I wasn’t sure if I should read the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman, but I’m glad I did
A spoiler-filled reaction to the ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ follow-up by Harper Lee
Commentary
I’m a bookworm, but I wasn’t sure I should read Go Set a Watchman.
HarperCollins announced in February that Harper Lee’s first manuscript from 1957 (Watchman was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird) was to be published. Friends messaged me the news, adding comments like “OMG’’ or just “!!!’’ and I echoed those sentiments. But when concerns were raised about Lee’s mental status, I wasn’t sure how to feel.
The official investigation about the potential manipulation of Lee has since closed, but many people (myself included) continued to hem and haw about if we should read it. By reading the new book, do we play into greedy people taking advantage of a beloved author? Or would not reading the novel that a legend penned 58 years ago be more of an insult?
Today’s surprise release of the first chapter spurred me into action. I couldn’t help myself. For those still on the fence: it’s time to make a decision. I have to say, I’m happy with mine.
The novel comes out in full on July 14, but here’s what we learn in its opening (electronic) pages. Obviously, spoilers ahead…
It starts with 20-something Scout heading from New York back to Maycomb, Alabama. She’s referred to as Jean Louise now, though, which is sort of disappointing. But as I worried that this new mature character will pale next to the six-year-old who charmed us all in TKAM, she gets sandwiched between a fold-up bed and the train compartment wall. The porter has to come and let her out, which is highly embarrassing because she’s been sleeping in just a pajama top.
And like that, my fears dissapated.
She drinks four cups of coffee. She recalls a memory of a vain aunt, she “laughed aloud, then looked around to see if anyone had heard her.’’ Is this fine literature or am I reading my own diary? Either way, I’m on board.
Like most opening chapters, this one sets the scene for the major tensions in the novel. We get some exposition and some hints at childhood flashbacks. We learn that Atticus has rheumatoid arthritis and that Scout is romantically involved with Henry Clinton, to whom Atticus has been something of a benefactor, especially after Jem died.
Let me repeat that. JEM DIED. Lee just sneaks that in there, halfway through, no big deal. The direct quote is “Just about that time, Jean Louise’s brother dropped dead in his tracks one day, and after the nightmare of that was over, Atticus, who had always thought of leaving his practice to his son, looked around for another young man.’’
We can’t be more than a handful of pages into the novel and Lee’s already landed two big suckerpunches to the gut: Atticus is in chronic pain, but is, of course, being a total boss about it, and Jem somehow died. We need answers.
For the rest of the chapter, we glean more about Scout’s —ugh, fine— Jean Louise’s interactions with Henry:
Jean Louise’s eyebrows flickered. “Henry,’’ she said primly, “I’ll have an affair with you but I won’t marry you.’’
Heck. Yes. This is exactly the sort of empowered female I hoped Scout would grow up to become. Lee, you’re off to a good start. Don’t let me down in the next 260-or-so pages.
And that’s the battle with this book. It’s going to be really, really hard not to compare everything to TKAM. Even as I write that acronym, I’m flooded with memories of scrawling it in my assignment notebook in various gel-pens, “Tuesday, Language Arts: TKAM p.76-112, comprehension questions #1-10.’’
Re-entering the world of the Finch family and Maycomb is steeped in nostalgia. Isn’t that why were were all so excited when Watchman was announced in the first place?
Of course it’s a new book by an incredibly talented author, but more specifically, it brings back all those memories of the first time we realized Atticus is everything we aspire to be. (Remember the scene where he shoots the rabid dog? All of the feels.)
So of course, I hope the rest of Watchman lives up to the hype. But even if that’s not the case, the rewards of a return trip to Maycomb are, as Jean Louise puts it, “a delight almost physical.’’
While you await July 14, here are other titles to add to your reading list:
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