Book Summary and Reviews of The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee

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Cloggie Downunder

interesting and entertaining
4.5?s
The Land Of Sweet Forever is a collection of eight stories and eight essays and miscellaneous pieces, by Pulitzer prize-winning American author, Harper Lee. There is an introduction by Casey Cep which draws attention to connections and references in these pieces to her life and published works, and where earlier incarnations of later characters appear.

The Water Tank: when she hears about a ninth grader going to have a baby, an innocent and very naïve sixth grader worries what terrible outcome might befall her and her family, due to an innocent incident with a boy, if what the girls in her class say is true… 5/5

The Binoculars: thinking she’s been well prepared for school by her older brother, the very last thing that Dody could have predicted is how irritated the new teacher is at her ability to write and read. 5/5

The Pinking Shears: when the new preacher’s daughter expresses her annoyance at having long hair, Jean Louie helps out, unaware of how sinful her assistance will be perceived. She gets a lesson about the most injured party from her father. 5/5

A Room Full Of Kibble: a difficult friend, known for her occasionally strange behaviour, fails to help a cranky neighbour, with tragic consequences. “She had all her misfortunes packaged neatly and the blame affixed, but somehow she could not resist opening them and worrying the contents like her dogs worried their kibble.” She’s insisting on sharing her guilt. 5/5

The Viewers And The Viewed: a clever little piece on the vagueness and obscurity of movie titles. 5/5

This Is Show Business?: the author regrets agreeing to a favour for a friend when it entails driving a truck around Manhattan. 5/5

The Cat’s Meow: an excellent illustration of how the negro was seen in the 1960s. 5/5

The Land Of Sweet Forever: a Sunday during which Jean Louise objects to the change in The Doxology at church, and has an interesting discussion on the families of Maycomb with a young man. 4/5

Essays and Miscellaneous Pieces: these include the topics of Love, how children should be shown their country to appreciate it, Truman Capote, high praise for Albert James Pickett’s History of Alabama, Gregory Peck, the story of the Christmas gift that gave her a year to write, producing To Kill A Mockingbird, a recipe for crackling bread, and a letter to Oprah on the importance of books and reading. 4/5
Overall, interesting and entertaining.