To Kill a Mockingbird

It's a funny thing when you go back and re-read a book. Sometimes you remember it word for word as it's unfolding; sometimes you pick up interesting little bits and pieces that you never caught before; and sometimes it's a whole new story as if you've never read it in the first place. For some crazy reason, when I started reading this one again, it was like I had never read it before. I can only think of two possible explanations why I don't remember To Kill a Mockingbird.

First of all, I know this was assigned reading in high school, which might explain why I didn't remember a whole lot of it. I usually don't like to be "told" what I "have" to read. I like to make choices for myself. So there is some possibility that the inner rebel in me had come out (as it did when I had to read Moby Dick) and made the choice not to read it with the hope of being able to fly by the seat of my pants on just the class discussions themselves.

Secondly, I do remember watching the movie in class after we discussed and finished the book. I remember Boo Radley, Scout, and her brother Jem; and most of all I remember the court trial. So perhaps I'm just remembering the movie and not the book. . . or confusing the movie with the book. . . or maybe I just truly don't remember anything about it at all.

Oh, well. Whatever the reason may be, I discovered new information in this story that I had somehow escaped my teen years. It took me a long time to read this one, but it was worth the re-introduction.