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A few months ago it was announced that Harper Lee had decided to publish anther book.
I was so excited I signed up with Amazon for first day delivery, because To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all time favorites.
Before I had a chance to read the book I started to hear negatives remarks, but I was in no way prepared for the amateurish writing in Go Set a Watchman.
Either –
1.) Harper Lee was blessed with one hell of a good editor for Mockingbird, or,
2.) She didn’t write Watchman.
There is simply no way she could have become as polished, as the wondrous writing in Mockingbird indicates, after sloppily slipping from first to third person and jumping tense without regard for the reader in Watchman. Supposedly the two books were written just two years apart.
Watchman stands as a lesson in poor writing. It clearly shows why a writer should never show the thoughts, actions or words of more than one character in any one paragraph.
It displays why characters should never be allowed to make “speeches”.
If you weren’t convinced before, this book will show you why internal dialogue has no place in third person.
A few days ago I wondered if my memory of Mockingbird was playing tricks on me. I bought a copy for my Kindle and am about a third of the way through it.
It is impeccable. So much good humor. So vividly descriptive. So wonderful.
Comments
One of several possible reasons.
She wrote 'Go Set a Watchman' first and put it away as the story goes. Later she wrote Mockingbird. As the first book was discovered later there was no editor or editing done and her lawyer set about having the book published.
Obviously Harper Lee put the book away and forgot about it for a reason. Her lawyer saw it as a way to make money and went of the hype of the previous book.
Given the age of Ms Harper its most likely she wouldn't have been able to polish up the story as she most likely did on the next book.
From my understanding Ms Harper is prone to suggestions from her lawyer and thus I put little credit in thinking that Ms Harper would have allowed the book to be released as it is now.
Harper Lee
From watching a PBS show on Harper Lee, it is my understanding that Mockingbird was written when friends of Harper seeing her desire to be a writer and observing her skill as a story teller, offered to support her for a year, on the condition that she spent it writing.
This is very different from writing in stolen moments, while dealing with a job and real life. The need to repay her friends with a worthwhile output, may have given added motivation.
I also got the impression that her original manuscript required a lot of editing. But she was indeed a good story teller, the most important ingredient.
As crazy as this may sound I
As crazy as this may sound I always thought her best friend wrote Mockingbird. Out of a close friendship or perhaps she was a muse or maybe he was. Always thought it odd that such a amazing book written by Harper Lee and she had nothing known before or after other than a few short articles.
Think of it as this.
Many singers were known for their one hit wonders. This is also true of writers as well as other professions.
Not Crazy
When In Cold Blood came out there were many, many rumors that Harper Lee wrote the book for Truman Capote. She did do a lot of the research.
It is very possible that Mockingbird was a collaboration going the other way.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
The way I remember it
Watchman was the story she first submitted to the publishers. It was they who suggested that she re-write the book from the girls point of view, based on the small part of Watchmen written that way. And it is this book, Mockingbird, that was published.
It has been said for a long time, well for as long as I can remember and I'm 59 this year unfortunately, that Harper Lee did NOT want the first manuscript published EVER. Given your view of it, maybe that is why. From news reports it is her legal folk who have been pushing her to publish despite claims that the manuscript has only just been re-discovered.