So was Go Set a Watchman worth it?

Well to me, I think it was. It was an interesting read even though I did feel parts of the book tended to drag on for way too long. It takes a while for the book to really pick up. I would always say around page 100 when Scout sees her father and boyfriend at the council meeting that is being led by a racist speaker is the point when the story gets really interesting.

There were definitely some chapters that could have been cut out. I mean there was a chapter devoted to how Methodists sung in church and that bored the hell out of me because there was no point to it. The flashbacks to Scout's childhood and teenage years were cute but they could have been done away with that as well because they didn't really tie much into the main story either. There is a point in the book right after Scout fights with her Uncle Jack over Atticus's racist beliefs, that the book cuts into a chapter about Scout going to a high school dance. Just when everything is picking up, the book goes into something that is totally irrelevant to the story at hand. I mean the flashbacks were nice but I felt the timing was off at times. I mean who wants to hear about a high school dance when all these racial revelations are being thrown at Scout by members of her own family?

As for Atticus, I honestly feel like he doesn't play that great of a role in the book. His ideals are more the focal point but not the man himself. You barely see him around as this book is more about Scout and her dealing with the fact that her family is filled with racists. Even when Scout fought with him near the end of the book over the state of blacks in 1950s America, his interactions and arguments with her seem to be a bit lacking. If anything, Scout's conversations with Uncle Jack seem to have more weight to them than her conversations with Atticus. One could argue the book is more about Scout vs Uncle Jack than Scout vs Atticus.

As for Scout's development throughout the book, I feel like she is in the process of wanting to fight racism but she is not quite there yet. Even though she has all this knowledge of her family's racist tendencies, she kinda forgives them at the end. She knows that they're wrong but she kinda accepts them and they kinda accept her. Part of me feels like there may have been a development for another book that probably would have expanded upon Scout's feelings of equality for all but who knows but Harper Lee. I mean she has these thoughts of equality but is she going to go to the sit-ins, protests and marches of the Civil Rights Movement or will she just think and do nothing?

One prevalent theme that I noticed throughout the book was the theme of fear. The white citizens of Maycomb were so fearful of blacks getting equal rights and losing the power that they held for generations. To them, it seemed like a battle to preserve Southern tradition and not racism. Atticus, Uncle Jack, Henry Clinton and Aunt Alexandra all fearmongered the threat of blacks to Scout, that it felt at times I was reading passages from Fox News commentators. They fearmongered so much that I felt that it was one of the reasons why Scout kinda caved at the end as she was tired of all the fighting. That's also why I feel Scout's development is incomplete as she stopped fighting and instead of pressing on. All this fearmongering and fear felt the most modern as there is still a lot of fear about blacks in America today. I mean the faces and the language have changed but the fear is still there.

Now do I see myself rereading this book? Not too likely as the book did feel like a struggle at times but I don't feel like it was a waste of time either. Overall, I don't see this book tarnishing Harper Lee's reputation but it's nowhere near as good as To Kill A Mockingbird. It's interesting but it's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps with more editing and more expansion, it could have been something great.