Last week at the beach I read "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee. I had never read this before, nor seen the movie, but had a vague idea of what it was about. I figured there was a reason it is one of the most famous novels in American Lit and a Pulitzer Prize winner, and it seemed like a good thing to do. For some reason I had never been assigned this book in school, perhaps because of the "n" word sprinkled throughout.

When I mentioned to a friend that I was going to read it for the first time, she exclaimed, "Oh, you are so lucky!" It seemed like a funny comment at the time, but now I know what she meant.

If you have never read this book, it is so worth your time to do so. The writing is exquisitely elegant, and to be savored like a delicious desert. The story is heart-wrenching and yet there are moments where you will laugh out loud. The spotlight on the racism of the post-Civil War south is brutal, and yet points to the greater evil of ignoring human suffering all around the world, which we still do today.

My three favorite quotes from the book:

When Atticus' son Jem asks through his sobs how the jury could have convicted a man so obviously innocent, he says, "They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it—it seems that only children weep."

Jem says to Miss Maudie, "I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that's what they seemed like." She answers, "We're the safest folks in the world. We're so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we've got men like Atticus to go for us."

A conversation between Dill and Aunt Alexandra:
"I ain't cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin' the truth's not cynical, is it?"
"The way you tell it, it is."

I don't know why exactly, but those last two quotes really jumped off the page at me. This was truly a literary experience, much more so than just reading a book. If you haven't had it yet, find the time. It is so worth it.