topic Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo in TV and Movies

"Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird"

MyGirlsMom — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 04:04:36 GMT

New York Times Opinion piece pretty much says Harper Collins rushed to publish , "Go Set a Watchman" as a novel for $$$$$$$$$

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/opinion/joe-nocera-the-watchman-fraud.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

ms traditional — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 10:02:22 GMT

i found this to be a bit of a rant. i don't know any publisher that wouldn't have jumped at the chance to publish anything Harper Lee. my queasiness: that all this happened after HL's sister and advisor died. quickly. and under the tutelage of HL's advisor/agent, Carter. i think HL was ill-advised - Carter represented the author. she had certain responsibiities to her. i do believe there were pecuniary motives starting there as generally author's representatives get a percentage of sales..

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

insomniac — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 11:47:52 GMT

Someone is making money off this, and it isn't Harper Lee. It's a travesty.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

ms traditional — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 12:24:14 GMT

@insomniac wrote:
Someone is making money off this, and it isn't Harper Lee. It's a travesty.

i am sure she is making money - but she was hardly hurting with royalties from TKAM most likely more than sufficient over the last 50 years. her work is under fire now at a time when she is deaf and pretty sightless - and not in a position to respond properly. it seems others had more to gain than she from this - i believe her sister was correct in holding back publication. sometimes these works are better studied posthumously imo.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

LoriLori — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:04:13 GMT

She may be making money but she doesn't need more money. GSAW is a first draft, and from what I've read not a good one. The stain now on her previously flawless reputation as a writer is not worth any amount of money.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

MyGirlsMom — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 17:40:31 GMT

I had known about the controversy surrounding the so called new novel and this NYT opinion piece certainly puts things in perspective for me.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

ChynnaBlue — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:21:32 GMT

I'm not planning on reading this one. The whole way it was released seems sketchy and opportunistic. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but the way this was found and then sold seems wrong to me.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

ValuSkr — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 16:35:55 GMT

I've seen people conflate the titles and refer to Book #2 as "Go Kill A Watchman."

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

smoky22 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 01:59:14 GMT

Even though Go Set A Watchman was written before To Kill A Mockingbird (and To Kill A Mockingbird was developed from Go Set A Watchman), the events in Go Set A Watchman take place almost 20 years after the events in To Kill A Mockingbird. I have read the book and in my mind it is a sequel and I think of it as book #2. It does not diminish To Kill A Mockingbird in any way (for me). I am speaking of the book's literary value and not who is making money from it.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

lory — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 02:44:45 GMT

I thought the book was awful. Dont waste any money on it...check it out at the library and dont be in a hurry to do it....thats how bad it is.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

beckyb1012 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:49:20 GMT

@lory wrote:
I thought the book was awful. Dont waste any money on it...check it out at the library and dont be in a hurry to do it....thats how bad it is.

ITA. I am just this morning re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird to help get Watchman out of my head. Bad is bad and it does not matter which was written first.

I did read my copy of Watchman from the library thank goodness!!

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

docsgirl — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:51:22 GMT

lory,

I couldn't agree with you more. I did not purchase it but borrowed it from my library and am so glad I saved my $$$$. I thought it was just me, but I'm not enjoying this book at all. I'm forcing myself to plow through it as I find it boring. I find the writing to be poor...so unlike TKAM. There is no character development and it's repetitive as far as the insults from Jean Louise to Hank and from Zandra to Jean Louise and Hank. I very rarely abandon a book and will not abandon GSAW although I'm tempted. Just not enjoying this at all. So glad I didn't spend money on it. docsgirl

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

ms traditional — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 11:08:24 GMT

Watchman is pretty much an unedited script. Regarding thinking of it as a sequel, since Atticus is fashioned around HL's father - and he moved from pro-segregation to an opponent of segregation in that time period as many in the South did way back when, i think AF's character in TKAM reflects an idealized end point of this conversion. no way Watchman is a sequel.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

care04 — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 11:21:45 GMT

I just finished reading Go Set A Watchman, and found it a delightful read. Jean Louise has grown up and makes some enlightening discoveries as a 20-something young adult. I read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time this summer. Granted, TKAM was the winner, hands down, but I sure enjoyed reading GSAW, too.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

sandy53 — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 15:45:08 GMT

Thank you for posting this link. I read GSAW so I could better understand all the discussion and controversies about the book and this article made the most sense to me of all that I have read.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

sunala — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 21:08:00 GMT

I just started the book last night, so I don't have any opinion yet. I know there are many different thoughts and opinions on the book.

I'm hoping I'll enjoy it, but if not, oh well, it's a library eBook on my Kindle.

I did have one thought about the character Atticus. From reviews I read, apparently in this book he turns out to be a racist, which upset a lot of people because in TKAM he was a kindly, loving and wise gentleman.

I think (and this is just my opinion) that the actor Gregory Peck had a lot to do with it. Who could ever think that Gregory Peck could be anything but a perfect human being, as he was in TKAM? I could be wrong, but this was my thought.

I'll post when I'm done.

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&

Group 5 minus 1 — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 13:39:36 GMT

Got an e-mail from Amazon suggesting other books after reading Watchman. This wasn't on their list but I remember reading "Lay that Trumpet in our Hands" by McCarthy. It is about the civil rights movement especially in Florida. I just put a hold on it at my local library.