July 11th 1960..fifty-five years today since To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published to extraordinary acclaim.
So I have to ask you all because the day is almost upon us...
Who is planning to read Go Set a Watchman?
I hadn't been that bothered until last week, then I started to see the signs up saying publication day was nigh, read a few articles about Harper Lee in the press and that was it. I had stepped into the contagion zone and suddenly thought it was one of those books I wanted to be a part of on July 14th.
It doesn't need me to say that To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most influential books of the last century, but with so much intrigue and mystery surrounding the writing and discovery of Go Set a Watchman I couldn't resist. Veiled and very carefully worded suspicion seems to prevail here in the UK and I would be interested to know what you all think.
And in America, this is your book after all, so what is the received opinion on the its appearance...excitement and anticipation, or wariness and cynicism...
How true are all the snippets about Harper Lee's life and her current mental and physical capacity, and ability or not to give permission for this publication...long-distance rumour is rife here.
Regardless of all that, I have been enjoying yet another read of To Kill a Mockingbird and am off to a bookshop to buy a copy of Go Set a Watchman on the day. I can only think of one other forthcoming book I will be doing this for and I expect you can all guess what that is too...
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