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Go Set a Watchman

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Go Set a Watchman
The HarperCollins cover of Go Set a Watchman (in a similar design style to the first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird)
AuthorHarper Lee
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
Published
  • 14 July 2015 (US)
  • 14 July 2015 (UK)
Publisher
Publication placeUnited States
Pages278 pp[1]
Preceded byTo Kill a Mockingbird 

Go Set a Watchman is a novel by Harper Lee published on July 14, 2015, by HarperCollins in the United States and William Heinemann in the United Kingdom. Although publicized as a sequel, it is considered by Lee to be the "parent" of her first and only other published novel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).[2][3] The title comes from Isaiah 21:6: "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth."[4] It alludes to Jean Louise Finch's view of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral compass ("watchman") of Maycomb,[5] and has a theme of disillusionment, as she realizes her father's bigotry.

The book's unexpected discovery, decades after it was written, together with the exceptional renown of the author's only other book, an American classic, caused its publication to be highly anticipated; Amazon stated that it was their "most pre-ordered book" since the final book of the Harry Potter series in 2007,[6] and stores arranged all-night openings from midnight to cope with expected demand.[7] The publication also sparked controversy over the circumstances of its publication due to contradictions to the discovery story, and questions as to whether Lee had the ability and desire to authorize publication.

Plot

The novel follows an adult Scout Finch (referred to using her given name "Jean Louise") who travels from New York to Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Atticus Finch, 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. According to the publisher, Jean Louise "is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood."[8] Go Set a Watchman includes many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird.[9]

Development history

Though the book has been characterized in media reports as a sequel to Lee's best-selling novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which was published in 1960, Go Set a Watchman is technically Mockingbird's first draft (though Lee classifies Watchman as a "parent" of Mockingbird).[10] The novel was finished in 1957[11] and purchased by the J.B. Lippincott Company. Lee's editor, Tay Hohoff, although impressed with the story "The spark of the true writer flashed in every line,"[11] thought it was by no means ready for publication. It was, as she described it, "more a series of anecdotes than a fully conceived novel." As Jonathan Mahler recounts in his Times article on Hohoff, she thought the strongest aspect of Lee's novel was the flashback sequences featuring a young Scout, and thus requested that Lee use those flashbacks as a basis for a new novel. Lee agreed, and during the next couple of years, Hohoff led Lee from one draft to the next until the book finally achieved its finished form and was retitled To Kill a Mockingbird.[11]

Mahler also references a more detailed characterization of the development process, found in the Lippincott corporate history: "After a couple of false starts, the story-line, interplay of characters, and fall of emphasis grew clearer, and with each revision — there were many minor changes as the story grew in strength and in her own vision of it — the true stature of the novel became evident." (In 1978, Lippincott was acquired by Harper & Row, which became HarperCollins, publisher of Watchman.)[11] Mahler remarks that there appeared to be a natural give and take between author and editor. "When she disagreed with a suggestion, we talked it out, sometimes for hours," Ms. Hohoff wrote. "And sometimes she came around to my way of thinking, sometimes I to hers, sometimes the discussion would open up an entirely new line of country."[11]

In terms of the initial characterization of Atticus as more of a racist segregationist in the earlier draft to a far more progressive liberal in the later, there are various theories already offered. Was Amasa Coleman Lee's (Harper Lee's father) increased liberalism as he aged a factor? A man of his time he has been described as being at one point a segregationist, only to later shift his views in favour of integration.[12] Mahler offers that is could also have been Hohoff that inspired the change.[11] Raised "in a multigenerational Quaker home near Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Ms. Hohoff attended a Quaker school, Brooklyn Friends. Such an upbringing suggests certain progressive values. But probably the clearest window into her state of mind when she was coaching Ms. Lee through the rewrite of Mockingbird is the book she was writing herself at the time: a biography of John Lovejoy Elliott, a social activist and humanist in early-20th-century New York who had committed his life to helping the city's underclass. The book, A Ministry to Man, was published in 1959, a year before Mockingbird."[11]

Michiko Kakutani made note of the changes between the two versions: "Some plot points that have become touchstones in Mockingbird are evident in the earlier Watchman. Scout's older brother, Jem, vividly alive as a boy in Mockingbird, is dead in Watchman; the trial of a black man accused of raping a young white woman, while a main story line in Mockingbird, is only a passing aside in Watchman. (Interestingly, the trial results in a guilty verdict for the accused man, Tom Robinson, in Mockingbird, but leads to an acquittal in Watchman.)" She continues, "Students of writing will find Watchman fascinating for these reasons: How did a lumpy tale about a young woman's grief over her discovery of her father’s bigoted views evolve into a classic coming-of-age story about two children and their devoted widower father? How did a distressing narrative filled with characters spouting hate speech (from the casually patronizing to the disgustingly grotesque — and presumably meant to capture the extreme prejudice that could exist in small towns in the Deep South in the 1950s) mutate into a redemptive novel associated with the civil rights movement, hailed, in the words of the former civil rights activist and congressman Andrew Young, for giving us "a sense of emerging humanism and decency"?[13]

The original manuscript was then described as lost for many years, until being controversially "rediscovered" by her lawyer in late 2014.[14] It has been published as originally written, with no revisions.[8][15] According to her agent Andrew Nurnberg, Mockingbird was originally intended to be the first book of a trilogy: "They discussed publishing Mockingbird first, Watchman last, and a shorter connecting novel between the two."[16] Considering however that Lee has called Watchman "the parent" of Mockingbird.[17] and that Jonathan Mahler has demonstrated in his account of how Mockingbird was developed from Watchman, not as a prequel but as the preferred version of a single work, this assertion seems unlikely at best.[11]

The novel is 304 pages and was published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, in the United States and Canada, and by Heinemann, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth (except Canada).[18] The first printing will be two million copies. The publishers do not expect Lee, who is 89 years old and lives in assisted living in Monroeville, Alabama, to engage in a publicity tour to support the book.[8]

Circumstances of discovery

Discovery

The manuscript for the novel was originally thought to be lost. According to The New York Times, the typed manuscript of Go Set a Watchman was first found during an appraisal of Lee's assets in 2011 in a safe deposit box in Lee's hometown of Monroeville.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).[19] Lee's lawyer, Tonja Carter, later revealed that she had first assumed the manuscript to be an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Later, upon learning in the summer of 2014 of the existence of a second novel at a family gathering, she then re-examined Lee's safe-deposit box and found the manuscript for Go Set a Watchman. After contacting Lee and reading the manuscript, she passed it on to Lee’s agent, Andrew Nurnberg.[17][20]

Controversy

Some publications have called the timing of the book "suspicious", citing Lee's declining health, statements she had made over several decades that she would not write or release another novel, and the death of her sister (and caregiver) just two months before the announcement.[21][22] NPR reported on the news of her new book release, with circumstances "raising questions about whether she is being taken advantage of in her old age."[23] Some publications have even called for fans to boycott the work.[24] News sources, including NPR[23] and BBC News,[25] have reported that the conditions surrounding the release of the book are unclear and posit that Lee may not have had full control of the decision. Investigators for the state of Alabama interviewed Lee in response to a suspicion of elder abuse in relation to the publication of the book.[26] However, by April 2015 the investigation had found that the claims were unfounded.[27]

Additionally, historian and Lee's longtime friend Wayne Flynt told Associated Press that the "narrative of senility, exploitation of this helpless little old lady is just hogwash. It's just complete bunk." Flynt said he found Lee capable of giving consent and believes no one will ever know for certain the terms of said consent.[28]

Reception

Go Set a Watchman has polarized critics and fans alike. An early review by The New York Times described Atticus' characterization as "shocking", as he "has been affiliating with raving anti-integration, anti-black crazies, and the reader shares [Scout's] horror and confusion".[13] A reviewer for The Wall Street Journal described the key theme of the book as disillusionment.[29] Despite Atticus' bigotry in the novel, he wins a case similar to that in To Kill a Mockingbird.[30]

Entertainment Weekly panned the book as "a first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird" and said "Though Watchman has a few stunning passages, it reads, for the most part, like a sluggishly-paced first draft, replete with incongruities, bad dialogue, and underdeveloped characters".[31] “Ponderous and lurching,” wrote William Giraldi in The New Republic, "haltingly confected, the novel plods along in search of a plot, tranquilizes you with vast fallow patches, with deadening dead zones, with onslaughts of cliché and dialogue made of pamphleteering monologue or else eye-rolling chitchat."[32] In The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik dismissed the novel as "a string of clichés."[33] Maureen Corrigan in NPR Books called the novel "kind of a mess."[34] In The Spectator, Phillip Hencher called Go Set a Watchman "an interesting document and a pretty bad novel," as well as a "piece of confused juvenalia." [35]

Go Set a Watchman set a record for the highest adult novel one-day sales at Barnes & Noble, which included digital sales and pre-orders made before July 14; B&N did not release the exact number.[36]

References

  1. ^ Kennedy, Randall (July 14, 2015). "Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman'". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Sam Sacks (July 10, 2015). "Book Review: In Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' Atticus Finch Defends Jim Crow". WSJ.
  3. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/13/harper-lee-third-novel-lawyer-tonja-carter
  4. ^ Matthews, Michelle (February 3, 2015). "Harper Lee's new book is the talk of the town in her native Monroeville". AL.com. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Garrison, Greg. "'Go Set a Watchman': What does Harper Lee's book title mean?". AL.com. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  6. ^ "Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman 'most ordered since Harry Potter'". BBC News. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  7. ^ "Harper Lee's novel Go Set a Watchman could become fastest-selling on record". Telegraph.co.uk. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Second Harper Lee Novel to Be Published in July". ABC News. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  9. ^ Alter, Alexandra (February 3, 2015). "Harper Lee, Author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' Is to Publish a Second Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  10. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/13/harper-lee-third-novel-lawyer-tonja-carter
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Mahler, Jonathan (July 12, 2015). "The Invisible Hand Behind Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  12. ^ Laura Stevens. "Memories of the Man Who Inspired Atticus Finch". WSJ.
  13. ^ a b Kakutani, Michiko (July 10, 2015). "Review: Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' Gives Atticus Finch a Dark Side". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  14. ^ Kovaleski, Serge F.; Alter, Alexandra (July 13, 2015). "A New Account of 'Watchman's' Origin and Hints of a Third Book". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  15. ^ Dundas, Deborah (February 3, 2015). "Harper Lee to publish new book in July – her first since To Kill A Mockingbird". Toronto Star.
  16. ^ Alison Flood (February 5, 2015). "Harper Lee's 'lost' novel was intended to complete a trilogy, says agent". The Guardian.
  17. ^ a b Tonja B. Carter (July 12, 2015). "How I Found the Harper Lee Manuscript". The Wall Street Journal.
  18. ^ World Archipelago. "Press Releases Details". harpercollins.com. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  19. ^ Pilkington, Ed (July 3, 2015). "Go Set a Watchman: mystery of Harper Lee manuscript discovery deepens". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  20. ^ Alison Flood (July 13, 2015). "Harper Lee may have written a third novel, lawyer suggests". The Guardian.
  21. ^ Jones, Malcom (February 4, 2015). "Harper Lee Promises a New Novel—or Does She?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  22. ^ Ortberg, Mallory (February 4, 2015). "Questions I Have About The Harper Lee Editor Interview". The Toast. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  23. ^ a b Neary, Lynn (February 4, 2015). "Harper Lee's Friend Says Author Is Hard Of Hearing, Sound Of Mind". NPR. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  24. ^ Sahagian, Jacqueline (February 3, 2015). "Why Fans Shouldn't Read Harper Lee's New Book". Wall St. Cheat Sheet. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  25. ^ "Harper Lee: 'Trade frenzy' and 'concern' over new book". BBC News. February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  26. ^ Kovaleski, Serge F.; Alter, Alexandra; Crossley Howard, Jennifer (March 11, 2015). "Harper Lee's Condition Debated by Friends, Fans and Now State of Alabama". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  27. ^ Kovaleski, Serge F. (April 3, 2015). "Alabama Officials Find Harper Lee in Control of Decision to Publish Second Novel". The New York Times ArtsBeat. The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  28. ^ Chandler, Kim (February 7, 2015). "Friend: Harper Lee was fine the day before sequel announced". MSN. Associated Press. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  29. ^ Sam Sacks (July 10, 2015). "Book Review: In Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' Atticus Finch Defends Jim Crow". WSJ. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  30. ^ Los Angeles Times (July 11, 2015). "Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' reveals a darker side of Maycomb". latimes.com. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  31. ^ Tina Jordan (July 14, 2015). "Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  32. ^ William Giraldi. "Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' Should Not Have Been Published". The New Republic.
  33. ^ Adam Gopnik (July 27, 2015). "Harper Lee's Failed Novel About Race - The New Yorker". The New Yorker.
  34. ^ "Harper Lee's 'Watchman' Is A Mess That Makes Us Reconsider A Masterpiece". NPR.org. July 13, 2015.
  35. ^ https://www.spectator.co.uk/books/books-feature/9581982/go-set-a-watchman-should-never-have-been-hyped-as-a-landmark-new-novel-says-philip-hensher/
  36. ^ Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg (July 16, 2015). "'Go Set a Watchman' Sets One-Day Sales Record for Barnes & Noble". WSJ.

Bibliography

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