Book Series Review: To Kill a Mockingbird & Go Set A Watchman

Summary: (Of the books without all the extras)
 To Kill A Mockingbird
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960.
Go Set A Watchman
Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch--"Scout"--returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past--a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. 

Thoughts:  With all the hype for Go Set A Watchman recently we finally made our way around to listening to To Kill a Mockingbird on audio. It was a great book with plenty of character and intrigue. From the mystery of Boo Radley to the trial of Tom Robinson it's a classic through and through. After we finished that we sat down and read Go Set a Watchman. I, personally, think that this book is better seen as the origins of Scout and Atticus than a sequel for To Kill a Mockingbird. The characters and events are nearly the same, but not quite, and I feel that Harper Lee turned her characters in different directions for each book. Over all though, I did enjoy the book and it's final conclusion broke my heart.

Content: Pretty much any dirty word or racist word that comes to mind found a way into one or the other. If you're careful of language be aware that Harper Lee kept true to her Southern roots. The dialogue isn't meant to be offensive, just real. Rape is the theme of Tom's trial so it and several details are not shied away from and this topic is also mentioned in the sequel. In Go Set a Watchman there are several problematic scenes from Jean Louise getting her first 'woman's curse', a breeze over youth pregnancy, fake 'bosoms' that cause a lot of trouble and rumors that flit about town. These aren't exactly clean reads, neither are they intended to shock the reader. They are presented mostly in a cultural sort of way, simply telling how things were, what was and wasn't accepted. I skimmed over a few things but adults should be aware of these and a few more points before handing these books to immature readers.