. Bravo. She is a good writer (though I would NOT recommend her sequel to this book, which I finished listening to yesterday).
There was ONLY one thing in this book that gave me pause. Her deceased husband’s 1970s LTD has been languishing in the garage, not driven, not taken care of, for months. For months. In excess of 6, I think. But, it starts ‘first time’, with no problem. Maybe this was true with 1970s cars BECAUSE they had no electronics that sapped away at battery power. I need to check that. That was all.
Highly recommended.
