To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Audiobook Review
I received this book for free from Library for review consideration, opinions expressed are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links as indicated by an asterisk. Purchases from these links provides a small commission to me at no extra cost to you.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeePublication Date: 2006-8-22
Setting: USA-Alabama
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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Goodreads
Sissy Spacek's narration of To Kill a Mockingbird was fantastic and enhanced my enjoyment of this classic. The book gets better every time I think about it, so many memorable quotes to cherish.
Blurb:
5* – I highly recommend To Kill a Mockingbird on audiobook to those who like dramatic and inspiring stories. This is one of those books that impacted me differently now that I’m a parent and gets better every time I think about it. Narrator Sissy Spacek takes this book to a whole new level than I got when reading it in school.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
“”You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view .. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Tomboy Scout Finch comes of age in a small Alabama town during a crisis in 1935. She admires her father Atticus, how he deals with issues of racism, injustice, intolerance and bigotry, his courage and his love”
My Thoughts:
To Kill a Mockingbird is a captivating story set during the 1960’s in rural Alabama and follows a white single father and attorney, Atticus Finch, and his two children, daughter Scout and son Jim, through their childhood.
Scout is a very inquisitive, tomboyish and adventurous young girl and relies on her older brother and father to keep her out of trouble. She and Jim have a goal to get their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley to emerge from his house in mischievous ways. Jim is a protective older brother and Atticus is a patient, level-headed attorney who takes a controversial case defending a black man accused of raping a young white woman. A black woman, Calpernia, serves the Finch family as a cook, housekeeper and caretaker. Although she is black during a time when blacks in the South are seen as beneath the whites, the Finch family cares for and respects her for her role in the household.
As the trial progresses and Scout hears of the white townsfolk’s opinion of the blacks, I am moved by her sweet innocence as she does not understand why Calpernia should be treated any differently, why she can’t go to Calpernia’s church without causing a scene and why a black man is accused of something he insists he didn’t do. Ms. Lee accounts what daily discriminations blacks encountered and it’s heartbreaking and angry to know that just a short 50 years ago, people were treated in this way. Scout witnesses the bullying of blacks and continually and boldly questions the actions of the white townsfolk around her, breaking the conventional rules of how a young Southern white girl should dress and behave.
This book was an emotional journey through the 60’s in the Deep South. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook version that I listened to which was narrated by Academy-Award winning actress, Sissy Spacek. Her voice portrayal of all of the characters was believable and endearing, which I think is hard for many audiobook narrators to achieve. I think listening to it actually enhanced my enjoyment of the book and brought Scout’s voice to life.
I highly recommend this audiobook to those who like dramatic and inspiring stories. This is one of those books that stayed with me and gets better every time I think about it.
Favorite Quotes:
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
– Atticus Finch”
“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
Challenges Satisfied:
Back to the Classics Reading Challenge – African-American experience
Monthly Keyword Challenge– February book using the “animal” keyword
Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? How did you feel about the book? Please leave me a comment with your thoughts!Happy reading!
It is spelled JEM, not Jim. Jem is short for ‘Jeremy’.
Also, the spelling is Calpurnia, not Calpernia.
I do agree being blown away with Ms. Spacek’s range. Every voice is so unique I can tell which character it is just from the sound. I’m glad you included the “About Harper Lee” blurb. That was interesting, and though it’s not stated, I can imagine it quite likely that Dill Harris was based on her friend Truman Capote: the physical and character resemblances line right up.
I just read this one too, for The Classics Club. I cried at the end — you know when! 🙂
Such a great book, yes I do know when. I need to get crackin on my Classics Club list! These books don’t read themselves. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! I hope to read it very soon!
Hi Rachel, just spent some time checking out your blog and love it. Seems like we have similar tastes in reading challenges, we have a couple in common. 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook if you have an opportunity to get it. Happy reading!
Such a good book! I’ve read it a couple of times but not lately. Great pick for February!
thanks Kim, I am so glad I gave this book another chance. Almost ready to post my review of March’s book…Treasure Island 🙂 Thanks for hosting a great challenge!
I loved To Kill a Mockingbird! I had read this book in high school, but then recently, I reread it.
I had entered a contest and won tickets to the limited re-release of the movie along with a copy of the book. It was really amazing to reread the book and then to be able to see the movie again. I definitely have a deeper respect for the novel and what it was saying now than I did in high school.
And I looooooove how Scout said that “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” So true, and such amazing wisdom from such a young girl.
That is a great quote from Scout and one of the things that made her so endearing. I wish we could all have that non-judgmental outlook on others. How cool that you won the tickets to the movie event as well. I agree, I am glad I reread this because I really didn’t realize how great a book this was as a kid.
Love this book, and I can only imagine how much Sissy Spacek must have added to it on the audio version. I adore her. I always find that audio books live and die by the reader. So glad you enjoyed this one!
You are so right, the reader makes or breaks the book. I’ve had some doozies of bad ones, like Treasure Island and The Pilot’s Wife were hard to get through. But I really enjoyed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on audiobook. Do you have a favorite audiobook? Another one I want to try is Christmas Carol narrated by Tim Curry. I think that would be fun!