Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Harper Lee--Great News


Harper Lee to Publish Sequel to 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

"To Kill a Mockingbird  will not be Harper Lee's only published book after all.  Publisher Harper announced Tuesday that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. Rediscovered last fall, "Go Set a Watchman" is essentially a sequel to  To Kill a Mockingbird," although it was finished earlier. The 304-page book will be Lee's second, and the first new work in more than 50 years."



Link to complete article:
 http://tinyurl.com/pdjrcou

6 comments:

  1. This is very interesting news! You can be certain of one thing: whether or not the "new" book has any merits, it will almost certainly become a cash-cow bestseller for Harper Lee. However, even though I remain hopeful that it will be a somewhat worthwhile novel, I will venture the guess that it will never rival or eclipse TKAM. And, of course, the "conspiracy theorists" will probably start in again about Truman Capote as the actual writer of Lee's work. And then there is this: is there any novel that has been better represented in a movie version? (I can think of no other contender that comes close.)

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  2. R.T.,

    I think it inevitably will be compared to TKAM, and as you say, it will not match up to it, regardless of how good it may be. I'm sure that expectations will be so high, no book could satisfy them.

    The film version is one of the best I've ever seen. There are some that come close, but I can't think of one that surpasses it.

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  3. Replies
    1. Di,

      Definitely. This may be the top publishing news story for the rest of the year. I can imagine the critics sharpening their pencils, ready for the advance reading copies.

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    2. Indeed.
      I must find time to reread To Kill a Mockingbird. Last time I read it was so long ago.
      So excited. Just like a while ago I heard the news about Salinger's new books.

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    3. Di,

      I read it a year or so ago for a group discussion. I may read it again, but if it had been years ago, I think I would definitely reread it.

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