‘Go Set a Watchman’: Review of Harper Lee’s First Chapter
I really wanted to do this right, so I set up my e-reader with the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman available online, poured myself a drink and went out to sit by the pool and read it. I didn’t go back and re-read To Kill a Mockingbird first; honestly, it’s been years since I read it and I have fond memories of experiencing the book—but I didn’t want to do a direct comparison. I figured tons of people would be doing just that already and I wanted to see how this story, that takes place about 20 years after Mockingbird, would stand on its own.
Wow. I was taken by its elegant simplicity. The sheer beauty of the commonplace and Harper Lee’s uncomplicated skill to expose the opportunities for delight and discovery in routine elements. Her lines pulse with a subtle magnetic vibration that ushers you wholly into a full sensory experience of grown Scout, Jean Louise Finch. To say it another way; Lee makes the regular feel luxurious with no heavy lifting on the reader’s part. Additionally, I found that I often chuckled to myself as I read the chapter and laughed out loud several times. The characters are instantly and easily related to, so that you’re quickly delighting in their interactions like watching old friends at it again—although you’re meeting these adult characters for the first time. Even a train conductor we never meet feels as familiar as a lovable uncle!
Quite simply: this is writing at its finest and I’m really excited to read the whole novel. My sincere compliments to legendary talent, Harper Lee. Just beautiful and—wow.
Now, some things to keep in mind. This manuscript was written in a very different social and political climate. Even in this first chapter, there are references to race and gender that can feel archaic and uncomfortable—and from what I understand, there’s much more of this to come throughout the book. Lee bats at these conventions like a cat with a piece of string—I was laughing with Lee on the conclusion of the encounter at the end of the chapter but maybe for different reasons than readers of the past would’ve laughed. It stands the test of time because the material finds new meaning as the eras tick by. The important thing is the feeling of Harper Lee’s soul and intentions behind these dusty words and references—judging by this first chapter, that feeling is unconditional warmth. Remember that this is a manuscript she wrote in the mid-1950s—this is a hot-off-the-presses time machine directly into the past. I’m sure that, if published then, there would’ve been a backlash from certain “conservative” groups about her progressive thinking. I feel like she was building a bridge between these people of the past and their brighter future—while, now in that future, seeing these old words and references can feel a little weird. She logically used the lexicon and referential structures born from the history, perspective and customs of those times as she kindly joined the shifting in then-current events.
It’s also interesting to note, as far as her writing timeline, that To Kill a Mockingbird was actually written after this manuscript; a prequel that ended up getting published first. At that point this manuscript wasn’t touched again; lost until it was recently found in storage! Some are talking about Atticus’s portrayal in Go Set a Watchman as being at odds with the character we loved in Mockingbird. One likely possibility here is that Lee refined her vision of Atticus Finch as she wrote Mockingbird and never had the chance to go back and apply those same refinements to this original manuscript for Watchman. I’ll be approaching the experience of reading this full novel as a chance to take a little peek behind the curtain of remarkable wordsmith, Harper Lee—and to ride this excellently eloquent time machine her young idealistic-self crafted for us. In hardback. On paper pages.
The full novel will be released everywhere by HarperCollins Publishers on July 14th, 2015. You can taste the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman for yourself here at The Guardian.
