Go set a watchman.

I’ve read it. I read it early and quickly. Wasn’t going to risk anyone ruining it for me. 

I get asked, should I read it? 

I don’t know about the should business. Should you read anything?

And I get asked, is it good? Is it worth reading?

I don’t know. Good is so personal, so individual. And what’s worthy in reading terms? Sounds like a question a non-reader asks. 

I love To Kill a Mockingbird. I’m an English teacher so I’ve taught it more times than I can remember. Most people have an idealised memory of the novel, probably based on he movie or remembered through the mists of time. They forget the opening is tedious in its description. But it is suspenseful; does have the world’s most loving father; a great sense of place and time and people. 

This is not To Kill. Nor is it a sequel (for example the reference to the trial – it was a different trial). Go Set is a novel in its own right. A good novel. A novel that has characters you care for, you see develop, you understand are in deep conundrums in a time of change. A novel to enjoy. But it is not a great novel in the sense of To Kill is. So read it an enjoy. 

Go Set does have a deeper layer. If you love exploring the concept of creativity, of considering where authors get their stories from and of how novels develop, Go Set is insightful. You can see how, with judicious advice and much rewriting, Harper Lee took this story and turned it into the beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. 

I wasn’t upset that Atticus was different, that a key character is no more. Remember: it is not a sequel. It’s a different reworking of a story of grappling with race and gender in the South. (Only thing that annoyed me: what a stupid title.)

Read it. And it may prompt you to rediscover To Kill a Mockingbird which you probably haven’t read since Year 10 English.